My coop stinks!

[Howard E]

One other thing I failed to mention. In the nutrition section of one of my poultry husbandry books, it goes into considerable detail on the amounts of things birds need and it plainly says that adult laying hens only need 15% protein in their ration. I am feeding what our local feed store sells and that is Purina layer ration and it is 16%. For those of you feeding grower ratios at 18% and higher, any excess protein that they cannot use is going to be excreted as nitrogen in their droppings. That combined with a whole lot of other things may be contributing factors. Not saying you shouldn't do it if that is your preference, only that if you feed it and they don't use it all, it may show up as ammonia inside your coop.

But I also agree that a warm spell and humid weather may be a factor. Warm enough for bacteria to start breaking down the complex amino acids into volatile ammonia, and too humid for the droppings to dry out.

 

[Egghead_Jr]

If my coop starts to stink I haul out all the pine shavings and replace them. Works every time.

 

[IdyllwildAcres]

Did you change the feed? I have heard that some feeds stink more than others

Gary

 

[aart]

My chicks have been in their coop since late September, and I've been proud of the way it never really smelled, until maybe the last ten days. I'm wondering if my young chicks, which are probably just on the eve of laying their first eggs, are going thru some sort of hormone shift that has them suddenly stinking to high heaven.

Coop is well sized to the flock, and filled with 4" to 6" pine shavings. I did a complete change-out of the old pine shavings last weekend, thinking that would resolve it, but just three days later it's starting to smell again. I've always kept an inch of PDZ in the poop tray, where they do about 99% of their pooping, and sifted it with a kitty litter scoop every Saturday. Not ideal, but I'm not home during daylight hours during the week, and can't really kick them off the roost at night to clean the poop tray. There has never been an odor issue in the past.

Some friends who have owned chickens in the past just tell me that's the way it is with chickens, and I shouldn't expect it not to smell, but I was so happy with the way it hadn't smelled bad over the last four months. Should I just live with it? I can't figure out how to describe the magnitude of smell in words, but I can say it's not pleasant!

I'm betting your experiencing the change between 'baby' poop and layer poop, once they start laying the poops get much bigger and stinkier for sure.
Humidity could be an issue also... we've just had a thaw and some warm weather and rain here, stink factor went up.
Ventilation could play a roll also.

 

[EasterEggDrew]

I think you guys nailed it. Wet and cool, the poop sitting on the poop board just isnt drying out like it would in summer, and it's too warm to freeze. The coop is dry, has 4 sq ft per bird, and is about 7 feet tall with a big vent in the gable. I don't think it's a coop setup issue. Also, run is dry and covered, and has same smell, but much more faint since it's outdoors.

 

[EasterEggDrew]

I'm noticing it smells worst in the mornings, after the birds have been "cooped up" in there all night. No surprise, but it makes me wonder if leaving the pop door open might be warranted. The coop is 16 sq ft x 7' tall, with 2 sq ft ventilation in roof, but gets no flow-thru when pop door and window are closed for the night. If I leave the pop door open, I will get nice up-draft ventilation in thru the pop door and out thru the roof, but it might be colder for the birds. Also, even though I think my run is pretty secure, there is always some added risk of a predator digging their way into the run, and then getting into the coop.

Thoughts?

 

[aart]

Definitely need some 24/7 ventilation.
Leaving pop door open might be an option unless too strong a breeze is flowing right across roost area.
Seeing more of coop and run, inside and out...and putting your location in your profile.... might help garner more possible solutions.

 

[EasterEggDrew]

You know the inside of this coop well, aart... you helped me redesign it! Location is north of Philadelphia.

Here's the basic layout, during construction, last September. The nesting boxes have been lowered a few inches since then, but otherwise mostly as shown. Vent is in roof directly above pop door.

 

[aart]

Ah yes..now I remember.
Was more interested in seeing up inside coop and run...any ventilation up there?
Gable end in back or where run roof meets coop roof might be a good place to 'cut some more holes'.

 

[EasterEggDrew]

Yep, entire triangle is open on coop, where run roof meets coop roof, excepting one structural stringer down the middle. Will try to get a pic soon.