Stinky Coop/Run...how do you manage the smell?

[TheAmundsons]

Hi! So we have had our chickens in their coop and run for awhile now (3+ months). The chickens are about 13 weeks, and we have 10 chickens and 2 ducks. I'm not sure what the exact square footage is, but there's definitely enough room for all of them. The last two weeks (as the heat has increased), it seems the smell of the coop and run are just potent and won't go away! The ground in the run is just the ground (dirt/some grass they haven't eaten). The ground of the coop is concrete, as it's in our barn and leads outside to the run. Does anyone have any suggestions for a way to manage the smell? Thanks!

 

[Relleoms]

Can you be more specific as to what is smelly? The coop, the run, both? Do you use any litter on the concrete in the coop? Are your ducks sharing the same space & is their water in the coop or run?

I have dropping boards under my roosts and collect the waste each morning (goes to the compost pile), then my dirt run is covered in 3-6” pine bark mulch (in a variety of sizes). I also have flock fresh bedding on the floor of my coop. So far, the only time I notice any smell is right after it rains, and then it’s only a musty smell.

 

[blackdog043]

What are you using for bedding inside the coop? Do deep litter in the run, if it's done right you won't have any bad odors, here's a link.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/muddy-run-help-please.1037998/#post-16017992

 

[Folly's place]

Ducks are wet and very messy, and will be best housed separately from the chickens; that helps.
Deep bedding with bagged shavings and stuff is best, both in the coop and the run, and managing things to avoid wet conditions. A covered run is the best!
With dry conditions and excellent ventilation, it shouldn't smell nasty. At least without the ducks it should be much less damp!
Your chicks aren't anywhere near their adult size, and should not be causing foul odors in a well managed coop. Is the coop at least fifty sq. ft.? And the run at least one hundred sq. ft.? Larger is even better.
Pictures and dimensions will help here too.
Mary

 

[TheAmundsons]

Both the coop and run are smelling. We don't currently have any type of bedding over the concrete or dirt, but we routinely scoop/clean the concrete about every 3 days. They've only had the run for about a month now. The run is roughly 250 square feet, and the coop is about 80 square feet. My hubby has been locking them all in at night because he's afraid something will get in the run at night, even though I don't think as probable as he thinks. I'm hoping to let them have access to the run 24/7 soon. Our ducks will stay with the chickens, we don't have a way to separate them. We have a waterer in the bottom part of the coop (concrete bottom), as well as a waterer outside in the run. We also have a pool for the ducks (off in it's own little section of the run) that they all like to drink out of. We haven't noticed a whole lot of droppings under the roost in the coop. Does this mean they aren't using them? how could we teach them to use the roosts? The more affordable bedding option for us is straw, as my brother in law works for a hay company, so we get the scraps for free. We've been mixing that with pine shaving bedding that we had left over up in the top part of the coop where the roosts are.

 

[Aji Dulce]

We have a 13 week-old flock of 10 chickens also. As for the roosting, they have just now figured out the roost thing, and I mean as of last night. They will learn eventually. Give them time, think of it this way: there’s no way you could keep chickens off a roost in your coop if you wanted to!
So our chickens always settled into the floor of the coop, a particular corner where they all snuggle to sleep, in fluffy pine shavings. During the day a couple of them would return to the coop for a rest while the others rested in the run, and looking in I would see that the two were perched on the roost. Yet for sleeping at night, they would huddle in their corner together. Well, last night as I did my usual activity of locking down their food for the night I peeked in the coop and what did I find bud 10 chickens in a row, all on the roost! It was an important milestone and made me smile.

 

[TheAmundsons]

That's good to hear! Ours have perched on the roosts, but we’ve never seen them sleep on there. Hopefully their instincts will start kicking in soon! when we introduced them to the run, they would stay huddled outside at night, which is why we started locking them inside at night.

 

[Aji Dulce]

That's good to hear! Ours have perched on the roosts, but we’ve never seen them sleep on there. Hopefully their instincts will start kicking in soon! when we introduced them to the run, they would stay huddled outside at night, which is why we started locking them inside at night.

Yes, huddling in a corner of the run, came first. I assumed, because we have Mottled Java chicks and they are slow growers, it was just taking them longer to mature. Several nights we would carry sleeping chickens into the coop but they finally did get it.

 

[TheAmundsons]

Too funny! We coaxed them back into the coop before they were asleep. It makes me feel better knowing that they are progressing normally! This is our first time with chickens, so we still feel like we don't know what's going on sometimes. Haha

 

[karissapaul]

Don't let it get that bad. Clean it more than usual