Yuck! It STINKS!

[kmatt87]

ok. I need some help. My run STINKS!!! Its in dirt and the chicken spend most of their days in their since my Shepard mix wants to chase them. I'm planning on raking it out today and getting rid of the top layer of stuff (poo, leaves, sticks, leftover grass clippings from 3 wks ago, etc etc). I was thinking of tossing a bag of sand in there and mix it with some sweet pdz. But I've put straight pdz in there and it didn't help much.

Anyone else have this problem?? Its driving me nuts. The coop i can clean every 3 wks without a problem (sweet pdz poo area and shavings in another). There is a noticeable chicken smell but its not a bad one. But the run? It makes me want to gag every time i change the water!

 

[FireTigeris]

I did this... I use a hose- the run off is controlled to feed plants or travel to a cistern then out the drain field (think the worlds smallest septic system).



There's about to be a major fix today for some problems I'll get more pictures... but that's 1*1 inch vinyl lattice

 

[kmatt87]

I did this... I use a hose- the run off is controlled to feed plants or travel to a cistern then out the drain field (think the worlds smallest septic system).



There's about to be a major fix today for some problems I'll get more pictures... but that's 1*1 inch vinyl lattice

i wish i had the room to do that! I'm in the city with a med sized yard so i'm not able to. I don't even have room for a compost!

 

[off-grid hen]

There might be some suggestions in the coop and run section, I've seen people post about this before. Try the BYC forum search for "how to clean run" or "stinky run", or something like that

I am fortunate that my run is well-drained, so I generally don't have this problem. When I first made a grow-out area adjacent to my existing run, the ground kind of stunk where we had old lumber stacked. When we built the run, we put an extra 3 inches of sand on top of the dirt and that helped a lot. Good luck.

 

[citychickx6]

I say turn the dirt with a tiller and add ag-lime. I would till it as deep as you can. I am also in Northern Colorado and I till mine about once a month.
I have no notable odor and 20 chickens til yesterday when 3 went to a rancher friend.

 

[kmatt87]

I say turn the dirt with a tiller and add ag-lime. I would till it as deep as you can. I am also in Northern Colorado and I till mine about once a month.
I have no notable odor and 20 chickens til yesterday when 3 went to a rancher friend.

i can't till in the area the run is in. The cable line and several sprinkler lines run right thru that area and they are pretty close to the surface.

 

[Kittyf]

Use a bit more sweet pdz - I find I need to toss a lot of it in my run - I get some real stinky-ness when the cabbage my chicks love decomposes in this heat! We have a mister system in one corner, too, so stuff gets wet and then heats up some. Couple that with chick poo and wow. So I rake out nightly and rake in some sweet pdz - like a large cup for every 10 square feet. I rake it in well and follow with clean sand mix. Except for the "cabbage on a stick" that they love, and their feeder, which is up off the ground, I keep their treats in pans, but they always drag stuff out onto the ground and of course, they poo on everything.

If you can't till into the ground (I can't, either) then you just need to keep the surface clean and deodorized.

 

[Glenmar]

My run has about 6 inches of pine shavings. This works good. I take all of it out 2x a year and replace.

 

[dancingflower68]

I just rake mine out every night too...it seems to work, and I have come to enjoy it..it's somehow therapeutic!!

 

[dancingflower68]

My run has about 6 inches of pine shavings. This works good. I take all of it out 2x a year and replace.

I have thought about using some pine shavings or chopped straw, because my girls really enjoy when I let them out and they can scratch around in the mulch. I figure that might keep them busy when in their run. Does your run ever get wet, and how do the pine shavings hold up if it does? I'm terrified of growing mold accidentally, since my run does get damp when I run the misters, and as soon as rainy season starts, I'm sure it will get wet then. I'm just not totally satisfied with the sand run just because of the dust. Cheers~ Deanna