The smell

[Stormydays]

I use my oil diffuser all day starting around 2 weeks. My favorite is lavender and purification from Young Living. Sometimes I will do a blend of lavender and orange or lavender and passion.

 

[ChickNanny13]

MHP + DLM + FF
Mother Heating Pad + Deep Litter Method + Fermented Feeding (no feed waste, nutritional & health benefits as well as less poop that is firmer & no stinky)

Learned of all these methods right here on BYC thanks to other Members & their experiences

 

[rosemarythyme]

I use my oil diffuser all day starting around 2 weeks. My favorite is lavender and purification from Young Living. Sometimes I will do a blend of lavender and orange or lavender and passion.

I would use some caution about using anything scented around birds, as they have sensitive respiratory systems.

 

[Folly's place]

It's much safe to NOT use any scent diffuser around chickens; it just adds to the air quality issues, not a good thing. Mary

 

[lazy gardener]

It's much safe to NOT use any scent diffuser around chickens; it just adds to the air quality issues, not a good thing. Mary

Agreed. I have reactive airway disease, and any such scents in the environment can send me into a reaction that will last for hours. Birds have extremely sensitive lungs, and something that may not bother you or I may kill your chicks. All a diffuser is going to do is add more "stuff" to the air that is already not good.

 

[mimoo1234]

I loved brooding my chicks in my dining room, however when they hit 3 weeks old, they smelt SO BAD. I have never gone through bedding and feed like it and although I loved how excited they got when I walked past the door and how theyd follow me round the house if i let them out for a while... i was so glad for them to go outside in there run hahaha. No dust, No Smell, And i had my dining table back haha.

 

[JaeG]

I used straw when brooding chicks indoors as the poop tends to fall through as they scratch around. So I just had to move the straw back and scoop out what was underneath it every day. We also have a very open plan type house with high ceilings so I think that helped a lot with dispersing the smell. I loved having them inside and being able to interact with them constantly. Fermenting their feed is a good idea as well.

 

[Chickassan]

Good Lord I forgot how much dust chicks made! It had been years since I had littles in the house and I guess I got amnesia on how funky things get. When I built the addition for the teenagers this year I made it so I could use it as a future brooder. I'm not going down the chicks in the house road again. "Except maybe for the first week when they are super cute and don't make all that dust."

 

[BYC-user-452147]

Clean the brooder out regularly amd always sprinkle shaving ontop of the poop in the morning. Spot cleaning will help with the smell to. If you realy want you could try adding a fan into the room to add air circulation but I would worry that could chill the chicks or even worse spread the smell more efficiently. I think the answer to your problem is to not have chickens lol. Smells are just part of having a flock.

 

[debid]

Clean the brooder out regularly amd always sprinkle shaving ontop of the poop in the morning. Spot cleaning will help with the smell to. If you realy want you could try adding a fan into the room to add air circulation but I would worry that could chill the chicks or even worse spread the smell more efficiently. I think the answer to your problem is to not have chickens lol. Smells are just part of having a flock.

There's a big difference between smelling a barn while you do your chores and living in the barn yourself. And yes, the amount of dust they generate from feathering is astounding!

I choose to raise them in their house rather than mine and just pull up a chair when I feel like hanging out with the peeps. They really don't have to be inside the house to interact.