Nervous about the smell coop again this summer.

[countryladyNH]

Soooo I've spent a while searching around, looking at threads about this, but I want my own one, and more specific help.

Last summer, my coop ALWAYS stunk, I cleaned the roosting boards daily, had deep litter, but coming within 15 feet of the coop, you would be hit in the face with chicken stank and flies.

My coop is 8x8 and currently has 15 chickens, will be 20 soon but that's about my max for this coop. I had about 6 inches of pine shavings, straw, leaves, pine needles, and anything else I could find in there.

I did not use pdz in there, but I have a bag and will start using it soon, I'm hoping this will help as well. I am located at the very top of North Carolina, so summers are hot but not awful compared to other areas.

The coop stays very dry as well.

Based on the info I've given, does anyone have some extra tips for me coming into this new year to keep my coop not as smelly?

For us it's always been simple. Our coop has NEVER smelled. Not in any season. Not ever. We take a bucket of sudsy warm water out every single morning early and clean it. Everything gets a wipe down; poop tray taken out, scraped into a separate special bucket that we empty in the compost, then washed over the soapy water bucket. This is all not as complicated as it may sound. Coop and the run take maybe 15 min., 20 max. Also, and this is a HUGE help, we have SAND in coop and run. Poop is easily scooped out every morning with a kitty litter scoop with the holes. Sand just runs through. We would never use anything else but clean, construction sand. Chickens also are not walking in poop all the time, etc. It's been almost 5 years now, and we rarely ever have a hen get sick, and the coop and run have never smelled at all. The key is that this is a daily routine we do, regardless of the season. It also prevents any yuk from building up on floor, walls, nest boxes, perch, etc., because they are cleaned daily. Two times a year we take everything out and Clean the coop with that spray Kennel Wash and then the spray disinfectant that prevents any bugs, etc. (Both of these attach to the hose). One thing that also really helps is that we painted the inside of our coop with a scrubbable, semi gloss paint. We highly recommend you don't leave the inside of the coop unpainted, including perch---(we have a wide 2x4 board for them), nest boxes, etc. Hope this helps!

 

[nchanson007]

Soooo I've spent a while searching around, looking at threads about this, but I want my own one, and more specific help.

Last summer, my coop ALWAYS stunk, I cleaned the roosting boards daily, had deep litter, but coming within 15 feet of the coop, you would be hit in the face with chicken stank and flies.

My coop is 8x8 and currently has 15 chickens, will be 20 soon but that's about my max for this coop. I had about 6 inches of pine shavings, straw, leaves, pine needles, and anything else I could find in there.

I did not use pdz in there, but I have a bag and will start using it soon, I'm hoping this will help as well. I am located at the very top of North Carolina, so summers are hot but not awful compared to other areas.

The coop stays very dry as well.

Based on the info I've given, does anyone have some extra tips for me coming into this new year to keep my coop not as smelly?

We live in north Texas and set up our Coop in October. We have had some pretty warm days (mid 80's) but not as hot as in the summer. We are using the deep litter method in our henhouse with industrial hemp bedding and have no smell!! We have 6 hens (19 weeks old) and the henhouse is 4 feet by 6 feet, our run is 6 feet by 15 feet (I laid organic compost in the run). We have plenty of ventilation in the henhouse. We started with about 1 foot deep of the bedding and add an inch or 2 every 2- 3 weeks. I definitely recommend this method. Not sure when I will change the bedding out, but I have seen some folks say they don't need to change the bedding out for upto 2-3 years. I really feel the industrial hemp is key.
We used this company and order it online. Not easy to find in big quantities in the DFW area.
https://www.newcountryorganics.com/hemp-bedding-5-cu-ft-bag-33-lbs.html

Look up deep litter method on the Carolina Coops website. They have some good videos.

Good luck!

 

[aart]

Look up deep litter method on the Carolina Coops website. They have some good videos.

Balderdash!
Sorry, they make beautiful coops, but their bedding claims are far fetched.

 

[Sally PB]

Instead of poop boards I have a "poop area" under the roost that currently has hemp bedding (which is expensive, but 1 bag will last me a few years) for easy scooping.

I have something very similar. It works very well too. In the spring/summer/fall, I had boot mats under the roost which I had covered with PDZ. Now that it's cold, they spend more time in the coop, and the mats got covered with bedding. I took them out and just scoop out whatever I can from under the roost every day. It takes about 5 minutes. The bedding is a mix of pine shavings and hemp, about 6 inches deep. This time of year, the poop is often frozen and scoops very easily.

Unless someone has just dropped a fresh cecal poop, there is no smell at all. In fact, if I smell something, I know to watch where I step.

 

[Lilyput]

Did you post the pictures?

 

[Lilyput]

Deep litter needs to be right on dirt to work; not sure if you have enough ventilation either. I have sixteen chickens and never any odor. Not the best picture. Covered area has a 4 x 4 coop; just for sleeping and laying eggs. Rest of covered area is deep litter on ground usually leaves, straw, etc. I Never change it. Never smells, just decomposes to beautiful soil. I have actually cut large opening into back wall up by ceiling for even more ventilation. This is when coop first started. Now it's high with rich high compost. (took a year of four seasons). I do change my coop shavings once a month. (Coop is the purple box). It has ventilation out of top and left of my daughter in law and top of egg box is cracked about two inches during the day. It doesn't get too cold in Raleigh, NC

 

[PhillyDelcoChix]

I would wait until the ground unfreezes, Specifically spring. We switched to a sand “floor” and mix in PDZ; the horse stall size is cheaper by the pound that the chicken version. The PDZ does a great job of absorbing odor. Cleaning up after the chickens and keeping their area dry keep the odor down. We bought fly strips and never ended up needing them.

 

[GOATLADY006]

Soooo I've spent a while searching around, looking at threads about this, but I want my own one, and more specific help.

Last summer, my coop ALWAYS stunk, I cleaned the roosting boards daily, had deep litter, but coming within 15 feet of the coop, you would be hit in the face with chicken stank and flies.

My coop is 8x8 and currently has 15 chickens, will be 20 soon but that's about my max for this coop. I had about 6 inches of pine shavings, straw, leaves, pine needles, and anything else I could find in there.

I did not use pdz in there, but I have a bag and will start using it soon, I'm hoping this will help as well. I am located at the very top of North Carolina, so summers are hot but not awful compared to other areas.

The coop stays very dry as well.

Based on the info I've given, does anyone have some extra tips for me coming into this new year to keep my coop not as smelly?

Hemp shavings. I am using them now and my smaller coop with 6 chickens in it does not get smelly. The hemp seems to absorb the smell. It is more expensive but well worth it I think.

 

[Ladies of the Forest]

I’m so sorry you’re having this problem. I had a bad smell coming from my pen last year, and it turned out to be food that had gotten spilled in a place where I couldn’t see it, and it got wet. What a putrid smell! Turns out that rotting chicken food stinks worse then chicken poop. Do you keep food anywhere uncovered? I hope that’s all your problem is because it was a super easy fix! My birds’ poop doesn’t stink, haha

 

[BiddyBiddy]

I would wait until the ground unfreezes, Specifically spring. We switched to a sand “floor” and mix in PDZ; the horse stall size is cheaper by the pound that the chicken version. The PDZ does a great job of absorbing odor. Cleaning up after the chickens and keeping their area dry keep the odor down. We bought fly strips and never ended up needing them.

I didn’t know Chewy had PDZ! I’ve been getting it from tractor supply.