Patridge bantam chicken poorly foot?

[hannahb]

Hi - my girls are in a large run that just has dirt on the ground (mud at the moment!) although I put all the wood chips in the run after I've cleaned them out weekly in between it can really smell - is there anything i can do to keep this to a minimum??

 

Thanks

 

Hannah

[jomaxsmith]

Do you mean you put woodchips from the coop into run when you clean out the coop? Or that you have a layer of woodchip on the run base?

 

If the smell is from the chicken poo, food supplements like garlic powder and bokashi bran really help to neutralise any smells.

 

Is your run covered? It will smell more if the bedding in the run is getting wet.

 

Jo

[hannahb]

They have a seperate hut attached and that is totally dry, I put the wood chips from the hut into the run weekly to absorb moisture etc and hope to cover the run for this winter but didnt bank on it being so wet over the summer!

 

Thanks for ideas.

 

[Trish]

try digging some garden lime in before putting the chips down, if you can get in. Chicken's droppings are acidic and the lime helps neutralise the ground, as said before Garlic powder in teh food works well too.

[Ain't Nobody Here]

I use garlic powder & bokashi bran in their food.

 

I also sprinkle down garden lime and * Stalosan F *.

 

My run is covered too.

 

I don't notice any smell and I only clean it out every 6 weeks.

[Egluntyne]

Garden lime will neutralise the soil and stop the pong nicely.

 

You can then try the other recommendations to stop the poo smelling.

 

All ongoing remedies though.

[Bohochic]

Could it be the food? - it smells worse than the poo! If it gets wet (mash or layers), it reeks and has a more sweet manure note to it than poo

 

This is one reason why I'm looking to try to keep the run dry, the second is that it does nothing but rain in Wales!

[tenzin]

IF POSSIBLE , put a roof above the main run and let them free range as much as possible .

 

Sometimes old stale food honks up a tadge , so clean as much as possible .

[Trish]

To true about the food!! Our girls have an extended run and a fenced in area to use. We keep feed n both areas. This weekend we dug the whole lot over and limed it and the worst areas were where the feeders are kept. no matter what we try the girls love throwing food around and in all this rain it justs gets mushy and smelly, lovely

[Egluntyne]

honks up a tadge

Great turn of phrase. Hits the spot exactly.