New hens are STAAAANKY!!

[Jenjens]

HI,

I brought home 2 news hens from a farm and they smell real bad!!! They are skittish and won't let me near them, and they are stinking up my coop! Anyone have any contactless way I can make them smell better? Baking soda in the dust bath or something?? It was an organic farm, but their coop was just layers and layers of poop and feathers. With over 70 chickens, so I am not surprised.

I feel like the smell is permanently stuck in my nostrils lol.

Thanks

 

[chickenlittle21]

Sprinkle diatomaceous earth and herbs around the coop

 

[Sammi_0411]

Let them dust bath in DE xx

 

[chickenlittle21]

Let them dust bath in DE

You should never let a chicken dust bathe in pure diatomaceous earth, you should always mix it with sand

 

[21hens-incharge]

Just being able to properly dust bathe in normal dirt will fix it.

 

[One Lucky Momma]

They will be soooo glad they’ve come to live with you. Give them a few days. They don’t like being like this, either.

 

[Sammi_0411]

You should never let a chicken dust bathe in pure diatomaceous earth, you should always mix it with sand

I meant put DE in their already dust bath eg sand etc may shoulda been more clear my bad

 

[aart]

I brought home 2 news hens from a farm and they smell real bad!!! They are skittish and won't let me near them, and they are stinking up my coop!

Are these your only 2 birds?
Just give them time.
Hopefully you have good ventilation in your coop and they have a secure run to dust bathe in.

Just being able to properly dust bathe in normal dirt will fix it.

This^^^!!!

Nix the DE.

 

[Jenjens]

Thanks guys. I feel a tad bad because they went from a huge pasture to a small yard. But that coop with all of those birds to a smallish clean coop should be less are stressful. I have 4 hens and one rooster and they are being bullied pretty bad (mostly by the sebright bantam....she is being so horrible)

They don't have ever really had close contact with people. They looked at blueberries, apples, and BOS like they were aliens. No experience with treats. I hope they get the hang of it here and they get along well with the others sooner rather than later.

I will add some DE to their sand bath areas. Thank you!

 

[3KillerBs]

DE is a respiratory irritant.

Just ordinary dirt will do the job over an appropriate amount of time.