How to knock down the stench

[Barry42001]

Living down here in Florida we are in the rainy season we have exposed Run for the chickens run in so they can get out and play in the sand we do put down hay so that we can pick up the hay get rid of most of the mess when I clean inside there I use a lot of lime, and diatomaceous earth to knock the bugs down. It's been exceedingly wet which does nothing but help increase the stench any suggestions would be greatly appreciated thank you

 

[MyHappyGirls]

I have heard that cocoa hulls reduces odors. Yesterday I put some down around the coop & today things don't smell as strong to me, it smells like chocolate

 

[MyHappyGirls]

I think you have to turn the dirt with a shovel a few times per week so mold doesn't grow with the cocoa hulls...

 

[Kiki]

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[sfgwife]

Living down here in Florida we are in the rainy season we have exposed Run for the chickens run in so they can get out and play in the sand we do put down hay so that we can pick up the hay get rid of most of the mess when I clean inside there I use a lot of lime, and diatomaceous earth to knock the bugs down. It's been exceedingly wet which does nothing but help increase the stench any suggestions would be greatly appreciated thank you

Chickens like bugs.... a lot. There are scoops with smaller teeth that work well for sand. You may need scoop every day. Put your grass clippings in the run they will love them.

 

[rjohns39]

Hi and welcome to BYC I'm a big fan of deep litter and use wood shavings or saw dust. A lot of my friends use Peat moss. Give the kids a nice layer of carbon and they give you great food for your garden. Just as FYI, hay and grass are considered "green" in the compost world.... Good for the birds until it starts to decompose.

 

[Barry42001]

I was reading an article in Mother Earth magazine a while back that was touting the benefits of chickens in your garden that was when I was in Upstate New York and the benefits I got were they dug up all my potatoes destroyed half the peppers they do the same thing in your their run LOL. They dig these anti-tank traps overnight I put a nice heavy coat of hay down I expect them to pick through it in a day or so they have it rototilled in to the ground.

 

[Birdsong 82]

I realized in my run the wet chicken feed that gets out of the feeder creates the most stench. They are messy eaters. So I put down wood for the food to spill on so I can take it out and dump that daily instead of having to scrape it up daily I use straw instead of sand but I heard with sand a kitty litter scoop and five minutes of time daily should help

 

[Barry42001]

I feed them on dry side they actually clean the feed up nicely if I make a 6ft l8ne of feed combination of crumbles and sweet feed. Always have a bit still mixed with dirt can't be avoided. It's the wet side. Rains daily many time quite heavily( like now lol ). That heany layer of hay is virtually gone because they buried it.

 

[drumstick diva]

Wet chicken feed gets moldy fast, and can kill the birds.