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Wickedchicki

Wickedchicki

In the Brooder
Joined
Jun 30, 2015
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Location
Charlotte, NC
My husband and I just acquired 3, 3-4 week old chicks ( rhode island reds). We are in the process of finishing our coop and run. We live in a neighborhood and only have about 1/2 acre fenced in. Any advice is appreciated! Especially on how to keep everything clean. I definitely don't want my neighbors minding us having the chickens. It will be a few months before I can bribe them with eggs :) thinking of getting 1 or 2 more chicks but a different breed.
 
Welcome to BYC and the wonderful world of chickens!

If you have a small yard, I would suggest composting. Chicken droppings can smell really strongly otherwise.

We love chatting about poultry, so feel free to share photos, stories, and ask as many questions as you want.

Best of luck!
 
Welcome to BYC. Glad you decided to join our flock. With a relatively small lot and close neighbors, I would suggest that if you add a couple of more chickens to your flock that you go with one of the breeds that has a reputation for being calm, gentle, and quiet (as chickens go) such as Australorps, Orpingtons, Cochins, Brahmas, or Faverolles. If egg production is a priority, Australorps are the best layers on this list. Definitely do not get any cockerels (only pullets). If you haven't done so already, check out our Learning Center at https://www.backyardchickens.com/atype/1/Learning_Center. There is loads of useful information there that will keep you from making beginners' mistakes. :o) Please feel free to ask any questions you may have. We are here to help in any way we can. Good luck with your neighbors.
 
Welcome to BYC!

I'm a RIR fan myself, you'll be getting nice brown eggs from them eventually.

I think the best way to keep any odor down is to keep their coop and surroundings as clean as possible. You might investigate sand as a bedding for the coop, I've heard their is very little odor with it and it's very simple to keep clean. If you use the Search box at the top left of the screen, you'll find a lot of posts about it.

Hope you're enjoying your new flock, nice to have you here!
 
X2 on the composter. I am on a tiny lot, and I put all the droppings into a dual-chamber compost tumbler that is set up right outside the coop.

I use sand in the covered part of my run. It drains really well so the girls are comfy on it when it rains. I also have a large run with a dirt floor, and because I am in such a tight suburban space I will actually scoop poo from the dirt run when I'm outside (with a cat litter scooper). This probably seems excessive, but again, I have no margin for smell, as it were. And I will say that technique has worked in terms of odor control. I have only two birds, though -- probably not feasible with a larger flock.

If it rains really hard and the sand run gets very wet despite being covered, it can smell a little, but getting rid of some sand and adding a product called Sweet PDZ every once in a while really helps. Sweet PDZ is a mineral that absorbs ammonia, marketed for horse stalls, and as far as I can tell is nontoxic and safe for chickens to eat. I find it helps in the run; I think opinions about its effectiveness are mixed, though, so as with everything you just have to try it out and see what works with your girls.
 
Welcome to Backyard chickens, so glad you joined the flock.
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