What to do about strong ammonia smell?

[LeRa37]

I hope to get some tips! We clean our backyard coop everyday rain or shine, however we had 5 days of heavy wind and driving rain that soaked the sand under coop and in the enclosure. It was sunny today and warmer, but the smell is so strong. We tried putting a fan on and raking sand. We added a few new bags of dry sand and mixed it all in..........no improvement. Does anyone know how we can get rid of or make the smell better? Is baking soda an option, or is that harmful?

 

[micah O]

Put some mistral on it that might cure it.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

You can try some sweet pdz or stall dry. It is expensive though. I don't know if it will help you or not.

 

[joan1708]

Hummm? Do you have too many birds for the space that you have? Is your coop sitting in a low spot and is not draining appropriately? I would try some PDZ. But it sounds like you will have to keep that up. If you are cleaning the poop out of the coop every day it shouldn't smell that bad.

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

Mix in some pelletized Lime (Calcium Carbonate) and it will help with the odor
Last time I bought some a 40 lb bag was only about $5

 

[4 the Birds]

Mix in some pelletized Lime (Calcium Carbonate) and it will help with the odor
Last time I bought some a 40 lb bag was only about $5

Tractor Supply has 40 lb bags of Lime for $3. They also have Sweet PDZ which is produced to knock down smells in horse stalls. Works great in the coop as well.

 

[LeRa37]

I don't have too many birds, but for the 5 days of driving rain we were unable to clean out the sand part of the enclosure. We cleaned the coop everyday, but it was too wet to do the sand. The smell is better today. Our coop is up off the ground on a raised stone patio with pavers. We are talking about adding an awning now to protect from days like that.

 

[LeRa37]

thank you for that tip. This seems more affordable to me.....how do the chickens do with lime?

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

Quote: It's chemically the same as Oyster shell