UGH! It stinks so bad...what can i do???

[LauraM]

So, could you run an extension cord outside ( through a slighltly opened door or window even) for their heat lamp and move wherever you are keeping them inside your house to outside, at least during the day? There must be some way for you to put them outside, even if it is temporary and not perfect. Good luck!

 

[ams3651]

mine went outside in the coop in an enclosed area at 3 weeks. They were getting smelly and trying to fly out. They had their heat lamp in a corner and they did just fine. I was so nervous at first but having more room was good for them.

 

[ncchixlady]

We have 12 chicks that are 4 1/2 weeks old and the smell was getting bad last week so we moved them out of the smaller cage. We got a fridge box and put it on its' side and cut the top out. It is big enough for their food and water and roaming room and a roost on the other end. It has pine shavings and I add more shavings as needed. There is no smell now. Now... the white dust all over everything is another story!!! BTW... they are not in the house. They are in an outside storage building.

 

[Rex Mom]

I am sensitive to smell too... just got my chicks yesterday and no bad smells yet. The feed store suggested Bed-O-Cobb for the floor of the brooder. So far it's doing fine... but I use a stall bedding for my rabbits and man I swear by it. In fact I'm going to use in in my coop for the bottom under the straw. It's made by Dry Den, stall bedding and it has a mineral called Zeolite that naturally deodorizes and it does work. The wood pellets absorb moisture too so there is less to clean. Love it! If you can find it near you I highly recommend it.

Susan
2 Buff Orpington chicks
2 Partridge Cochin chicks

 

[moonflowers]

My chicks are almost 2 weeks old and I switched over to the wood pellets as soon as their poop started to stink on paper towels (which was after about a week) I have not switched out their bedding since last Saturday and I don't smell them. They stir up the pellets themselves by the way. Also, I DO have them in my living room. Of course I only have 7 chicks so that might be the difference.

 

[pascopol]

Quote:
I raise mine on newspaper, I change newspapers sheets every day,

there is barely any detectable smell.

If raised on shavings, I believe bedding should be changed every 3 days 1-st week, then as they grow and make more poop it should be changed more often.

Birds do not stink, they are very clean creatures, their dropping stink, but this is not chickens fall.

 

[BirdBrain]

I really like the pelleted pine bedding you can get for horses. I know TSC usually has some. That stuff is great. It is VERY absorbent and takes care of the smell.

 

[PhlyinPheBee]

I have my chicks outside in a brooder. It is cover with a coragated roof. Wrapped in a thick plastic, thick layer of hay and a heat lamp. At first I had 2 lights but now we are down to 1. We had a low of 33 the other night and inside their bed it was 79. I was very happy. No more smellies in the house. Their are 17 chicks of different ages. It is 2 X 5 feet.

 

[amamaofmany]

We had 23 chicks on the kitchen table in a huge sterlite plastic box under a heat lamp until Wed (when we got rid of the males, so now we're down to 14 pullet chicks)

When people came over, they didn't realize we had them in the house, until they heard them chirping.

I have very cheap bed pads at the bottom of the box (the kind you find next to the Depends) For the first few days, it was just the bed pads, changed 3 times a day. I read here that the peat moss was a great material for the brooder, and so I bought some and put it on top of the bedpad.

Now, every two days, the whole mess is rolled up and changed.

There has been very little odor and the chicks love to take 'moss baths' in the freshly changed moss. I got a huge compressed block of it at the Tractor Supply store on sale. The moss dries out the poo very quickly and does a great job of keeping the odor down. I figure this block will last me a long time. Someone else here said that plain potting soil (without the vermiculite and fertilizer additives) also works the same way and so does clean dustless play sand.

I don't think you need the bedpads if you use the moss, though, and they are costly even if you buy the cheap ones (I think its around $3.80 for 18 storebrand pads). My husband is very sensitive to odors, so it was worth it to us to use them for his comfort. They did keep the odor down when that was all that was in the brooder. As they aren't slippery like newspaper, the chicks could run around on them without falling, and it is easy enough to roll the old one up as we unroll the new one.

 

[Chicky Tocks]

I was so mad at my DH for having our front porch enclosed in glass with sliding windows and screens as a sunroom. I thought it was a wasted expense that we didn't need. Now with 15 eggs in the bator and another hatch going in right behind those, I'm actually in love with him again.