REALLY STINKY wet chicken poo in sand run and coop :P

[mamabear72]

First off I have to admit that I'm a naive chicken newbie & NEVER ever imagined how SMELLY wet chicken poo could be

We have four 11 week old chickens and our run and coop are on a mixture of sand and sweet pdz. Every time I go outside I sift through their sand to clear any poopies. (most days 3-4 times a day) I've NEVER ever smelled anything, even if I'm only able to scoop once a day but we've had rain the last three days so I haven't been able to scoop like I'm used to and the smell it atrocious. It's way worse in their actual coop but the run area (10 ft by 15 ft) also is pretty stinky. I don't know if the reason the coop itself is so bad is that they still have a heat lamp so it's a warm moist area. There are several hardware cloth windows and venting on the sides so it's not an issue of ventilation. I've been able to scoop in the coop because the light drys out the top layer but the run was left alone for three days of rain.

I thought sand wasn't supposed to smell, am I doing something wrong? I've sprinkled more sweet pdz and raked it in but I'm honestly worried it will always smell this way. I was surprised my girls weren't even phased by the rain, they clucked around like nothing was happening, enjoying stomping through the poo

sincerely,
Kristen

 

[Mehjr10]

At 11 weeks you can turn the light off. When it rains it usually brings out the smell until all drys out again.. As the sand get older some of the chicken waste is still remaining after you scoop, then when it gets wet you end up with the odor. Hopefully the PDZ will help you out.

 

[Triple Willow]

Change to the "deep litter method" and you will not have any odor. It works!

 

[mamabear72]

Change to the "deep litter method" and you will not have any odor. It works!

Do you use the Deep Litter Method in the whole run or only in the coop area? Its usually so very dry here in the high desert that we don't get really good compost w/o continually wetting it, which brings me back to my orig issue of wet stinky poo

I have to admit I'm regretting wheel barreling in two truck fulls of sand into their run/area. It went over river rock so I thought it was a good idea at the time, adequate drainage for our couple months of snow etc. but it's a dusty pain in the you know what now

 

[mamabear72]

At 11 weeks you can turn the light off.

they've been light free for the past couple of days and they're fine

I'm just a silly first time chicken mom

 

[Triple Willow]

Do you use the Deep Litter Method in the whole run or only in the coop area? Its usually so very dry here in the high desert that we don't get really good compost w/o continually wetting it, which brings me back to my orig issue of wet stinky poo 

I have to admit I'm regretting wheel barreling in two truck fulls of sand into their run/area. It went over river rock so I thought it was a good idea at the time, adequate drainage for our couple months of snow etc. but it's a dusty pain in the you know what now

I keep deep litter in the coop and TRY to keep it in the runs but it is hard to do. It all breaks down so fast and just disappears. Your dry climate will make a difference I'm sure. Let me check with a friend that also lives in the desert and see how she does it. I will get back to you.

 

[mamabear72]

I keep deep litter in the coop and TRY to keep it in the runs but it is hard to do. It all breaks down so fast and just disappears. Your dry climate will make a difference I'm sure. Let me check with a friend that also lives in the desert and see how she does it. I will get back to you.

Thank you Triple Willow. I'm happy to hear the DLM disappears! Thats very encouraging

Is your run out in the weather or does it have a covered roof? Our coop sits in their run area that happens to be the side yard of our house so it's not covered. There are trees that cover most of it but they only offer shade, not any actual rain/snow protection. I'm about ready to throw a couple big bags of pine shavings over the entire area and see what happens as scooping through dusty sand is getting old real fast

 

[Triple Willow]

@mamabear72... One of my runs is open to the weather and the other isn't but water does get in it if it rains a lot. The litter seems to disappear at about the same rate with both of them. You birds would love litter to scratch through. It keeps them busy and you would be surprised at the amount of bugs and worms that are attracted to it. Some people turn the litter every few days but several just throw in some sunflower seeds or cracked corn and let the chickens entertain theirselves scratching searching for the good stuff. With deep litter you can take the composted litter out and use it once a year on your garden, flowers, etc or you could even sell it. As long as you can keep it dry there is really no smell. Well, fermented feed also helps a great deal with the smell. If I run out of fermented feed and just feed dry feed I can tell it the next time I walk in the coop! Yuck!

 

[Triple Willow]

@mamabear72... I heard back from my friend. She said that she uses rice hulls as litter and a cloth type "poop hammock" under her roosts to collect the poop then spreads it in her yard. If the deep litter method won't work for you feeding your birds fermented feed will help with the stinky poop.

 

[Triple Willow]

Should you be interested in fermented feed for your birds the information can all be found on the "fermented feed for meat birds " thread. Here is an overview of fermented feed:
http://tikktok.wordpress.com/