Lower protein amount for less poop smell?

[bridgetchicken]

Does feeding chickens a lower protein amount reduce the poop smell overall?

 

[Tonyroo]

Get nutrena brand of chicken or chick feed. The poop smell isn't noticeable.

 

[Tonyroo]

Does feeding chickens a lower protein amount reduce the poop smell overall?

Protein has nothing to do with it. It's the various ingredients in the feed that causes a strong or less smell.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

It has the effect of lowering the ammonia content in the feces. Excess protein increases nitrogenous waste that results in the ammonia you smell.
I guess that is what you are looking for.
Ideally, you may want to try to tweak the amino acid complex of their feed stuffs.
The problem as I see it is that chickens are omnivores and most chicken feed is vegetarian. Because of that, they must mix a grain like corn and soybeans or other legume to get close to the amino acid balance chickens need. However, it is close but not complete. Therefore, they usually have to add lysine and methionine in synthetic form to get those essentials that are pretty much missing in vegetative sources.
When someone tries to increase the crude protein in chicken feed to get to 18, 20 or heaven forbid 22%, what they end up with is lots of unused amino acids that end up as ammonia in the bedding.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Get nutrena brand of chicken or chick feed. The poop smell isn't noticeable.

The brand has nothing to do with it.

 

[TX Chick Noob]

The brand has nothing to do with it.

Nutrena NatureWise has ingredients they claim help reduce the smell, and a lot of people feel it works.

 

[3KillerBs]

Why would you reduce the quality of your chickens' nutrition?

The best control for odor is a combination of:

• Adequate space per chicken to allow an appropriate volume of bedding. Crowded chickens stink because there's too much poop for the space to handle.
• Adequate management of moisture in the coop and run. Dry chickens don't stink, wet ones do.
• Adequate ventilation. The Usual Guideline is to have at least 1 square foot of permanent, 24/7/365 ventilation per adult, standard-size hen. Climate matters so if you life in a hot climate you may need double, triple, or more above that minimum. Since heat and ammonia both rise, it's critical to have top-level ventilation to let the stink out and keep the coop fresh. Adequate ventilation also helps with the management of moisture.
• An appropriate system of manure management. There are many such systems, all of which work in the right situation for the right personality. I prefer deep bedding and/or deep litter and don't use poop boards. Others use them in combination with poop boards. Some people scoop poop at frequent intervals. Some people simply clean the coop frequently. All of these things work -- assuming, cycling back to my first point, that the chickens have adequate space to not overwhelm the system with an unmanageable amount of poop.

*Most* cases of stinky chickens can be traced back to issues with the first two points -- space and moisture.

 

[Lazy J Farms Feed & Hay]

Look for feeds that contain Yucca Schidegra Extract and don't overfeed protein.

 

[Beaker99]

I had to switch brands of feed due to stink. It was strong. Nutrition labels were not so different, but smell is gone.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Does feeding chickens a lower protein amount reduce the poop smell overall?

Welcome to BYC!

Lower amount of protein than what??

I agree with the first post by chicken canoe.. EXCESS protein causes excess nitrogen and extra smelly extra expensive waste and protein has everything to do with it. However reducing protein on an already minimal diet like "layer feed" or feeding something very low in protein like "scratch" may cause a whole host of other individual health problems. Feeding a balanced and appropriate diet for whatever species (and age) is always preferred.

However.. I do agree that brand of feed does make a huge difference in waste smell.. in my experience.. even at the same approximate nutrition label. Not the ammonia per say but something else.. maybe whether the formulation is made with more soy verses more corn or even wheat. Something IS stinkier on some feeds (waste). Some folks might not notice.. but it's true.

Noting NO chicken should really be kept indoors (or alone), as noted by one poster there simply isn't adequate ventilation (recalling the OP's questions from another thread but NOT stirring the pot). Using sweet PDZ mixed into bedding CAN be another good way to cut down ammonia.

I had to switch brands of feed due to stink. It was strong. Nutrition labels were not so different, but smell is gone.

Please tell brand names and formulation (starter.layer, etc or protein level) for informational purposes.. which was "strong" and what was less so?