smell....what causes it? how bad is it? what can alliviate it?

[joypeters]

i have a slide out pan in the bottom of the coop, and a dirt run with a dust bath area. we're in a hot valley, upwards of 90% every day. The chickens will be shaded.

any thoughts on what to use to keep smell down.

also, with the slide out tray i can't use the deep litter method. anyone who has a slideout tray - how often do you clean the tray, and then i'm assuming you put new pine shavings in?

thanks!

joy

 

[Sam The Yam]

joypeters,
The fortunate thing about the heat is that it drys out their droppings fast which helps control the smell. If you keep moisture away from the droppings you should have little or no smell. You might also want to turn the shavings and bury the droppings for a day or two until you really need to change it. Just keep water where it should be.

 

[MrRushed]

my coop only smells if water is spilled in the litter. if you have extra moisture in your coop it will get a strong smell.

 

[teach1rusl]

If you're in a humid area, it will smell quicker. Personally, I would clean it out daily. I do this with my dropping boards, which works similarly to your sliding trays. I just like a clean coop, and don't want to risk bad odors. If you're not a daily cleaner, you might dust the trays with DE after each cleaning to help dry up poos.