Just how "stinky" is stinky?

[spoggy]

Hello All!

I know that chickens themselves have very little odor, it's the "poop" that's the issue. Well, just how smelly is chicken poo? I've been to several fairs, each with several hundred birds and it wasn't "eye watering", or even unplesant. I want to have 6 banty hens in a coop about 75-80 feet from my house and will compost their waste in a pile 200 plus feet from the house. The coop has a small covered run attached. What do I need to be aware of "poopwise"?

 

[NonnasBabies]

Well, I can tell you this. When it's dry in the run I can't smell anything. But when it rains and get really sloppy it's a pretty bad smell!!

Missi

 

[Muggsmagee]

Quote:
Keeping the poo dry! Wet chicken poop smells akin to "death"!

 

[cheeps]

Previous posters are 100% right, when it's dry, no problem. When it rains it smells terrible! If you only have 6 bantys I think you'll be just fine. My turkey is the one who makes everything stinky, lol.

 

[EricH]

haha, 7 bantys is no problem. just keep it cleaned out every once in a while. your neighbors wont call the CDC or anything!

 

[spoggy]

Quote:
So what happens when it hits the compost heap? Should I turn it in right away? Also, I want them to be able to free range for part of the day, am I going to have little "landmines" waiting to go off the first time it rains?

 

[NonnasBabies]

I can't smell the "land mines" in the yard! And to be truthfully honest I really have never noticed a bad smell around my compost bin either!!

Missi

 

[elmo]

I have nine bantams in a small back yard (less than 1/3 of an acre). No problems with odor, whatsoever. I have sand in my runs, scoop poop daily and put it in the composter. The chickens spend daytime in chicken tractors that I move around the yard every few days.

I think you get problems with odor if a lot of manure builds up in one place and then gets wet. With the exception of the occasional cecal poop, chicken droppings are odorless. I'd much rather deal with chicken droppings than dog droppings.

 

[chick4chix]

I have 6 standard sized hens in a very small yard- only 10 feet from the house in a coop (catawba ark) with a run attached. I keep the roost and nest floor covered with pine shavings with DE (which helps dry it) and clean out those areas about once a week with fresh pine shavings-it is not stinky. If it ever smells or gets a little "barnish" I just clean that out more often (in the heat of summer for instance) and it smells like fresh pine.
I also put clippings of lavender and rosemary branches in there when I clean it out- it repels pests and smells nice too.
In the run I keep a layer of fresh straw- which also has a nice fresh smell to it. I clean the run every few months in the winter more often in the summer- again depending on the weather. The girls occasionally come out and scratch and dig around in the planter beds too- again no problem with smell- just the mess they create by scratching

Both the pine and the straw absorb the poop and help to dry it and then they both go in my compost and also as a mulch. The carbon to nitrogen ratio works out great for mulch and I've never had any burning using it straight from the coop- as long as the poop is mixed with the straw or pine it's fine.
I also put it on my wet kitchen compost, it speeds up the decomposition and again, it never smells.

Below is a link to a video of "fred's fine fowl" using straight chicken litter with as mulch in the garden- his garden and chickens are beautiful:

Good Luck with your chickens- I'm sure you will be fine

 

[treetree9]

I just wanted to say thank you to chick4chix, that is a great idea putting lavender and rosemary in the coop. I am going to go get some today

Also, in reply to the original post I have 17 chickens who are free-range and I have no problem with poop smell. The only thing is that they like to congregate on my porch and leave droppings all over it, so I just keep the hose there and hose it off everyday.