Official BYC Poll: How Do You Keep Your Coop Smelling Fresh?

[papajoesfarm]

The coops are all waterproofed. Metal roofs with gutters, all cracks are caulked. The brooder coop is lined with 7 mil plastic. Drop down wooden window shutters that are closed when it's raining, open when it's not. Small fans provide circulation on those hot and humid days. Constantly change litter in the coops, use poop boards that are cleaned every other day. The runs are swept weekly. All of that immediately goes out to the vegetable and flower crops. We never have to buy any chemical fertilizers, thanks to our flocks. If something goes wrong, we imeediately break out the agricultural lime, and fly bags.

 

[HeathenHavenHomestead]

ever since i read the artical on nesting boxes, i decited to spice up the nesting boxes a bit, and put herbs and flowers in them! so i chose 'i hang herbs such as baisil, mint, lavender, ect around the coop'

Where do you get your herbs?

 

[Danielpn]

I don't see "the comment section below" that these polls always mention. So I just have to blather on. Besides lots of ventilation, as close as I can improvise to a "Woods design" before I do a total rebuild, I am experimenting with putting the chooks to work.
I use "fine" pine shavings from TSC on the floor and add half a bale or so from time to time. I toss a few handfuls of scratch in and the girls keep the litter loose and aerated (and dry).
Does anybody see a problem with this? Am I playing Russian Roulette with internal parasites or something else?

 

[PopoMyers]

Instead of using the coop PDZ, I buy the more economical large bag for Horse stalls, barns. Sprinkled after every bedding/poop Cleaning. Have sand on the floor of the roofed run attached to the coop, stays dry, except in winter and rainy season.

 

[aart]

I don't see "the comment section below" that these polls always mention.

It is a misleading term.
It really means 'reply to the thread.'

Instead of using the coop PDZ, I buy the more economical large bag for Horse stalls, barns.

Absolutely!!
..and get the granulated rather than the powder as it's less dusty in most situations.

 

[3KillerBs]

Does anybody see a problem with this? Am I playing Russian Roulette with internal parasites or something else?

Deep Bedding and/or Deep Litter is a perfectly valid management method.

If the coop or run doesn't stink and it's not all moldy or something like that you're probably fine (but checking the flock for external parasites regularly is always good management).

 

[humblehillsfarm]

Poop boards, open rafters for ventilation, and a box fan in the summer which draws out a ton of the dust. Daily I scoop the poop boards(lined with coffee grounds currently) and scoop any large poops from the pine shavings. Poop goes to the compost. I replace water every 1-3 days depending on the season. I used to not keep water in my coop but now my water is spill-proof and my ventilation is excellent so a little extra moisture from water evaporation is no big deal. I thoroughly wash the water containers once a week. Monthly I knock the dust out of the fake-grass liners in the nest box, knock down dust from walls, windows, and tops of nest boxes with a broom. I change the bedding as needed, about one to two times per year. Typically I change the bedding because of breakdown and dust, not because of odor.

 

[CreveChris]

A thin layer of Sweet PDZ on the poop boards, poop boards scooped daily, hemp bedding on the coop floor, hemp bedding changed out annually, 22 sq ft of year round ventilation with an additional 22 sq ft opened up for warm weather ventilation and probably most significantly, a predator proof run attached to the coop where the pop door is never closed where the chickens immediately retreat to when coming off the roost.
The run is covered with wood chips that get raked about every other month to even them out and everything cold composts in there. I've never removed material from the run. My brother-in-law commented when he entered the coop for the first time "I can't believe it doesn't smell in here."
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Exactly! Except for sand in the run and a chicken tractor on pasture the flock time-shares. Hemp is so expensive, we've considered becoming licensed as growers (I spin fiber, too).

i use First Saturday Lime and a spray freshner, too. The biggest problem is the waterer in the coop, even with the best Dutch horizontal nipples. I scoop wet hemp into a pile to dry out every morning.

Also, here in Florida, my hens drink tons of water (probiotic and fresh), so a lot of their coop poop is watery and even the hemp can get soggy. I use a sifting catbox weekly to remove the worst of it.

In the new coop/run build, which has taken a year but should be ready next month, we are using natural sand/dirt, a Florida perk.

Without the chicken tractor I move daily, I'd be really overwhelmed by all the poop. I compost the coop poop elsewhere on our acreage, and it's enough to cover a 400sqft raised bed annually.

As a chicken tender with a sensitive nose, I also throw all of my herb stems into the nest boxes to create a potpourri, and sprinkle dried oregano by the pound all over the coop.

 

[MastrangeloFamily]

Bio-char.

 

[Justicedog]

I have it far away from the house.