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

[schmedlap]

Dont apologize…there’s a ton to learn! Welcome. Poop boards are something built below your roost bars in the coop. It holds the poop that the chickens poop during the night while they are sleeping. they poop A LOT!!! If you can see the tray under the roost. That is a poop board. I sprinkle sweet PDZ on the board to keep odor down. Good Luck!

I use a long rectangular plastic planter instead of a board. hangs on chains under their roost.

 

[Justicedog]

Resist chicken math! Make sure all of your birds have as much space as possible in the coop and run 24-7. I also use a dropping pit-type roost that I built out of two by fours spaced 1-2 in apart. Most of the night-time manure falls below. On the outside I built a trap door where I can scrape it out daily or every few days and throw it on the compost pile. I find very little, if any, manure in the bedding itself. And of course good ventilation.

Do you have a picture of this?

I'm trying to figure something out to make that part easier to clean. I'd bought a few trays like they use to bus tables in restaurants and was going to put that under the roosts, but that doesn't seem ideal as they hit the edges of it. Maybe if I get the roosts out further from the wall it may help. I'm just trying to see options.

 

[romea]

i keep my (free-ranging) flocks on sand and use a cat-litter scoop to clean their droppings below their boards daily. takes me 5 minutes tops.

 

[Cazook]

where do you get this? how is it packaged?

It's a big tub of powder. You just dust one scoop into the coop/covered run. Dries everything out, stops ammonia and kills parasites, bacteria, fungi etc.


https://stalosan.com/stalosan-f/

 

[Leslo5831]

Deep litter method, dirt floors and very well ventilated. About once a month I hose it all down in the inside to knock down the dust and help the compost along. I live in a dry climate, I can go over a year without cleaning out the bedding. It never smells.

Yup living in south texas I can confirm the fact that I don’t even need to clean out the bedding cuz it will never smell

 

[New Chicken Mum]

My coop is a wooden shed, with a lino floor covered in wood shavings and lots of ventilation. I only have 5 chickens, so not too much poop to contend with, and I have a 'poop pit' under the roosts made from two black plastic crates with wire mesh on top. When the chickies roost, all the poop goes into the poop pit and then if there are any areas of wet shavings from leaking waterfeeders or heavy rain blowing in, or other poopy areas, I routinely scoop it into the poop pit to cover the fresh poop. This keeps the smell down and stops flies. Once every few weeks I will empty the poop pit onto the compost heap and just put a little of the shavings back in the bottom to stop fresh poop sticking. Very easy to manage and very little smell in the coop, even through the really hot summer.

 

[New Chicken Mum]

My coop is a wooden shed, with a lino floor covered in wood shavings and has lots of ventilation. I only have 5 chickens, so not too much poop to contend with, and I have a 'poop pit' under the roosts made from two black plastic crates with wire mesh on top. When they roost all the poop goes into the poop pit and then if there are any areas of wet shavings from leaking waterfeeders or heavy rain blowing in, or other poopy areas, I routinely scoop it into the poop pit to cover the wet poop. This keeps the smell down and stops flies. Once every few weeks I will empty the poop pit onto the compost heap and just put a little of the shavings back in the bottom to stop new poop sticking. Very easy to manage and very little smell in the coop, even through the really hot summer.

 

[Empty Nestor 76]

I have a nice size shed with wooden floor and linoleum and pine shavings on top. I clean poop every day, and if necessary to spot clean I spray white vinegar and water. I sprinkle dried basil throughout and in nest boxes. Lots of ventilation! They spend most of their time outside in covered run and just use shed for nighttime.

 

[Rajirrah]

I have used the all natural corn cob cat litter mixed in with The pine shavings. It seems to make a big difference.

 

[fluffy07]

I think my friends on this forum have said everything? Ventilation is key, as it takes away the ammonia from the droppings. My birds are free-range, and the coop is open all day so I don't have this problem. Normal droppings are no problem. When a chicken eats something it shouldn't then it can result in slimy droppings. I clean these off with a knife from the perch and bin them, as they can contain infection. Some chickens fart, just like we do, so you can get a smell that is temporary. However, anybody who keeps animals learns that smells come with animals, and that applies to horses, pigs, sheep and chickens. If you want your chickens to smell like jasmine, then I would suggest you are puffing stuff into the coop that they have to breathe. It might not be good.