Stinky Pine Shavings?

[CatsCrazyCoop]

Oh, I remember...

The waterer says Wall Fount (5 gallon)
Does that mean... what? I shouldn't hang it from ceiling?

How do you hang from wall?

Sorry I am an idiot.

The handle that I hang it from, slides on the hook cause it doesn't have a notch.

Thanks!

 

[Elite Silkies]

Quote:
Making a blanket statement that they will go into respiratory failure at ammonia levels at that high a concentration is patently false, IME. Have you ever really been on a farm? Ammonia smell is the fragrance you will most likely smell above all else. Chickens have been raised in that for thousands of years and I've never once, in all my life heard of any chickens going into respiratory failure over ammonia concentrates. Drive by any commercial broiler or layer house and see if you can't smell it from your car...and the birds still live. Millions of them survive to make it to your McNuggets.

Yeah...it isn't the best, but it does happen and birds do not go into respiratory failure over it. If they do, their systems were somehow already compromised.

I never said respiratory failure, you did, I said lung damage, not the same thing. I would like to respectfully point out that asking have I ever been on a farm is down right rude. I don't need to be attacked for offering the simplest solution to the op's problem.

I'm going to agree with you on the lung issues. I have contracted a lung issue from my birds, so if I can acquire it, why couldn't the birds. We clean out shavings that has poop and urine, I was the not so smart one and did not wear a mask while cleaning my coops. I will for the rest of my life use an inhaler and might be on oxygen as I get old. I do think that the ammonia/poop can affect your birds respiratory if they are not kept in clean conditions.

 

[Pony Trotsky]

Hold the phone!

4H and Pony Club kids are taught that the smell of ammonia is a sign of poor management at the age of about ten. Ammonia certainly does cause respiratory problems, and pointing this out isn't "scaring a newbie" - it's just explaining good, basic husbandry.

Factory farms might well be another story, but one would hardly want to emulate those!

 

[flocksalot]

I hang my waterers instead of setting them on anything. We move some of our coops around. Even the 15 x 20 goes to higher ground for the winter. Since my husband can't seem to get them leveled out and I'm just happy he moves them I've found hanging prevents many spills. Under the waterer I put a small pallet (about 2 x2) and I slide a pot saucer into the center of that. Any spills end up in the saucer and the chickens can't get to it if it gets messy. They can scratch all the shavings they want into it. I can clean it out daily without it being a hugh chore and it saves me a ton of work cleaning out half the coop cause they got into a fight and knocked the 5 gallon waterer off the bricks. Been there, done that, now I look for ways to make my life easy.

 

[MontanaMomma]

I have a small operation, but my coop has a plywood floor so keeping water in it's place is important to me and I use pine shavings as well. Inside the coop I have two big hamster waterers mounted to the wall. I found weather resistant ones at my local feed store. They keep the water clean (yaye!) but do drip occasionally, particularly when the hens drink from them, so I hooked a feed container to the wall under the bottles to catch any drips. I also keep a bucket of water outside for them. This has worked great during the warm season, but we may have to change it up if the nozzles freeze up too easy. If you use one of these bottles, just make sure your chickens are smart enough to figure them out.

 

[Elite Silkies]

The only time I ever put water in their coops is if it's raining or snowing. The rest of the time, it's outside.

 

[featherz]

I use nipple waterers exclusively during the non winter months. They never ever leak. In winter I use heated dog bowls up on multiple concrete blocks - hard to get much wet that way.

 

[Gerry2011]

Quote:
While I see your point, my point is: average person is 5' tall plus or minus and if you cam walk into your coop and smell ammonia at head level then your birds, standing at knee level, will be in a much higher concentration for a much longer period of time if they enjoy playing in their chips as mine do. Ventilation is key, yes, but catching an overabundance of ammonia at 3' high is much healthier than at 5' high.

Making a blanket statement that they will go into respiratory failure at ammonia levels at that high a concentration is patently false, IME. Have you ever really been on a farm? Ammonia smell is the fragrance you will most likely smell above all else. Chickens have been raised in that for thousands of years and I've never once, in all my life heard of any chickens going into respiratory failure over ammonia concentrates. Drive by any commercial broiler or layer house and see if you can't smell it from your car...and the birds still live. Millions of them survive to make it to your McNuggets.

Yeah...it isn't the best, but it does happen and birds do not go into respiratory failure over it. If they do, their systems were somehow already compromised.

Amen to that!! I would not live within 3 miles of a chicken house! I have friends who have 4 broiler houses and let me tell you the ammonia smell is INTENSE!

 

[Elite Silkies]

I've considered getting the heated waterer's this year. They are kind of expensive though. $45 each and I need 7 of them!

 

[Beekissed]

Quote:
Yes, continued ammonia smell is a sign of poor management....but the occasional whiff of ammonia when one is dealing with deep litter, winter and a flock of chickens can and does happen~to us all. That is how we usually know that it is time to adjust something with our DLM...add more dry, fluff and feel the existing deep litter, maybe adjust ventilation.

If you only have 3-5 chickens you may never have enough accumulated droppings to have any smell at all, but larger flocks can and do have a more concentrated source of droppings and you may smell the occasional ammonia. Not letting that smell continue means you are "managing" your flock, not mismanaging. Clearly the OP is attempting to manage her flock correctly by asking what to do about that smell....telling her that she has already damaged her chicken's lungs by the time she smells it is horribly untrue and needlessly exaggerating.

No one is arguing that concentrated ammonia can affect respiratory function, just that catching a smell of ammonia doesn't mean your birds already have lung damage. Lung damage is pretty severe.

Can I get a show of hands from the number of people who may have smelled ammonia in their coop, barn, rabbitry and also have animals that have suffered lung damage from that smell?

Any who have not?

Count me in. The excellent health of my flocks are a testimony to the superlative management of those flocks. Not a wheezy bird amongst them all these years....imagine that.