Strong ammonia odor

[Lisa Munoz]

I'm very new to owning chickens...but truthfully I've fallen in love with it. My husband and I bought a house and the previous owners gave us their four Road Island Reds along with the coop they built and the supplies they had. The girls were very aggressive with me at first, but now they know who takes care of them and they have come to "tolerate" me. They still won't let me hold them, and rarely like to even be pet. I'm trying slowly to earn their trust.

Anyway, to my problem. It's winter in Idaho. Lots of snow, rain, ice and just miserable at times to be a chicken and a chicken keeper. I'm out there morning and night with the girls. Since I work, I have to be out there before dawn to clean out their roosting area, give them fresh water, food and clean out the run from their morning droppings. I let them free range for about 20 minutes in the morning while I'm cleaning. Then, unfortunately they go back in until I get home about 3:45pm. As soon as I get home, I let them out of their run until sunset. Which until about a month ago was about 4:00pm. Thankfully we're getting a little more time and they go in about 4:30pm now. I'm outside with them the entire time, as the neighbors have cats and since there are no leaves on the trees, I don't want the hawks to get them.

Anyway...I'm very vigilant about their roosting area being dry and clean. I don't do the deep litter method, but clean the poop and wet spots out twice a day and add more pine shavings if needed. twice a month I take all the bedding out, spray some cleaner in it, add some DE and add fresh pine shavings. It's too cold to do a deep clean with water as it would never dry. Their run area is all dirt. It is compact in one area and the back is all dug up where they dig during the day. I clean it and rake it out twice a day when I let them out. I was adding pine shavings because the ground is wet, not muddy right now, but just always wet, from melting snow and rain. Although we have the outside of the run covered with plastic wrap for the winter, rain still gets in because we have it open at the top to keep it ventilated. So, the dirt run is wet. Well...it's starting to smell like urine. We've only owned them for five months, but the run has never smelled that way. It has a really strong urine smell. How do I clean it? The roosting area is fine, it's just the run. I tried adding pine shavings and cleaning that out twice a day, but it didn't seem to help. And, my husband who knows everything because he owned chickens when he was 10, said that i shouldn't put shavings in the run, and that's why it smells, even though i clean it out completely twice a day. Any advice would be great!

 

[chickens really]

Does the Coop have proper ventilation?..I use pine shavings and zero ammonia smell or poop..

 

[MrsMistyReal]

Good morning welcome aboard to BYC family gr8 people tons of information and loads of fun, enjoy shake your tail feathers

 

[azygous]

This is a common problem, and it's not especially comforting to know it's common. Chicken poop is high in nitrogen, and dampness causes the situation to become worse. There are options for dealing with this. The option you choose is up to you, but just know there's hope.

This is a terrific article on why you have the ammonia and the different ways to combat it. https://countrysidenetwork.com/dail...nia-your-options-in-poultry-litter-treatment/

I commend your dedication to providing a clean environment for your adopted flock. It will pay off.

 

[song of joy]

In my opinion, pine shavings are too fine in texture to put in the run. They tend to get wet and just stick together and mat down, which doesn't allow for aeration.

I'd recommend using mulch that hasn't been treated with any chemicals. In some geographic areas, the county or township will have a place where they have a stockpile of mulch from chipped trees and limbs that were taken down due to road maintenance. This material is much coarser. A thick layer of mulch (6+ inches) would allow moisture to pass through it and also allow a natural population of micro-organisms, worms, etc. to build up. These guys will help to break down the chicken droppings. Folks who use this method will hopefully chime in on how often they add and subtract materials from runs managed in this way.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Wet runs are challenging... I agree with hubby that shavings isn't the way to go out there.

Might use some PDZ... it worked great in my goat barn, Where urine soaks through to the ground underneath even if you clear the top bedding.

In the run though I don't do deep litter... I do have a deep litter forest type floor. I pick up poos that I see. But having leaves, pine needles, grass clipping and that type of stuff really seemed to help combat ammonia smell on the part that doesn't dry ever during the winter. I haven't had to use PDZ in the run.

Good luck.

 

[rebrascora]

Yes deep litter is the key but wood shavings are not great. A variety of litter aggregate sizes and materials will help. I have a shredder which chews up hedge cuttings and thin branches up to 1.25inches and breaks them down into 0.5-1inch chunks and I layer that with straw and horse manure from my stables and sawdust or whatever else I have. This definitely helps prevent the ground from getting "sour" and the chickens love scratching through it.

Edited to add..... I live in a wet climate and whilst the run is open and gets soggy, this deep litter system is definitely improving the health of the ground. Prior to starting this, it was getting packed solid and like you say, smelled bad when it got wet and would get muddy puddles in it. Now the chickens basically live on the top of a compost heap.... chicken heaven in their eyes.... and even when it is wet (often here in the UK) water doesn't puddle on it anymore.

 

[PirateGirl]

It is compact in one area and the back is all dug up where they dig during the day. I clean it and rake it out twice a day when I let them out.

You mentioned that part of the run is compact. This is common once the chickens have obliterated all vegetation. The dirt gets packed down solid. I suspect that when this happens that things are not draining and/or composting and/or properly aerated anymore. I periodically will take a pick to the packed soil in the run and break up and turn the top 6 inches. The chickens love when I do this too as they find new places to dig and new bugs and worms and holes for dust baths. How often this may need to be done will depend on your soil and weather, but it may help with decomposition and drainage and hopefully cutting down the smell. When you first do it though, it does release the smell into the air, so be prepared! It's worth a shot. If nothing else, your chickens will be happy with your work.

 

[Lisa Munoz]

Thanks to everyone for their advice. Definitely some information to think about. Not only do I want the girls to be healthy and make it through the winter, I want them to be happy. Once the ground thaws and it gets warmer, we're tearing down the current coop and rebuilding. I also plan on buying one of those extension runs or two so they have more room. But first things first, need to freshen up that coop. Does anyone know if the spreadable coop freshener works? I think I saw something at Tractor Supply but didn't want to buy incase it doesn't work?

 

[Lisa Munoz]

Does the Coop have proper ventilation?..I use pine shavings and zero ammonia smell or poop..

Well right now the sides are covered in thick plastic to keep out the wind, snow and rain as much as possible. But, they've been covered for over a month now and I've just started noticing a smell. The top of the run, about 3 inches, is open all the way around (no plastic) to let fresh air in. I have been using pine shaving...and it was fine. But just recently it's become very smelly.