Living in Suburbia - How do I control the odor...

[dwdoc]

I have not had any complaints yet; I am just trying to ensure I don't run into any issues... Before I started this hobby I spoke with my two closest neighbors and let them know my plans and they did not object. I have had a good relationship with my neighbors and I just do not want to cause a problem.

I have two largish dogs and clean up after them but chicken poop is a little different than the land mines my dogs leave.

 

[Wifezilla]

Sweet PDZ works too. I don't often have odor with my ducks, but sometimes if it rains a lot things get a little stinky. Then I rake up the bedding and put it on the compost pile, spread PDZ, then add new bedding.

 

[dsqard]

Honestly, if you clean the coop and run often enough, there will be no smell. Right now, I am using the deep litter method in my coop to help keep the coop warm. I have not cleaned out the coop in over a month, just add more shavings about every week or so and let the chickens "turn" the shavings in the coop by scratching in them. I was inside my coop yesterday hanging out with them for about half an hour and it didn't smell at all. I do use DE in the coop to help dry out the waste.

 

[elmo]

Chicken poop + moisture = stink. Keep your run dry and pick up droppings as best you can frequently and there should be no odor problem. If your run is roofed, this helps immensely, and additionally you don't have to be concerned about your flock picking up diseases from wild birds pooping through the top of the run.

I use sand in two of my runs and right now have leaves and bark nuggets in the third one. It's much easier to pick droppings out of the sand runs.

I also noticed a difference in the smell from chicken droppings based on the brand of feed. I now use Countryside Naturals, and the only droppings that have any odor at all are the cecal poops.

 

[dwdoc]

Forgive my ignorance but what is DE?

 

[Judy]

Quote:
Diatomaceous earth. I promise you, Stall-Dri and/or Sweet PDZ will be much more effective for you if combined with sand and kept scooped. At least one of them has a little DE in it, as do some chicken feeds, to control moisture. DE is expensive, hard to find the right kind, and really doesn't do much but absorb moisture. It might help control mites and lice but so does poultry dust. You will read that it controls internal worms but chickens have died of worm infestations while being given DE. Look on the FAQ page and scroll down; there are links to some threads all about DE.

Oh, DE is indeed good for controlling caterpillar type pests in the garden.

 

[Right On Reds]

When I told chicken farmers of my procedure they laughed themselves to death.

My set up is a rubbermaind type shed 7 x 3 with shelves inside. I line every box, every roosting shelf with hay. Every day I put on a rubber glove and go poop picking taking hay/poop clumps and put them either in compost or garbage. This leaves the coop itself poop free.

The run is half cement sidewalk and half dirt. In the summer I hose off the cement. If need be, I'll throw some DE down. When we had horses and a barn, we'd often use agricultural lime to keep smell down in the barn, but I haven't had to do that yet.

My coop/run area is about forty feet long by nine feet wide btw.

I currently have six hens. Cleaning takes me less than five minutes a day. Were I to hose, like in the warmer weather, double that to ten minutes.

Most of the smell is kept at bay. Nice sweet smelling, fresh and green alfalfa hay adds a lovely aroma and they'll eat some too. I've also used wood shavings with great success for odor.

In the summer, on the hottest of days, before I clean there can be a slight smell. I let the girls into the lawn area and I use air freshener spray, clean and spray again. This gets it good. I've hung the yellow pine tree fresheners to help with smell as well as flies. It's just a matter of keeping it really clean, and then using flytraps as flies are also frowned upon by neighbors.

So far, so good, no complaints which is a good thing, since I live in NYC and have lots of neighbors.

 

[WoodlandWoman]

Lots of chicken poop in a bare run, with rain added, is usually what's stinky. Sand makes a great base for a run and you can use one of the little dog poop rakes to clean some of the poop out. Covering the run helps keep it dry, too, plus that gives the chickens shade in the winter. Make sure your run has good drainage and isn't in a low spot, too.

 

[Carrie Lynn]

Right On Reds,
I use food server gloves or a plastic bag over my hand to grab the clumps in my little 4'x'4' coop.
What I can't reach I get with a long-handled cat litter scooper. This keeps my girls' pine shavings fairly clean if done 2x a day.
Right now it's pretty easy because the poop is frozen or at least pretty solid.
I don't know if this technique will work in summer though...

 

[knjinnm]

Quote:
How big is your run and how many birds do you have?

Turn the dirt over in the run, add leaves, grass clippings and soon the soil will start to work like a compost bin breaking the dropping down very quickly. Cover the run if possible when rain is expected.