what is the key to a less smellier coop

[joebryant]

The secret to a coop and run with no smell is diatomaceous earth on wood shavings that never get wet in the coop and diatomaceous earth on the at least six inches of sand in the run and diatomaceous earth on the poo in the poo catcher under the roost. It's that simple.

 

[foweler]

I only have 3 birds in a 4 x 8 coop with a wood floor and I do clean daily so this may not apply but.....

Solve any water problems inside the coop first and then...

Food grade diatomaceous earth. It dries the poop and cuts up the flies. When they dust bath in it it cuts up the mites too. But don't get the pool filter stuff, it will cut up their lungs.

I use pine shavings with DE stirred in and only scoop the big nasty wet ones every morning, give the rest a stir and have no odor issues (except as I scoop the big wet nasties of course).

Search the deep litter method on this site, that's how I avoided changing shavings every few days.

 

[Chicken Girl]

I have 15 chickens in a 9ftx(about) 16ft coop. for now lol. I can have about 30 in there! LOL Any way! I try and clean it out every week to 2 weeks. It smells about 1 to 2 days after i clean! I have doors wide open and have a fart fan in there. And straw is not a good thing to have in there to ceep the smell down. I learnd thet the hard way dering the LONG WINTER in Wisconsin! I am kinda stuped. But lime helps with wetness. LOL I have a wood floor. I clean out the coop put that down let sit about a half hour and then shouvle it out. And put beeding down. And i spray with blech and whater 1 to 2 times a year. I dont know if i am a clean freek or not. Hope that helps!


Chicken Girl

 

[sondra]

oh thank you so much

 

[~*Sweet Cheeks*~]

50 chickens is a lot of poo producers. What size space are they in?

I don't have a problem with smell. I only have ten standard chicks that are going on 18 wks in a former 12' x 12' horse stall with event front bars I covered with hardware cloth, so lots of south facing ventilation.

The horse stall frame sits on the ground that I leveled to clay. Added 6-10" of pea gravel. 1" rubber mats cover that.

I then added left over horse stall pine bedding (very fine) then layered a sprinkling of Stall Dry, wood pellets, then pine and alder shavings. That was back on April 4th when I put them in the coop at 6 wks old.

Once a month I have sprinked another light coating of Stall Dry with another bag of aspin shavings (pricier than pine but I like the smell better - more natural to me).

I scape the nightly poo off the droppings board in the morning into a bucket I keep covered. Easier to do when soft instead of stuck on like glue.

I live in the Pacific NW with lots of moisture but don't have a problem because of all the ventilation I have.

 

[Scott]

I only clean my coop out entirely once a year; it doesn't need it any more often than that. I use the deep litter method and add new shavings a few times a year. Never had a problem with odor. Keep these things in mind:

#1: Keep It Dry
#2: Keep It Well Ventilated
#3: Don't Keep More Chickens Than Your Space Allows
#4: Use An Absorbent Material (Pine Shavings, Preferably Several Inches Worth)

 

[Zahboo]

What is the key to a less smellier coop? VENTILATION

It helps keep the coop dryer and less smelly

Also, sand will help with drainage.

 

[amamaofmany]

We use pine shavings and Stall Dry.

When a fierce storm blew water into the coop overnight not long ago, the coop still didn't have much of an odor even though there was a large wet patch on the floor, because the Stall Dry has some enzyme in it that cuts the smell.

I also spread some in the run, under the grass clippings we put down weekly, and it also keeps the odor down in the run, too.

Really amazing stuff.

 

[Monk]

I have only 6 birds and only have had them in the coop for a couple of weeks, not much of a problem yet. I have about 6" of shavings and mixed in some DE. The coop is well ventilated and run is covered, which keep things pretty dry. The coop is 4'x 6' and can be reach easily with the hoe and I stir up the shavings once a week. The birds love it stirred up, they get in and go scratching away in it! I plan on adding more DE/shavings as needed too. It seems like it should work well as others have commented.

 

[TreeHugger]

I clean my coop about once a month & I use pine shavings. I have a raised chicken house with a wood floor & I still have a little bit of an odor issue in the spring & fall when it's rainy & it doesn't get hot enough to dry everything out. I think I am going to try the dry stall this fall.

My biggest issue was the run which smelled HORRIBLE this spring. I finally decided to put down sand. The difference was amazing - I wish I would have put down sand years ago!