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

[HawaiiCoyote]

Do you think I should use hay?

Regarding using hay, I wouldn't recommend it as it can get pricey if you are using a lot. I only use hay for my nesting boxes and brooder setups. Others may use hay, but it's just too wet where I live for that method.

 

[pvchicken1]

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.

Where I live (Minnesota) the soil is deeper.

 

[LadiesAndJane]

I have had many people comment on how little our chicken area smells. I spot clean daily (under roosts mostly). I use large flake pine shavings (for horse stalls) in the coop and run. Clean this out completely only every few months. I also use the PDZ, sold for horse stalls as well, the granular kind, and sprinkle this as needed liberally.

 

[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.

 

[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.

 

[3KillerBs]

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

I clean my coop and my run when it needs it -- that is, when I either develop an odor problem that isn't solved by adding another few inches of dry, organic material or when it's built up to the point that I can't add any more.

IMO, while any dry organic material can be used as bedding, hay is far down on the list of things I'd use myself. From a composting perspective hay is a green, a nitrogen source like the chicken manure, while what you need to react with the manure is a brown, a carbon source.

 

[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.