Ways to get rid of smell in coop?

[BantammChick]

Straw isn't absorbent. Have you tried those pine pellets? They are great at drying things out. I just put a couple bags in one of ours after days of torrential rains mucking everything up. As a bonus they have a natural pine scent.

I haven't, but I will look into it! Thanks!

 

[SandyRiverChick]

Of my 20years with chickens, 15 were spent "dealing with," smell. And I cleaned quite frequently, even every day. I've always let my chickens free range so it's the over-night inevitable poo that I dealt with. Installation of Poop boards with some or all PDZ and daily clean up is how I've been able to get rid of smell 100%. Also, I have re-configured roosts to get to the point where no poo hits walls, that adds to smell too. I just highly recommend the best management practices as opposed to adding stuff that only temporarily works.

 

[puddle_drinker]

The ducks don't really spend much time in the house, they go in it but they don't sleep in there.
I use straw for bedding.
I've had chickens for 8 years and ducks for 4 years but I've only had them living around the chickens for a few months.

I have a house that the chickens sleep and lay their eggs in and then an outdoor run that the ducks go in at night. I only have an issue with the odor in the house.

Is it an ammonia smell? Ammonia smell would indicate the nitrogen in the chicken poop is breaking down. You can mitigate the ammonia smell by having carbonaceous material, for example wood shavings, where they poop. The nitrogen binds to the carbon to greatly reduce or prevent the ammonia smell.

 

[Sussex19]

Try using wood (pine) shavings instead of straw.
I have used hay in the past, and it is nasty after a bit, and stinks. Straw wouldn't be that bad, but I don't think it would be that good either.
Whereas now I use wood shavings, and it stays so nice and clean and sweet smelling.

 

[rosemarythyme]

From your replies I think the straw is the problem here. So try switching substrates completely and see if that remedies the problem.

 

[BeetaLiK]

I would say just cleaning it regularly, birds in general are messy, so you won't get a clean smell from them, and it's not a bad thing if it smells, just clean it so it won't get to bad.

 

[BantammChick]

Try using wood (pine) shavings instead of straw.
I have used hay in the past, and it is nasty after a bit, and stinks. Straw wouldn't be that bad, but I don't think it would be that good either.
Whereas now I use wood shavings, and it stays so nice and clean and sweet smelling.

Thanks for your help! I picked up some pine shavings last weekend, they are in the coop now! I just kind of scattered them around on the floor and put some in the nest boxes.

 

[Mrs. K]

Another place besides poop - is feed. If you are over feeding your birds, they tend to bill out and leave it. Over time that can sour and really smell.

Dry does not stink- Keeping things dry really helps, but it is pretty easy for me as we tend to have a dry climate.