Ready to give up on my chooks, help please.

[Ebony Rose]

You can probably add some 'loveliness' to the chicken garden with some potted plants. I'd check the forums for what is and is not safe for your flock, then purchase some well established potted plants on the 'safe' list; leaving them in the pots for ease of replacement, if necessary. Not only will the plants themselves offer entertainment but will also offer them a place to be 'out of sight, out of mind' if they're squabbling with another member of the flock.
You mentioned that you're frequently watering the areas that they're pooping; be advised that wet poop smells MUCH worse than dry and the aroma is sure to attract flies. You might consider only watering it down weekly in the grassy areas, and spot cleaning your deck/walkway (2nd picture) as needed.
An inexpensive cookie sheet under the roost at night can assist you in removing the poop from their sleeping area by dumping their nightly excretions in the waste bin in the morning when you let them into the yard.
Also note that bored chickens might decide to peck at those shoes.

 

[lomine]

I suggest you take some time to think about if you want chickens or not. They aren't for everyone and that's okay. I've got acres and a huge coop and I still decided to downsize because I just don't want to take care of so many anymore. It's not even a big flock either. I'm mostly keeping some now for insect control. If you decide you don't want them you will have an easy time rehoming them.

In the meantime, leave them in the tractor and move it around the yard a couple times a day. It will give you a little break and let you take a breath.

Also, I'm not sure what you are hosing down but I'd try to cut back on that. Flies are attracted to moisture. It's better to have things dry when you are trying to control flies.

 

[K0k0shka]

dumping their nightly excretions in the waste bin

People need to check their town ordinances before disposing of chicken poop in the general waste system. Where I live, we are not allowed to dispose of animal manure with the general waste collection. Chicken poop is considered animal manure and should not be placed in the waste bins collected by the town. Chicken keepers need to have a waste management system for the manure.

 

[Aunt Angus]

People need to check their town ordinances before disposing of chicken poop in the general waste system. Where I live, we are not allowed to dispose of animal manure with the general waste collection. Chicken poop is considered animal manure and should not be placed in the waste bins collected by the town. Chicken keepers need to have a waste management system for the manure.

Interesting. Here, we can throw it out if it's bagged, and we can put it in the green waste bin, too. But I compost it.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Thanks for explaining your issues. It helps me to respond.

The smell,

A strong sharp smell generally means wet poop. Dry poop shouldn't smell. Is there a specific area that smells or is it general? How can you dry that area out? What causes the smell is that the microbes that break down poop become the anaerobic microbes. Those produce ammonia. If the microbes are aerobic, which means they breathe air, they don't smell or you get a nice earthy smell. It works the same way in a compost pile. If we knew which areas are smelling and what they look like we may be able to help you with that.

the flies

Flies generally mean two things, wet poop and a build-up of poop. The smell of the decaying poop attracts flies and they lay their eggs. You get maggots, which the chickens should eat if they can get to them. Even if the area is fairly dry, a thick pile of poop just doesn't dry out like it should. One typical area is under the roosts, poop can build up under there since they poop at night but aren't moving around. Where you store collected poop can also be a problem.

Rotting old wet feed can also attract flies. Not sure how you are managing that.

and the poo everywhere is getting to much for me.

Chickens are going to poop wherever they are. That's just the way it is. If the are moving around it doesn't build up but, like dogs on a lawn, they may leave landmines anywhere. The only way to stop chickens from gong everywhere and dropping poop is to have barriers they cant get through.

Why do people say they are easy??

In the right climates and with the right set-up they can be. Some of that depends on your expectations too. Easy means different things to different people. They are still going to require some work.

they have a mobile chook tractor, I can move around the yard.
.................
I hose down each day and move them but they just go back to where they used to be and cry, so the area dosent get a break.

I'm not sure what's going on here. To me a tractor does not sound like less work. Usually you leave them locked in the tractor day and night and move the tractor quite often so the poop doesn't build up enough to be a problem. When I tried that I could maybe move it every two or maybe even three days if the weather was dry but in wet weather I was moving it daily. Some people say they have to move theirs twice a day.

To me what makes chickens easy is keeping things dry. That avoids so many issues. Giving them room helps too. The more room they have the more they spread the poop during the day so it doesn't build up. That doesn't matter if it is an overgrown jungle or a manicured lawn. Lots of people do quite well when they are confined to a barren run. The smaller the run the more poop builds up so there are trade-offs there.

And there are some set-up things. Making it easy to feed and water them and making it easy to manage the poop really make it less work for you.

 

[K0k0shka]

Interesting. Here, we can throw it out if it's bagged, and we can put it in the green waste bin, too. But I compost it.

Big country... (and even bigger world!) Rules can vary a lot from place to place. That's why people should check their own town rules first before doing something they read was okay for somebody else (or before recommending something like that to others).

 

[rosemarythyme]

Chickens are easy... compared to something like a horse or most dogs (I don't know what experience you have with various animals/pets, nor what your expectations were going into this).

Chickens poop. It's just a fact. But your daily attempt at cleaning is worsening your problem. Wet + poop = smelly, rotting poops. You're better off not using water for cleaning and doing all cleaning dry. Scooping dry poop 1-2x a day should be enough to keep it manageable, OR...

Consider is making a much larger coop and run set up and using deep litter, which is a composting system so the poop breaks down in place. I live in a very wet environment with no roof on the run but because my deep litter is well established it literally eats poop and odors. However this only works if there's enough litter volume to consume the amount of poop going into it.

 

[abpatchy]

Coccidiosis makes the poop smell bad... and that attracts flies. Once they are over the coccidiosis it will get better. Maybe wetting the poop makes it smell bad as well. A dry poop will not smell. You could pick the poop up with a rake and a shovel or something similar.
Once they are old enough the coccidiosis will not bother them anymore... they need to build up immunity. Changing the run was a good option. It keeps the amount of poop and parasites down and allows the gras to regrow.

 

[CNJ]

I think you need to let your deep litter compost to get rid of the smell and use a lot of diatomaceous of earth to kill the bugs.

 

[LaFleche]

If after your disappointing experience you are still interested in poultry, keeping quail might be the right thing for you. They are really easy to care for and usually start to lay beautiful eggs at the very young age of only 8-12 weeks.