What to do about the smell.......

[Scrambled Egg]

Diatomaceous Earth is a poultry-keeper's best friend. It's a 100% natural cure for all manner of poultry ailments including intestinal worms, mites and lice. It's completely safe and non-toxic - diatomaceous earth is an abrasive, fine white powder made of the tiny fossilized remains of diatoms, a type of algae. Ours is food-grade, so it's completely safe for your pet chickens and to eat eggs. Add 1 pound for every 50 pounds of feed to prevent/treat worms, and sprinkle some in the nest box, run and coop bedding to prevent/treat mites and lice.

This def. comes from Mypetchicken.com...hope this helps!!​

 

[seminolewind]

I think the best solution I've used is granular lime, put it on wet ground or spray to dampen it. Use alot, it's cheap. Do it after the chickens go to bed. In the morning, you'll be amazed.
Lime doesn't really help me much inside the coop, it's not wet enough.

 

[nccountrygirl]

Quote:
Is this the powered lime that looks like DE or the pelletized lime?

 

[seminolewind]

I use the garden dust free stuff. The other stuff is just too dusty-pulverized lime.
But, IMO I think the pulverized works faster, but I would wet it down good after putting it down.

 

[chickenannie]

Thanks Scrambled Egg, for defining the DE! It took me forever to figure out what DH meant, by the way. Now I got it...

 

[Scrambled Egg]

LOL! You are not alone! I think we need a sticky thread with abbreviations because we all ask about the DH, DS, DD...and then the DE too, haha!! Funny after you've been on the forum awhile you forget that you had problems with that to start with too!!!
Truthfully, I couldn't remember what the initials DE stood for exactly when I tried to answer your questions so I couldn't google it, then I remembered that Mypetchicken is a BYC sponsor and got lucky finding it there...unicorn or someone that else that knows all those disease/remedy terms would have answered you at somepoint anyway, but happy I could find it for you!!

 

[stilwellchick]

If you use lime be sure it is agricultural lime. My feed store tried to get me to buy some that was clearly marked poison to breath and insisted it was the right thing to use. After I educated him on this he then said "oh I must have ordered the wrong kind" Be sure to always read labels! With DE you must get the food grade codex type and not the stuff for swimming pools which is poisonous to the chickens.

 

[Scrambled Egg]

I used nearly a half of a bag of agricultural lime when I was "curing" my new pond last year. I helped with the ph levels and added some needed nutrients (it's magnesium and calcium) in the water, worked like a charm. Used the rest of it to prevent tomato end rot...mixed it in my garden soil so hopefully this year I won't have that problem. I feel sure that would not harm chickens.