How bad do chickens stink in summer?

[jamespm_98]

I keep my chickens on really deep litter (acutally it is my compost pile) with so much high carbon material (leaves and straw) that it absorb all the poo as the chickens constantly scratch in it and turn it. In fact it has no smell. I keep 8-12" of leaves and straw along with whatever I want to compost on the floor of the coop and run. All the droppings are absorbed and turned into the compost. The birds constantly scratch to find bits of stuff to eat so it is constantly turned. I will occassionally turn some with a pitch fork if the girls have piled it too deep. As it breaks down I just add some to the garden and replenish it with what ever I want to compost. I have an uncovered run so my pile stays moist year round, this actually benefits me since I want it to break down.

This works great for me, but my goal is to have the chickens make compost. If I was interested in just keeping chickens I would probably do the droppings board, clean the coop etc..., but I want my droppings to fall into my litter as it adds to the compost.

 

[ZooMummzy]

Quote:
I'm really glad I ran across this thread and saw this post! I have been wondering how to keep my run dry. The dirt is just a mucky mess and I'm tired of it. Sand it is as soon as summer hits! Thank you

As far as stink, my smell much worse now in the winter due to the mud. In the summer, everything is dry. I use DE once a week in my run during the dry months so maybe that helps, but I really think it's all the moisture that makes chickens smell and living in the NW, it's really hard to keep things dry!