Odor from chickens

[moetrout]

Do you have moisture (or water below the surface) in your run? I can't imagine 2-3 birds smelling that bad. I have 6 and 1 turkey. You don't notice any smell unless you are actively cleaning out the coup. However, if it rains and it is warm then yes, occassionally I smell them.

 

[poltroon]

Quote:
This sounds alot like the situation I'm currently having except I haven't completely set up my run.
-- How many inches of sand do I need to put down?
-- Do they sell bags of sand in manageable sizes like around the size of a bag of soil? I can't haul a ton of sand but over multiple trips and bags (that I could carry myself) I might be able to do it.
-- If I scoop poop in general at least once in three days (I'll try everyday), how long will the whole batch of sand last? How many months or years would I expect to need to completely remove and refill the sand for 2 hens?

I need to get rid of this stink!

You can buy play sand at the hardware store in reasonable sized bags, usually 50 lbs and 100 lbs. (Sand is heavy!)

 

[stowellka]

i use construction sand ,seems to be courser than play sand and i get it @ homedepot, i love it ! it is easy to spot the poop, get yourself a large kitty litter scooper and a rake i only have two peeps but sand is the way to go IMHO

 

[sunflowerenvy]

Quote:
This sounds alot like the situation I'm currently having except I haven't completely set up my run.
-- How many inches of sand do I need to put down?
-- Do they sell bags of sand in manageable sizes like around the size of a bag of soil? I can't haul a ton of sand but over multiple trips and bags (that I could carry myself) I might be able to do it.
-- If I scoop poop in general at least once in three days (I'll try everyday), how long will the whole batch of sand last? How many months or years would I expect to need to completely remove and refill the sand for 2 hens?

I need to get rid of this stink!

You can buy play sand at the hardware store in reasonable sized bags, usually 50 lbs and 100 lbs. (Sand is heavy!)

yes you can get sand at hardware store in bags but i believe it would be cheaper to get thur a landscape company they will deliver to your home for a price.


what size is your pen n coop?
what do you used for bedding?
if you used hay or staw when it get wet from moist[dew, rain, looses bowel-movement] it will smell

in run put about4 inch of sand in it then spread de over the top of it monthly. you can rake up the run every3 days . and sprinkle water on it weekly too.
this sand should last u yrs.

i have 10 chickens in a coop and run in a shady area they been in there about 7 weeks i clean out the coop twice [once a month]there they roost under them is 3 inch of pine shaving which they scratch in it and i pull it bad at night so u don't see the green floor. daily
i used a brush to loose up the poop off the floor after it drys daily
it get to be up to 100 degree in there during the day.
i have not clean out the run yet. it been hot index is over 110 degrees for the last month and dry here. when it rains at night the run get wet and dry before the chicken get on again i am praying for some rain

 

[AndreaGS]

We got our chickens from a friend. She fed them organic feed, and noticed that their poop was a lot less smelly on organic. It only cost a few more $ per bag, so I continued to do that. Ours live mostly in a run right next to the house, and they get to free range in our small suburban backyard when we're home. Haven't noticed a smell unless I get the poop on my hands or something.

 

[UrbanChick101]

Getting chickens in a week or two. This is all new to us. What is the best bedding to put in the coop and what is DE?

 

[raro]

I have a weird system that we started that works for us. I keep the coop inside. Didn't intend to at first, but it's a great routine: In the mornings, I open the coop, shoo the girls outside, and then clean the coop. They only stay in the actual coop for sleeping at night. I keep water and feed outside for them, and they have areas out there where they can nest. But because I do it this way, I just put newspapers on the bottom of the coop. In the mornings when they're out of the coop, I just gather up the poopy papers and put them in a trashcan with a lid. Then I put down new papers. (Since we get the local paper, it doesn't cost anything extra). The hens do all their scratching outside. My sister in law insists we should use wood shavings, but what's the point? It's MUCH cleaner this way since the poop is gotten rid of every single morning. And it's also much cheaper. The chickens don't bother scratching it up since they're not in it very long.

 

[hudsonhousechicks]

I'm always lovin' on my chickens, I don't think they stink! The poo stinks plenty and worse if it rains. My sweet old dog has liver disease and he stinks but I love him lots too. I stink on occasion but shower daily so I don't often get complaints. There's a regular customer at a bookstore that I frequent and I can guarantee you that he does NOT shower daily. Wish he did though. He'd be doing everyone a favor if he even smelled half as good as one of my chickens!

 

[Oscgrr]

I have eleven chickens and they don't stink themselves but they can sure stink up a run. I let them free range a lot but some of my neighbors don't have fences around their gardens so I've been keeping my birds in the run most of the day or they'll destroy every garden they come across. When they're allowed to free range, the run doesn't stink but being confined lately has put a rather unpleasant smell in the run (chickens poo is nasty). My run has a dirt floor and gets plenty of sunshine and air but eleven birds poop a lot. I turned over the idea of putting sand in the run but one day, on a whim, I emptied the lawn clippings into the run and that seemed to solve the problem. The chickens like to pick through the clippings for treats and after a week I rake it up, it's dried out by then, and put more in. Raking it up gets all the poo up and I put it in the compost pile.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Those of you havong odor and fly problems need to invest in a bag of Sweet PDZ. It is FANTASTIC at absorbing excess moisture and chemically altering the ammonia that is a large cause of the odor. Doesn't take a lot, but is VERY EFFECTIVE. www.sweetpdz.com