How to reduce the smell of chickens outside? (In my backyard)

[pvchicken1]

Wondering how to have a no smell chicken coop and a chicken run. Should I have bedding in the run and clean it out regularly? Is there stuff to buy that can eliminate the odor? I live in the city and do not want the neighbors to get mad at me. All help is appriciated.

 

[DobieLover]

Wondering how to have a no smell chicken coop and a chicken run. Should I have bedding in the run and clean it out regularly? Is there stuff to buy that can eliminate the odor? I live in the city and do not want the neighbors to get mad at me. All help is appriciated.

Offer at least twice the minimum run space often sited; go for 20 sq ft per bird. Keep the entire setup on high ground, have a solid roof on the run and divert all water away from the run.
Put down a thick layer of wood chips and other dry organic material for them to scratch through.
Install poop boards in the coop, apply a thin layer of Sweet PDZ to them and scoop them every morning.
You will have practically no offensive odors this way.

 

[Mrs. K]

How many, how big of an area? Smaller areas and more chickens make this a tougher problem.

I do have bedding in my run. DRY helps the best. Look at your drainage.

Throw scratch across the bedding, this will encourage the hens to dig it up, fluffing up the bedding, and breaking up the poops so that they are dry.

Mrs K

 

[3KillerBs]

Lots and lots of dry, organic material as coop bedding and run litter, plenty of space, and generous ventilation.

Make sure that your chicken facility is not located in a low, wet area and that groundwater flows around it rather than through it.

 

[Acre4Me]

Dry. As mentioned above by all.

coop is where poop will be most concentrated as they poop while sleeping. So, some have poop boards snd scoop up the poop in the mornings to toss in garbage or compost.

coops often have wood shavings/chips, but one poster on BYC has used “coffee bedding” (use the search function if interested), and said it was amazing on killing the smell while smelling good.

 

[rosemarythyme]

I use wood chips too. Do you replace yours at a certain time? Do you think I should use hay?

What else other than the wood chips? They're a great base for drainage and aeration, but in order to start breaking down the poop, best to mix in other organic matter (dried leaves, weeds, garden trimmings, short dried grass) to help the composting action.

Drainage is key though - my run is uncovered and I live in a wet environment (rain, ground water, occasional flooding) but the run doesn't smell despite that because water drains faster at the run location than anywhere else in the yard, thanks to my deep litter. If it does start to smell at all, I add more wood chips to get more aeration going in the mix and it re-stabilizes.

I do clean out under the roost daily and also pick up big obvious poops in the run daily, mostly because I don't want to be stepping on it and I don't want the chickens walking in it either. The scooped poop gets composted for my garden.

 

[HawaiiCoyote]

I use wood chips for the paths around my home that the chickens like to walk (and poop) on. It helps keep the smell down tremendously.

 

[aart]

I use wood chips too. Do you replace yours at a certain time? Do you think I should use hay?

Chips or shavings?
Some pics of your coop and run, and knowing how many birds you have, would help here.

More pics here:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/gallery/albums/runs.7427859/


What kind of bedding you use may depend on how you manage the manure.
This is about cleaning, but covers my big picture

-I use poop boards under roosts with thin(<1/2") layer of sand/PDZ mix, sifted daily(takes 5-10mins) into bucket going to friends compost.
-Scrape big or wet poops off roost and ramps as needed.
-Pine shavings on coop floor, add some occasionally, totally changed out once or twice a year, old shavings added to run.
- My runs have semi-deep litter(cold composting), never clean anything out, just add smaller dry materials on occasion, add larger wood chippings as needed.
Aged ramial wood chippings are best IMO.
-Nests are bedded with straw, add some occasionally, change out if needed(broken egg).

There is no odor, unless a fresh cecal has been dropped and when I open the bucket to add more poop.

That's how I keep it 'clean', have not found any reason to clean 'deeper' in 7 years.

 

[Vacman]

Read up on the deep litter system. I use straw in both the coop and the run (which in my case, is covered so it stays dry). Understand that what you are smelling is the result of anaerobic bacteria which grow in the absence of oxygen. That's what make a septic tank smell. With the deep letter system, you put more straw, wood chips, whatever you are using, on top of what's there, both in the run and in the coop. Then you throw a handful of scratch grain on top. The chicken with scratch the area stirring up and oxygenating the litter, killing the anaerobic bacteria and replacing it with aerobic (good) bacteria. I haven't cleaned my coop and run since last fall when I went to this system. If you use straw, the constant scratching will reduce the bulk. I will clean the coop again this spring, but only to get stuff to add to my compost pile (and it has already begun to compost in the coop). Let the chickens handle it. It's a lot less work and much more natural.

 

[HawaiiCoyote]

I use wood chips too. Do you replace yours at a certain time? Do you think I should use hay?

I don't replace them, since the soil where I live is so shallow I just let them break down to make more soil and add fresh ones on top after it storms, or if it gets stinky then I will throw some fresh ones on top.