my surprise by the smell...

[courtshep]

I fed my chicks yogurt with starter feed in it yesterday morning. In the evening when I came to put them to bed, it smelled so bad!! Their poops smelled like bad, bad, spoiled milk. Is this normal? Whew!!

 

[MissPrissy]

Chicken poop stinks with or without the yogurt. I have never noticed a difference when I feed yogurt.

 

[courtshep]

That makes me wonder...it is so strange. They are acting fine. Maybe it was the brand of yogurt (Dannon Plain) and mix of feed (Dumor). I must say, they did enjoy eating it!! Is there anything you do in the coop to off-set the smell of the poop? I know Martha Stewart planted roses around her coop

 

[MissPrissy]

My coop doesn't stink.

 

[speckledhen]

Keep it dry is the main thing. I can go in my coop and take a deep breath and unless its first thing in the a.m. after a night of heavy pooping, I cant smell anything. A neighbor was in my coop last week and commented that it didnt smell bad. He was very surprised. I use a small rake and remove the worst big clumps of poop off the top every day, then rake it around and sprinkle some food grade Diatomaceous Earth under the roost area to dry things out. Works great. I also never see any difference after I feed yogurt.

 

[flakey chick]

When my chicks were very little, their poop smelled like chick feed. It looked a lot light chick feed too. Now it smells like chicken poo. I guess they are just doing a better job processing their food. Maybe you fed them yogurt just as they were reaching the stage where they poop more and it smells more.

 

[needmorechickens!]

I sprinkle SweetPDZ in the coop and run, then cover it with a fresh layer of straw, in 2 weeks I sprinkle PDZ and add another layer of straw. Every 4 months remove all straw and start over. I use DE too, but in smaller areas like the nest box.
My coop doesn't smell bad or have very many flies

~Rebecca

 

[Hixnstix]

What is Sweet PDZ????

 

[fullhouse]

I use the PDZ and a manure rake (like a giant kitty litter scooper) to sift poop and feathers out.

 

[speckledhen]

PDZ is a stall dry product, natural zeolite granules. It does help with odor. I've used it on occasion.