How bad do chicken coops stink?

[mmtillman]

I hear of people who keep adding new shavings to the old stuff....? I have a hard time doing that....?
I wind up just scooping out the entire messy thing....Then using my shopvac on every square inch, adding my DE and it is fresh and clean again! IN fact...tonight I noticed the ''smell'' ....and so tomorrow I put on my old ''chicken clothes'' and grab my shovel.
A hint I might pass along....I was foolish in not layin down vinyl when we built the coop...so to aid in cleaning...we lay down 4x4 sheets of cardboard that line the floor....come cleanin time...I just fold the sheets in half and it makes cleanup so much easier...just dump the 4x4 sheets full into the compost pile and then shopvac!
HOpe this helps!

 

[ChooksChick]

It's the Littermaid! I get a big jug for $12 at Costco- a 40# one, mind you, and because this thing has a sensor that waits 10 minutes after the cat leaves and then sweeps, there's very little litter leaving- even with a GIANT cat.

It has little bins the waste goes into, that I line with plastic grocery bags and simply pull out and toss once a MONTH!! It's odor-free.

So sorry for the hijack, again, but don't we wish we could do this with the chickens???

The poop board is the closest I can get, but I'm intrigued by the sand-lined idea!!

 

[cw]

well how bad do you stink when you dont clean up?
mine dont stink at all, i live close to a saw mill, and he gives me all the saw dust i want, so i keep it clean

 

[Renee]

Poop board.
The coop stays really clean. I use a plastic dish drainer tray, since I only have two chickens.

I have sand in my run and I scoop with a kitty-litter scooper every am when I scrape off the poop board into the compost. No flies, no smells. I sit in there with them, so I like it nice.

 

[big greg barker]

Quote:
DE is diatomaceous earth. It is used in pool filters, etc, but you need to use food grade for chickens. I personally don't use it. And ys, you can put the used shavings etc, in your gardens. I do.Just work them into the soil between seasons.

 

[damselfish]

We built our coop without poop boards & regret it. Instead, we have substituted several long shallow trays on the ground under the roosts (ours are the bottoms of old window box planters). They get scraped out and hosed each morning. Plus, I manually scoop what didn't hit the trays.

So this is just another vote for reasonable height poop boards, unless you would like to become very proficient at duck-walking under a chicken roost every morning, as I have done.

Our coop does not stink at all since we started doing it this way. We use pine shavings on the floor and only need to do a full cleanout twice a year because there's hardly any poop in there once I'm done with it each day (they free range).

Next spring, poop boards!

 

[BlackBart]

Quote:
Tea tree oil is a natural germ killer and it deodorizes / refreshes at the same time.

I usually sand the roosts then rub them down with the mixture. It keeps things smelling pretty good for awhile while helping keep the insects down too.

Neem oil works good too
http://www.planetnatural.com/site/neem-oil.html

 

[sojeo]

Thanks Chooks for the brand name, time to go shopping.

As for the droppings board / table, it doesn't get dirty at all as the sand protects the wetter ones from sticking. My floor is totally poop free as well with all the shavings protecting the linoleum. Actually, the dirtiest part of the coop are the roosts. I should really try oiling them to prevent the poop from cementing to them.

Since I compost all the droppings from the droppings board, there are hardly any poops in the coop at all since they only go in to eat and right before bed. I know it won't be this way come winter, but for now I'm loving it.

 

[Uppity Peon]

About this bad!

Sorry... had to be done.

 

[pony feathers]

Quote:

I've got the DE, what is DLM? We are going to have a sand run and scoop that once a day,will have deep layer pellets and nipple waterers in the coop so I hope it isn't too bad. The chicks will be in our house and we'll be keeping that super clean cause dh lives there too and we are wanting to keep them (and him- lol!)

.

DLM "deep litter method" is just keep adding clean litter on top of the old litter.