how to get my run smelling fresher

[LaLonnie Nelson]

We have 4 inches of construction sand in our run and two inches in our coop! We rake every day and use a cat litter scoop to pick up the chicken droppings so far no smell! We will probably once every 3 month’s take an inch of sand out & add new sand ..

 

[wildwestcoast]

We have 4 inches of construction sand in our run and two inches in our coop! We rake every day and use a cat litter scoop to pick up the chicken droppings so far no smell! We will probably once every 3 month’s take an inch of sand out & add new sand ..

How long have you been using this method?

 

[LaLonnie Nelson]

Our friend’s who have had chicken’s for two years have done this! It has worked well for them... we have only had our girls for 3 months.. so far it has been easy to clean .. we use a small rake & rake a small pile of sand and sift through it with the kitty scoop!

 

[CindyinSD]

Is your run soggy at all? Ours is somewhat flooded just now—the lower bit—and it has been smelling bad from rotting vegetable matter, not chicken poop. They haven’t even used that part until the last week or so, as it’s been covered with snow for most of their lives. I wish it would stop raining and snowing so things could dry up.

I emptied out the used deep bedding from their coop into the wet area of the run and gave them a couple bales of straw for inside. That helped, actually.

You might try adding a good layer of spoiled hay, dried grass clippings, pine chips/shavings, pine straw... whatever absorbent material you can get your hands on. You can compost the run materials, in the actual run. The chickens will turn it for you. If it starts to smell like poop, you need more carbon.

 

[LaLonnie Nelson]

No our run is not wet at all! In the winter we put construction grade plastic sheeting and staple it on all 4 sides and the door! It keeps the rain & snow out pretty good! We take it down in late spring & summer!

 

[CindyinSD]

Ours has a big wide thin sheet of water running through the bottom corner and all along the east edge of our field. Headed for the Mississippi to flood all the poor folks there, next... like they need more water.

But if yours is dry, you can either clean out the poop or throw in some dry carbon material to absorb it. Like I said: straw, hay, shavings, etc. if you choose to add carbon, that and the chicken droppings will make compost and will smell like compost not droppings.

 

[Ribh]

If you use the DLM your run shouldn't smell. When I rake out my coop I just add that to the litter in the run, the chickens rake through it & mix it up. No smells. No need for fancy ingredients. Just anything organic & decomposable gets added in: weeds, mulch, leaf litter, sand. Even in the wet my run doesn't smell but I have good drainage & over 6" of matter in the run.

 

[LaLonnie Nelson]

I don’tKnow what DLM is for now we put a lil shavings in the coop under the nesting Matt’s we bought on amazon .. they are pretty young & won’t start laying until August! I will offer them when their older some greens maybe a cold watermelon in the summer etc... but will clean it up at night.. I do not want to invite rodents etc.. I bring their food in at night also... I might be going overboard lol love these lil girls already!

 

[CindyinSD]

DLM=deep litter method

Here’s a link talking about dlm in the chicken run: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/dlm-in-run.1253028/#post-20104734

If you search DLM (at the top of the pages here), you’ll find a LOT of results.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

What is your bioload (# of birds and square footage of run)? Different methods are appropriate for different setups. Is your run well drained or probe to drainage issues?