I was wondering if anyone could give me advice as to how to control the yucky smell of chicken poo, in the summer is there anything that i can sprinkle on the litter so that it won't reek so much of poop.( I would prefer if the solutions are natural and environment-friendly)Any help will greatly be appreciated!!!
Ventelation. A properly ventelated and dry shed smells just as good on the inside as is does outside. Mind you, my RUN gets stinky from the wet (rain) But if the coop is dry and well ventelated it won't smell
Clean often...that's the key. You can also use DE (search on here to find it) - make SURE it's food grade. I try to clean my coops out a day before I know they'll get "bad," and I've never noticed an odor. Also, make sure that you have good ventilation/air circulation.
I clean out my wire caged stuff once a week and I am planning on cleaning the coop a minimum of once a month!!! I cant stand dirty..... and I wanna hold my girls so if I go out and grab them and they are covered in POO I wont be happy!!! I think If I can smell them they are dirty!!! I think I am a bit OCD about the clean coop thing so never mind me!!! plus I am a stay at home mother whose kids are at school during the day... the girls give me something to do!!!
Quote:I am very much the same LOL! Drives me nuts when there's dust in there or poop on the roosts. Winters here do not make for easy cleaning, but in the summer I go through more shavings than feed:>)
The best (not to mention most all-natural and environment-friendly) solution is VENTILATION. Really truly, coops need much more ventilation than most people seem to expect. Solves your problem right there, as well as solving a variety of other problems too Having fewer chickens helps too Another useful strategy is to have a droppings board under the roost and scrape it off every morning (discard the poo to a compost pile). This removes about 50% of the daily poo output *right then and there*, meaning a drier less stinky coop. NOT a substitute for more ventilation however. Good luck, have fun, Pat
Yup, it was Pat that convinced me to open my coop up the way I did, and I have never regretted it...My birds like it too:>)
And if its summer there, they can go outside most of the day along with the cleaning, ventilation and adding clean bedding.
Lots of bedding and good venalation. If you have a deep litter system you don't have to clean but once a year. I use 3 bags white pine and 1 bag cedar (for the smell) and put cedar in the laying boxes.
