My Yard STINKS!
- Thread starter tamiep
- Start date
Sorry, I would NEVER be rude 
not intentionally. Attempting to grow grass, flowers or a garden as long as you "free range" you chickens and ducks, maybe fruitless. I live in a residential area, the yard is fenced (10K sqft) so I allowed my girls 4 - 6 to grub the yard. I never knew chickens could dig so deep! My garden got gobbled up, plants got nibbled, my nice manicured lawn had holes in them. Hubby built me an enclosure (8x12x7) which my girls now stay confined
They've adjusted and it took a few months before I got the holes & yard back into shape.Fermenting feed, aside from the nutritional and health benefits, they poop less, it's firmer and does NOT smell. Their enclosure using deep litter, does not smell .... My neighbors in the back was not aware I had chickens until I mentioned them. I also incorporated a poop board under their night roost, filled with PDZ and scoop their nightly poop. The poop in the shavings/ground material, I don't see much and just keep adding more material as it "disappears".
I've read several others having issues with water in the coops due to all the rain, another good product is the horse pellets that are used in stalls. It breaks down (saw dust) and absorbs the water, a friend dries hers out and/or turn into the compost/garden.
You may need to rethink allowing your chickens/ducks free ranging the property, possibly sectioning off a portion for them while the rest can be yard?
I used to haul from a chicken farm, Your eyes would water before you even seen the place from the ammonia
All the chickens wore sunglasses tho so that was cool
I'M the lazy gardener here!!! I call myself a lazy gardener b/c I do not till my soil, b/c I do deep mulch in garden, orchard and coop/run. And b/c i don't consider weeds to be much of an issue. Though, IMO, any one who grows part or most of their own food is not really lazy!
Nope "lazy" you are not, why not Productive Gardener 
Clean it.
Backyard Bruce
Songster
You sound like you could be my wife’s twin sister the way she goes about gardening, not lazy at all, smart gardener ?
As the saying goes “work smarter not harder “
Judging by your pic, I could be your wife's Mama!
To the OP........a few rules of thumb and suggestions.
One rule of thumb for outside stocking is 50 birds per acre. That translates into about 875 square feet per bird. At that rate, the grass, vegetation, etc, should be able to keep up with the birds, plus absorb all their droppings, etc. Stock much more than that and the birds will eventually overwhelm and destroy it. I currently have 7 birds confined to 150' x 100'.....over 2,000 SF per bird, and what I am seeing is a heavy carpet of lush green grass and clover....lush growth from the high nitrogen levels. Birds hang out under the few landscape shrubs in there, and are always roaming around looking for bugs and somthing to get into. At times, it seems they go out of their way to destroy stuff. They don't spend much time out in the open......they prefer edges and cover. No flower pot or flower bed is safe. They will destroy it. So anything in that area is sacrificial. But no stink or odors.
So how big is your entire backyard? As in how many SF and how many birds....or SF per bird?
As others have suggested, an option for you to consider in the short run is confining your birds to the pen and keep them on deep litter. At least 6 inches to start, filled with something that at one time was part of a living plant. Then in the long run, if you plan to stay put long enough to justify it, is to start some plantings. A variety of tall and short plantings is good, as would be a garden. Many garden plants are able to utilize the nitrogen from the droppings, although there will be times when some areas need to be off limits, as the birds will destroy it. I have intentionally planted diakon radishes in the summer and fall.....but the tops have to get past 6 inches before they grow fast enough to surpass the damage the birds do when eating it. After that......no worries. Same with sweet corn, sunflowers, etc. But you have to get them established before the birds destroy them. Pen is utilized then.
BTW, we have neighbors who have 10 acres and a large garden and orchard and they keep their birds locked up year round. They got tired of the damage. Birds do get their garden surplus and scraps and treats, but they get them inside the pen.
One rule of thumb for outside stocking is 50 birds per acre. That translates into about 875 square feet per bird. At that rate, the grass, vegetation, etc, should be able to keep up with the birds, plus absorb all their droppings, etc. Stock much more than that and the birds will eventually overwhelm and destroy it. I currently have 7 birds confined to 150' x 100'.....over 2,000 SF per bird, and what I am seeing is a heavy carpet of lush green grass and clover....lush growth from the high nitrogen levels. Birds hang out under the few landscape shrubs in there, and are always roaming around looking for bugs and somthing to get into. At times, it seems they go out of their way to destroy stuff. They don't spend much time out in the open......they prefer edges and cover. No flower pot or flower bed is safe. They will destroy it. So anything in that area is sacrificial. But no stink or odors.
So how big is your entire backyard? As in how many SF and how many birds....or SF per bird?
As others have suggested, an option for you to consider in the short run is confining your birds to the pen and keep them on deep litter. At least 6 inches to start, filled with something that at one time was part of a living plant. Then in the long run, if you plan to stay put long enough to justify it, is to start some plantings. A variety of tall and short plantings is good, as would be a garden. Many garden plants are able to utilize the nitrogen from the droppings, although there will be times when some areas need to be off limits, as the birds will destroy it. I have intentionally planted diakon radishes in the summer and fall.....but the tops have to get past 6 inches before they grow fast enough to surpass the damage the birds do when eating it. After that......no worries. Same with sweet corn, sunflowers, etc. But you have to get them established before the birds destroy them. Pen is utilized then.
BTW, we have neighbors who have 10 acres and a large garden and orchard and they keep their birds locked up year round. They got tired of the damage. Birds do get their garden surplus and scraps and treats, but they get them inside the pen.
- Thread starter
- #20
Attempting to grow grass, flowers or a garden as long as you "free range" you chickens and ducks, maybe fruitless. I live in a residential area, the yard is fenced (10K sqft) so I allowed my girls 4 - 6 to grub the yard. I never knew chickens could dig so deep! My garden got gobbled up, plants got nibbled, my nice manicured lawn had holes in them. Hubby built me an enclosure (8x12x7) which my girls now stay confined
Fermenting feed, aside from the nutritional and health benefits, they poop less, it's firmer and does NOT smell. Their enclosure using deep litter, does not smell .... My neighbors in the back was not aware I had chickens until I mentioned them. I also incorporated a poop board under their night roost, filled with PDZ and scoop their nightly poop. The poop in the shavings/ground material, I don't see much and just keep adding more material as it "disappears".
I've read several others having issues with water in the coops due to all the rain, another good product is the horse pellets that are used in stalls. It breaks down (saw dust) and absorbs the water, a friend dries hers out and/or turn into the compost/garden.
You may need to rethink allowing your chickens/ducks free ranging the property, possibly sectioning off a portion for them while the rest can be yard?
Thank you, ChickNanny, I will have to think about the free-range situation. I never had a problem until the heavy rains and the additional 2 adopted ducks. They are really messy. Sorry I misunderstood about the LazyGardener thing. LOL
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