The chickens have taken over my garage and I'm at my wits end--Advice wanted on damage control/odor

[SilkieLover01]

I live in a brick ranch with a 2 car garage under it, as well as a full basement. The chicken addiction has gotten...Intense...since I moved into my house a couple years ago, and for the better part of two years, there's always been at least one playpen of grow out chicks in the garage. I didn't dream of having gross, dusty dinosaurs in my garage, I just don't have a barn and any chicks have to be started somewhere. And often they're in there for months. Garage is a dust bowl. But that's not the worst part.
Because the garage is directly under the house, the smell comes up into the house. Specifically, for some reason, my front entry way. ESPECIALLY in the summer. So the second you get home, especially if you've been out of town for the weekend and the house is closed up, the smell of filthy chickens smacks you in the face. I cannot stand it. I love my birds, I love my program of silkies I've built out, but I'm at my wits end.

Does anyone have odor control suggestions that actually work?
Things I've tried:
-coffee grounds bedding
-sprinkling sweet PDZ into the fresh pine shavings when i clean
-I pitch these puppy playpens every 2 weeks or so
-A small, room air purifier running in the garage
-I have a hospital grade industrial air purifier that someone gave me as a joke, running in my living room, that does nothing
-HVAC charcoal filter (that did work, but had scary reviews on amazon of breaking peoples furnaces, so I got rid of it)
-Citric acid HVAC filter
-Ozone machine in emergency situations before company comes over (this is not safe long term or frequent usage).

Does anyone have any suggestions? Secondly, has anyone ever had 2 years worth of chickens in their garage and managed to successfully reclaim it after? Was your house permanently ruined? It's summer in the midwest (HOT+humid) and I'm losing it here. I'm a clean person otherwise and I literally don't have company over in this beautiful house, because of the smell of chickens. I'm 31 and single, and the prospect of dating and letting men come in my home terrifies me too because of this--I wouldn't date someone I thought was a disgusting chicken hoarder, why would they?

 

[Theorrin]

your gonna have to move them hun. you can reclaim your garage but you have to give them their own spot somewhere else.

 

[nuthatched]

Why are they in your garage to begin with?
Build a coop or buy a shed and convert it, and kick them out of your garage.
Chickens are disgusting and belong outside.
After that, start at the top of the room and work your way to the floor with a shop vac, once the dust is gone, wipe everything down with lysol

 

[NatJ]

for the better part of two years, there's always been at least one playpen of grow out chicks in the garage.

the second you get home, especially if you've been out of town for the weekend and the house is closed up, the smell of filthy chickens smacks you in the face. I cannot stand it.

I would try getting all chickens OUT of the garage, and see if that helps.

That might mean taking a break on raising chicks, or it might mean building a different building (separate from your house) to raise them in.

I do not think you will ever be free of the odor when you have chickens in the garage.

has anyone ever had 2 years worth of chickens in their garage and managed to successfully reclaim it after? Was your house permanently ruined?

Unfortunately, I do not know the answer to that. But I think the first step is to move all chickens out (so they are not adding more dust and smell), then clean everything thoroughly (to remove as much of the dust and smell that you can), then see how things are.

 

[SilkieLover01]

I would try getting all chickens OUT of the garage, and see if that helps.

That might mean taking a break on raising chicks, or it might mean building a different building (separate from your house) to raise them in.

I do not think you will ever be free of the odor when you have chickens in the garage.


Unfortunately, I do not know the answer to that. But I think the first step is to move all chickens out (so they are not adding more dust and smell), then clean everything thoroughly (to remove as much of the dust and smell that you can), then see how things are.

I have a shed, but there's wildlife that constantly wants in (currently dealing with a badger being under it), and it gets really hot in there during the summer and really cold in the winter, with no power supply. I've considered moving them out there before but I think they would just melt

 

[SilkieLover01]

Why are they in your garage to begin with?
Build a coop or buy a shed and convert it, and kick them out of your garage.
Chickens are disgusting and belong outside.
After that, start at the top of the room and work your way to the floor with a shop vac, once the dust is gone, wipe everything down with lysol

I have two coops. One for normal chickens, one for the silkies. I breed lavender silkies and show, so I can't have just like 4 chickens. I live on an acre and a quarter, I think two coops is about my maximum for buildings

 

[Theorrin]

I have a shed, but there's wildlife that constantly wants in (currently dealing with a badger being under it), and it gets really hot in there during the summer and really cold in the winter, with no power supply. I've considered moving them out there before but I think they would just melt

then your gonna have to build them their own place or suffer the smell in the garage

 

[Mrs. K]

Wow, I brood mine in the garage for 3 weeks. Clean everything up, and store it in another building. I only do this once or twice a year. At 3-4 weeks, mine are big enough and strong enough to be outside - but not they are not silkies.

Basically a barn smells like a barn. No getting around that. Your garage is the barn. You need to make a shed a barn.

Post some pictures of the sheds, maybe we can help - open up a lot of ventilation, hire someone to trap the badger and remove him. And reduce your flock. While you do need to hatch out a lot, you should only be keeping the top 2-3 if your goal is show birds.

What you are doing isn't working, have to do something else. I don't think you are happy with this, and are seeing this as an obstacle to the rest of your life, and it is. Maybe need to try this hobby differently.

Mrs K

 

[nuthatched]

I have two coops. One for normal chickens, one for the silkies. I breed lavender silkies and show, so I can't have just like 4 chickens. I live on an acre and a quarter, I think two coops is about my maximum for buildings

I never said you had to get rid of them. Can you add on to one of your coops so it's still technically one building, like back to back? It's not hood for you or them to be indoors where the dusts collects.
Close confines with Chickens can cause an issue that behaves like a stroke.

 

[SandyRiverChick]

Commit to solving this problem with outdoor space. Free yourself from trying to make this work in the garage. Garage set ups should be very temporary if at all. Do what you need to do to move them out, it's going to be better for you and for them in many, many ways. So many people solve this problem with much less than 1 acre. Can you move the shed close to your house where you can have lights and maybe you have a dog, ways in which to keep the badger gone, electric fencing, chain link tall runs, etc. etc. It's great that you have a shed uou can re-purpose for this.