No smell in my Coop

[Coos NH]

I thought I would post some feedback on my new Coop. I read everything I could find on the subject of "deep litter" before I built my coop and ended up with a great finished product. My coop has been in operation now for about 2 months. I have 10 chickens in it and its dimensions are 6x8. I listened to everyones experience and since we are in Northern Nh and we get both heat ( 90s in the summer ) and cold ( -20 isnt unusual in the winter) I was looking for something that would limit the maintenance and at the same time be comfortable for the girls to live in. I ended up building the run door and the entrance door 10 inches off the floor. I did this so that I could use 6 to 8 inches of wood pellets ( yes the same thing I burn in my stove ) as bedding. My dog always tries to eat them ( he is sometimes successful ) so I figured after a little research that they couldnt hurt the chickens. I am amazed how in 2 months time there is ZERO odor, so are my friends who have had chickens in the past, most of the time I cant even see any chicken poop on the pellets as they are always scratching up the top layer. The pellets have held up well and not swelled even in the humidity. I do have some pellet deterioration near the water dish but the chickens just scratch up the sawdust and it settles in with the rest. I see it as minimal. I just wanted to write in and say for me this method works 110%. I have no smell whatsoever to this point and I hope to report in the spring that my results are still good. I still have not had to clean the coop at all. Thanks to everyone who posted articles on this idea, it was a huge benefit and I cant say what a treasure trove this site has been for us. The girls are a lot of fun, we should have done this when our kids were little...... what a hoot the ladies have been to watch.

Thanks to everyone
Northern NH

 

[stcroixusvi]

me too, except I use shavings.

 

[teach1rusl]

Interesting. The best report will come after a long winter of course. I like my dropping boards, but am always interested in hearing about other approaches. Wood pellets - go figure.

 

[Sinfonian]

Great work! I just have to somehow increase the height of the wall around the in-floor chicken door to do the deep litter method. However, with only 4 inches and 2 months I have minimal smell. I'm happy with it so far.

Congrats. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Coos NH]

I thought of shaving but with 8 tons of pellets being burned a year to heat the house ( 50 bags a ton ) I figured I wouldnt miss 6 to 8 bags.....lol Glad to hear you have had the same experience. How long have you been using deep liter? How often have you had to clean it out? I am hoping for a once a year clean out in the spring and I hope to use the used litter on my garden at that point.

Northern NH

 

[tpz4254]

Thanks for the information about the wood stove pellets. TSC sells a product that is comparable, it's called Equine Fresh. The bag(40lbs) cost around $5.50. I'll have to compare the price to stove pellets.( Great Idea by the way!!!) My chicks are only 3 weeks old and are going into their new coop (4X4) very soon and I'm afraid of them eating the pellets and choking, so I soaked them in water to create sawdust instead. Now I'm waiting for the sawdust to dry using a high velocity fan. I am using pine shavings now in the brooder. When you do clean, are you going to pitch everything and start with new, or filter somehow? Thanks
I am new to raising chickens and most of my knowledge has come from BYC. I have 6 Golden Buffs. Thanks Again!!

 

[VelvettFog]

I use wood pellets too. From my shopping around, the type I burn in my stove are cheaper than the type used in stalls. Since I use a pellet stove to heat my house, I took the same approach as others on this thread. I just steal a few bags from the household supply. DW doesn't even notice

Fog

 

[Hawkeye95]

Where are you buying your stove wood pellets? How big is the bag, and how MUCH does it cost per bag?? I bought pine shavings at Walmart for $6.50, I forget the size of the bag, but it is the size of a small bale. I thought that was kind of high and wondered if there was a cheaper and better option. I'm all for wood pellets- but i have no clue where to buy them (or how much they are). Thanks!!!

 

[super rooster]

Usuall TSC is cheaper on there bales of shaving. I think the last time i bought some it was 5 dollars. I think the pellets are about the same price as a bale of shavings.

 

[Marcymom3]

My coop has pine shavings in it. I am curious about using the wood pellets. What is the advantage of using them over the shavings? and also, do your chickens try to eat them? Mine eat Layena pellets that look remarkably like wood pellets.