Run bedding smells

[AnneGirlGG]

We have a covered run that stays pretty dry. I use pine shavings and scoop poop a couple times a day. When it starts to smell funky I change it. Winter time it will last much longer! During the summer time about every month to month and a half. I don`t use the deep litter method here. I tried it but did not care for it. Just easier and healthier for our birds to change it!

I'm currently using pine shavings as well. I add one bag every weekend and plan to shovel it all out and start new when I need to. So far it hasn't smelled at all. But it stays very dry, so I'm sure that helps. I thought about switching to sand, but I haven't yet.

 

[Bsmac]

I'm currently using pine shavings as well. I add one bag every weekend and plan to shovel it all out and start new when I need to. So far it hasn't smelled at all. But it stays very dry, so I'm sure that helps. I thought about switching to sand, but I haven't yet.

I don`t think there is a way or type of bedding that is perfect, they all have faults IMHO! What I do works pretty well for us just an hour extra work every month or so during warm months. It lasts quite a bit longer during winter as it gets cold here.

 

[Bob 1313]

We use pea gravel in our runs. They love scratching in it and when it gets too dirty we replace it.

 

[AnneGirlGG]

I don`t think there is a way or type of bedding that is perfect, they all have faults IMHO! What I do works pretty well for us just an hour extra work every month or so during warm months. It lasts quite a bit longer during winter as it gets cold here.

I agree! That neighbor I was talking about has used I think everything in her coops and runs trying to find the right combination, lol. The straw was a mess, but it was her birds' favorite. They loved scratching in it! She keeps a few bales now and will toss a layer down outside the runs when she lets them out to free range or clean everything good. That way they can play in it and scratch, but it's outside the run and easy to rake up before it gets rained on.

 

[Jsack]

Just look for some tips if anyone has some.

I have had chickens now for 3 or 4 years and it is just this last summer than the run bedding is starting to smell.

I live in the city so I am worried about the neighbours.

I have been scooping the top layers off an piling it and then adding saw dust or straw to the top of the pile and the run. (the pile seems not not be the issue). Seems to work a tiny bit but not for very long. Maybe the smell is embedded deep down in the ground now???

Would love some tips please!

I use wood chips and have never had a smell until this year, and we’ve had chickens for 4 years. I read something about lice and mites making the coop smell. We did a big coop clean out and scrub and put everything back in. At the same time we did a wash for the girls that would clean them as well. No more smell.

 

[Barbara Johnston]

I don't use any bedding in the run, but it is covered with a clear tarp year-round. When I only had it half covered, it smelled more. The moisture makes it smell, I think.

Amazon also carry something called “Coop Freshner” It is great

 

[Sherrie H]

My run is separated into 2 areas which I can close off with a door in between. The one run is tarped and the ground is covered with about 2 to 3 inches of small river pea rock, which the girls love. There's never a smell. I keep feed and water in this one. The uncovered run is simply dirt, which I turn with a spade periodically, it never has a smell either, probably because the girls scratch, dig, dust, and sun in this one and it does get rained on.
I use premium fine pine shavings in the coop itself, which I dust lightly with a food grade diatomaceous earth; floor, roost, and nest, and this is stirred into the shavings, lightly dusted down on the roost, etc. The coop gets cleaned completely out periodically and the residue piled up for later use as amendments to the lawn/garden (It doesn't smell either and makes great fertilizer).
My girls are healthy, happy, lay an abundance of eggs, and don't have any problems with mites or other crawlies.

 

[GardenDmpls]

My run area got very compacted over the years and would smell bad after a rain. Used my mantis tiller to de-compact, shoveled out some of the built up soil/compost and added corrugated roof panels to carry water away. When digging I also found some empty feed bags here and there that blocked drainage. Now it is fine. (have an average of 36 chickens).