Too much chicken poop

[citychickx6]

I found a product that is supposed to be able to be used for chickens as well. It is Sweet PDZ stall freshner by Manna Pro less than 20 dollars a bag. I have purchased a couple 40 pound bags to use in my dog kennel area. I will let you all know how it goes. If it can fix that up it can fix up the chickens run.
I read Lyme is caustic so went in search of other means.

Hope this helps.

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

I read Lyme is caustic so went in search of other means.

Hydrated lime is caustic.

"AG" lime is not

Read the labels and buy Calcium Carbonate and NOT Calcium Hydroxide​

 

[citychickx6]

Thanks Barefoot farm

I was wondering about that.
If the stuff we already bought does not do the trick I will have to seek out some of the ag lyme. SOOO much rain here the last couple of weeks the kennel is rather unpleasant.

 

[TN_BIRD]

I'd get to the root of the problem. Am I counting correctly? You have 12 chickens? That's a fair amount for a backyard, but it's not a ton of chickens (relatively speaking).

Perhaps they are just using the "smelly poop" issue to tell you they'd rather you not have chickens.

To help answer the question on smelly poop, I'd compost the stuff. You can get lime, DE and/or pine shavings, but if you keep the coop clean and cover the poop with grass clippings, leaves, straw, etc. that ought to work. A simple pile ought to be sufficient. A barrel or compost bin would work, too.

Modifying your coop so things stay dry would also be a good idea.

Free eggs to the neighbors never hurt, either.

 

[bawk_bawk]

We do give free eggs to our neighbors, and we are also working on a composting system. I've also heard that mixing wood chips or sawdust with the composing poop reduces the smell by a lot.

We do have 12 chickens and we are planning to sell four of them so that we'd be within our local chicken ordinance rules. I'm not sure if they all have enough space just in their coop and run, and we try and let our birds out as much as we can (we have rat traps so we're sort of tentative right now of letting them out).

One problem I have with the composting is a) we don't plant stuff, and b) I don't know which foods are appropriate to put it. I know that most fruits and veggies can, it's just the stuff like pasta and things like that are very iffy with our family. A few say put in pasta, but others say no.

 

[WoodlandWoman]

Compost is also good for your lawn, if you don't have a garden. You shouldn't put meat, dairy or fat in a compost pile. Any type of plant matter is good and of course, the chicken litter and any chicken manure you rake out of the run.

Is your run wet at all? That can make odors a problem. A thick layer of sand can keep it drier in wet weather. So can putting a top on it. Sand is easier to rake or scoop, if you have so many chickens that the poop needs to be removed often.

 

[bawk_bawk]

Okay, will think about the sand. We got our composting stuff started, which is great. Hopefully we'll get this issue done with soon.

 

[Life is Good!]

A really super quick and easy compost bin that we're using here in suburbia....

Get yourself four pallets (same dimension, if at all possible). Using about 8 to 9 old hangers (the thick wire part), straighten to form wire again (not a hanger), use that to 'tie' the pallets together to form a standing square. Leave 'front' openable, using one hanger on edge that will be the 'hinge'. Can close it to keep chickens out of pile - relatively speaking. If you'd like, you can also put one on the 'top' but that means getting the stuff in and/or out is trickier. Not impossible, but my kids don't have very good 'aim' yet.

Compostable materials include all vegetable matter, fruits, rinds, skins - but no dairy or meat products. So if you've got butter on that sweet potato - well, cut it up finely and feed it to your chickens, not to your compost! I also squish my empty eggshells pretty finely (just with the back of a spoon in the compost bucket which lives near our sink), so I don't encourage egg-eaters.

Compost works really well to fill in divets and bumps in your yard. Simply sprinkle a fine layer over the grass using a shovel and a wheelbarrow (rake if you've got bigger pockets). It feeds your lawn very nicely - but bewarned, you'll need to mow more often - which means more green stuff for your compost bin or your chickens!

Hope this helps.