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[Jen&Rog]

My other half did the weekly clean out and announced (not for the first time) that it is "time to get rid of the hens." I am once again trying to come up with a rescue plan. The problem we have is that their area is always wet, soggy and smelly in winter, and dusty and full of flies in the summer. Are we simply not cleaning enough, or got them in too small an area, or just have unrealistic expectations?! They are currently in a walk in run with about 5 sq metres, they are direct on the soil (grass long gone), we have tried all sorts of surfaces underfoot, and we have 3 big ish hybrids who poo a lot!! Any thoughts welcome!!

[jasperaliceuk]

Is your run covered?

 

 

Sue

[Olly]

My first question is 'is the run covered?'

 

I have a similar set-up to the one you describe, I am a fairly lazy chicken-keeper but they don't smell. In summer I'm a bit more assiduous about cleaning them out but I have never had a problem. I use woodchip/sawdust or aubiose on the floor although it soon disappears.

 

If it isn't covered though, you will find it harder to keep clean.

[PixieDust]

Our run is covered.

 

We are on clay here which is on low marsh land. We have put down a water permeable membrane and then covered with sharp sand. To be honest we didn't use enough but we can get some more bags in Spring. I poo pick every morning and once a week sprinkle Nettex ground sanitiser. I want to get some Stalosan F.

 

When the sand gets wet from driving rain it gets heavy but dries out very quickly and missed poos are easily found. A cat litter tray scoop or even a large outdoor sieve will help remove poos. The sand helps to dry them out and keep they contained so form a lump.

 

Because my 4th girl was poorly and subsequently was pts having a respitory infection, I clean out the coop every day. By that I mean I poo pick the removable floor, change the dirty Aubiose and use disinfectant wipes to remove crud from the perches. Takes me 20 minutes tops.

 

I realise I have not gone through a hot summer but even The Chicken Chick in her blog agrees sharp sand is good. This way it's not a quagmire in the wet and a huge dust bath in the sun. Also it means they can dig and scratch about which is probably the only drawback of a solid base.

 

I hope that is of some help.

 

Edit: Forgot to add mine is around 6.5 - 7 square meters with my 3 remaining girls, all large hybrids.

[Jen&Rog]

Oops yes I should have said that the run is covered, but there is a lot of concrete all around the perimeter so I think a fair amount of surface water runs in, and the whole area at the end of our garden gets green and sludgy. Oh for a bigger garden!!

 

For those using wood chips/aubiose - do you regularly remove and replace it? We used to try wood chippings but got so wet/heavy/smelly it was a really really horrible job to do. And our bin men had an issue with our heavy bin. So we have nothing but bare soil now. But I don't po pick.. is that wrong?

Edited February 26, 2015 by Guest

[Beantree]

Ours have 15m2 each and we poo pick very day in Winter and twice a day in Summer. The total area to keep clean is 580m2 so it's a very big job but it never smells. Problem with a small run is that the poo gets trampled in and if wet the surface turns to slurry. Unless this is removed it will stink at any time of year.

 

As previously suggested the solution in your case is to make sure the rainwater runoff stays well away. Then add hardwood chips about 6" deep over a membrane. Sand works as well. This needs to be poo picked as well to make it last but will still perhaps need replacing annually.

 

I can appreciate the problem. No-one likes the smell of chicken poo, particularly the neighbours. Our job for this afternoon, if it stops raining, is to s"Ooops, word censored!"e the gooey topsoil off just one enclosure to allow the water to drain. It's the only one which hasn't got a natural slope. It's a 60m2 area so quite a big messy job, as are most things relating to chickens it seems.

 

Getting chickens' digestive system in order can go a long way. If the poos are firm they are easier to lift. Worth considering a dose of Beryl's Tonic Jen&Rog. Also make sure the Flubenvet worming is kept up to date.

[mollyripkim]

Hi, I use wood chips, they have been down since last april and are fine, I have 20 chickens and three ducks in a covered run. Water does get in but they dry out quickly as I have used a base of plastic pallets (cheap on internet), these are covered with a porous membrane so any water can drain away.

I poo pick daily and use Stalasan weekly and have never had a problem with smells.

[Mrs_B]

Would this method help at all?

 

http://www.newlandpoultry.com/index.php/2014-01-31-22-04-44/chicken-run-mud-management

 

I did this after our garden became so muddy and we got a walk in run. I found it really helped

 

x

[mullethunter]

It sounds like it must be to do with the location as my girls (2 Pekins and 2 Wyandotte bantams) spend all the time when we're at work (about 37 hours a week) in their 3m Go run, which is just on earth with no extra 'bedding' and even though I only poo pick a couple of times a week at the moment and use Nettex ground sanitising powder once a week, it doesn't smell at all. It does help that the earth is very leaf littery I think but although the run is mostly covered the ground inside is still damp if it's been raining a lot.

 

Jen&Rog could you post a pic of the position of your run in the garden? It sounds like you either need to get it raised up, or find some way of diverting water around it. Or do as others have suggested and lay a membrane to stop water coming up through and then top with something.

 

I can appreciate that if your OH has come to the end of his tether he may not relish the extra work involved with this - are you able to do it?

[gavclojak]

You could rehome OH

[Chickabee]

You could rehome OH

 

 

Is that on the British Husbands Welfare Site, might have to put my OH name on there

[bokbok87]

I have the same issue with my OH but we worked out what the smell was!

 

Our Eglu is covered but we were still getting a bad smell - turns out the girls like to throw all their food on the floor and dig it into the ground

We ended up chucking out a lot of earth, re filling and leaving it alone - which is a bit of work but has done the trick!

We tried using stalosan but it actually made our garden smell worse as we had a mixed smell!

With wet whether everything smells bad in our garden.

 

No more layers mash for them after this bag and they will be on pellets whether they like it or not! We also moved them to a fixed run with a tarp floor which is pegged down so they cant dig down and is a lot easier to clean.

 

Good luck!