Suggestion for Keeping Smell Down

[MadChickenMama]

So I moved my chicks from their little brooder bin to a lovely 6ftx6ft room. They are still very small, but the bin was just a little too close for the 10 of them.

Somehow, lol, the smell is so much worse than when they were in the bin!

I've got plenty of bedding down and all, way more than they could ever soil enough to make such a stink...or so I thought. I have no idea how the bin gave off practically no smell and the room is just awful.

They haven't even soiled 1/20th of the bedding and yet the stink is bad, doesn't really make sense, lol.

 

[R2elk]

So I moved my chicks from their little brooder bin to a lovely 6ftx6ft room. They are still very small, but the bin was just a little too close for the 10 of them.

Somehow, lol, the smell is so much worse than when they were in the bin!

I've got plenty of bedding down and all, way more than they could ever soil enough to make such a stink...or so I thought. I have no idea how the bin gave off practically no smell and the room is just awful.

They haven't even soiled 1/20th of the bedding and yet the stink is bad, doesn't really make sense, lol.

My guess is insufficient ventilation.

One method that I have found to help is to sprinkle Sweet PDZ on the ground/floor before putting down the bedding.

 

[MadChickenMama]

My guess is insufficient ventilation.

One method that I have found to help is to sprinkle Sweet PDZ on the ground/floor before putting down the bedding.

I thought of that right after I posted this. It's probably the issue as the room doesn't have windows so I leave the door open, but at night I close the door to the den where the storage room is for extra protection for myself and my kid.

I'll look for that stuff you mentioned and then probably just have to deal with leaving the den door open.

Hmm...or I have an air filter thing. I wonder if that would work. It's one of those tower deals you can turn on to get the air clean and it's got that ionizer thing, too, if you press this one button. I never use that part, but maybe I'll try out the air filter tonight with the door closed and see if that does anything. If not I'll just leave the door open.

 

[R2elk]

I thought of that right after I posted this. It's probably the issue as the room doesn't have windows so I leave the door open, but at night I close the door to the den where the storage room is for extra protection for myself and my kid.

I'll look for that stuff you mentioned and then probably just have to deal with leaving the den door open.

Hmm...or I have an air filter thing. I wonder if that would work. It's one of those tower deals you can turn on to get the air clean and it's got that ionizer thing, too, if you press this one button. I never use that part, but maybe I'll try out the air filter tonight with the door closed and see if that does anything. If not I'll just leave the door open.

You really need to put in vents. Proper ventilation is extremely important.

 

[MadChickenMama]

You really need to put in vents. Proper ventilation is extremely important.

There's nothing I can do but leave the door to the den open. The den is a converted carport that has a storage room attached to it with its own door. That door stays open.

The door the leads from the den into the main part of the house stays open from the moment I'm up, which is usually at 9am to when I go to bed which is anywhere between 11:30pm and 2am. There is no way for me to put vents in and leaving a window open is 100% out of the question as my house is right on a very busy road that frequently has people walking down and causing trouble.

I mean, if I have to leave the den door open, so be it, but I normally have it closed at night for a little added protection.

 

[R2elk]

There's nothing I can do but leave the door to the den open. The den is a converted carport that has a storage room attached to it with its own door. That door stays open.

The door the leads from the den into the main part of the house stays open from the moment I'm up, which is usually at 9am to when I go to bed which is anywhere between 11:30pm and 2am. There is no way for me to put vents in and leaving a window open is 100% out of the question as my house is right on a very busy road that frequently has people walking down and causing trouble.

I mean, if I have to leave the den door open, so be it, but I normally have it closed at night for a little added protection.

Perhaps it is time to start thinking about building a proper "coop"/area for them that gets good ventilation.

 

[snow5164]

Put up a baby gate and leave the door open... til they fly out that should work .
I admire your creative coop space !!ive had chicks in a spare room , all surfaces will be covered with dust/dander .

Enjoy your babies

 

[av8torcrj]

Chickens can be dirty stinky birds. Their favorite game is "I'll poop, you step in it". I've got a huge 12x24 coop with a heavy layer of shavings, open ends and 3 fans running full blast and yet I still get to bask in the unique aroma as I sit and visit with them. But, that's what outdoor farm animals smell like and I still love em.

 

[MadChickenMama]

I suppose maybe I'm not explaining this well enough, sorry :/
This is the storage room before I put the bedding in and all the stuff for the chicks and the chicks themselves:

If you look at the left side of the picture you'll see something sticking out, that is a shoe holder on the door to the storage room. What I did was put a baby gate in this open doorway (tying the door open). When they get big enough to fly to the top of the baby gate I have another baby gate that I'm going to put up on top of the first one.

This storage room is in what I call the den. It was once just a one car carport that had a door that leads into the house. Into the kitchen to be exact.

The door between the den and the kitchen is open while I am awake and I close it when I go to bed. BUT the door to the storage room is left open so it has the 6ftx6ft room, plus the den, which is over 12ft one way and over 6ft the other way.

As for thinking of building a coop/area for them, I am already doing that.

Lol Just let me say I didn't jump into raising chickens suddenly, I have read so much stuff so I know what I'm getting into, but like every newbie I still run into stuff that I thought I was prepared for and then something different happens.

To me, the amount of air space in the storage room and the den seemed like plenty of air for 10 chicks barely the height of a soda can.

I'm just asking for suggestions so I can think about each one and choose which I feel would work best.

I'm only saying this because I feel like some might think I didn't plan or anything. I did, but crap happens. I've been trying to find something I can turn into a sturdy but temporary coop, but each time I find something it falls through. I actually JUST finally got something and am getting it home right now. It's not super big but it'll do and I'm finishing up getting the supplies to build a run.

 

[Doc7]

Your best bet is definitely to get the birds out of the house. Don’t know much you can do to keep the smell down at this point with that set up. I know you say you planned ahead, and I am sure you did, but I didn’t even get birds until my coop was built and painted.