Rookie at Raising...HELP!!??!!

[beaversmouse]

We have a beautiful new coop, 6 young chicken and 3 quail...BUT THEY STINK...how do I manage the odor? I have 3 young children and I am worried about using something that will be dangerous for them.

Thanks for your help!! Mouse

 

[Mahonri]

Hi there Mouse!

Welcome to BYC!!! We are so glad you found us!

One thing for certain, poultry don't smell pretty.

We sweep and mop our coop every week and our pens are swept and cleaned every two weeks.

We put down Diatomacious Earth (food grade) and then pine shavings over the top of that. That lasts about a week or two.

Some folks do the "deep liter" method but for me, it's too much of a hassle and stinks more.

The DE is not safe to breath in so we have medical face masks on when we sweep the coop.

Good luck with your poultry and HAVE fun!

 

[Chook-A-Holic]

First of all

A few things you may want to check. Is your bedding getting and staying wet? Does the coop smell like chickens or ammonia? How much ventilation do you have? Here is a link to page on ventilation from a member here at BYC. She is very knowledgeable on ventilation.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=1642-VENTILATION

Most odors are caused by wet bedding, too many birds for the space provided, and/or lack of ventilation.

EDIT: brain cramp

 

[Keene's coop]

my chicks are only 17 days old and i started the deep liter method in their coop and love it. i didn't do it when they ere in the brooder, which was huge and it started to smell. i even had both windows open so they had a good air flow through the room. i put the babies in the coop with a heat lamp 6 days ago doing the deep liter and i have not had any smell yet. so far i love the deep liter method

 

[CoyoteMagic]

Quail are much worse than chickens. UGH!!!

For the chickens, I use the deep little method. I toss DE all over the place and then toss in some scratch and let the girls take care of the turning the little. I'll throw DE around the run too in the summer to help with the smell. I also use a Big Stink Fly trap to keep the flys down.

For the quail, was moving their tractor around once a week. They are now in breeder pens up on wire so I rake out from underneath every week and sprinkle DE as needed.

 

[beaversmouse]

it's been raining and raining...indoors the odor is not bad...it is easily cleaned and we've been keeping up with it. outside in the pen...it's been wet from rain and i don't know how to handle it. can i do this DE outdoors? do i lay the pine shaving outdoors as well? is straw suitable?

 

[beaversmouse]

we had them in the brooder a really long time - probably longer than necessary, but we didn't have the coop ready when they were. during this time, the smell was barely noticable. this seems to mainly be an outdoor pen issue.

 

[WoodlandWoman]

Wet runs are stinky. Putting down a thick layer of sand will help a lot. It allows water to drain. It also makes it easy to rake up the excess chicken poo. One of those little rake and pan combos for cleaning up dog waste works great. Covering your run to keep out rain will also help.

 

[patandchickens]

Quote:
See my "fix a muddy run" page (link in .sig below) for ways to deal with a damp smelly run (and what NOT to do, so's not to make it worse -- i.e straw and shavings

)

Good luck, have fun,

Pat