How to Keep Your Chicken Coop from Smelling
Unfortunately, bad odors are inevitable when dealing with any living, breathing thing, especially chickens. However, there’s a way to clean and deodorize the coop for good!
Because chickens have such nitrogen-rich poop, ammonia will eventually surface when the poop is exposed to moisture. Ammonia, a colorless odor, is the primary cause of the foul, pungent smell from your coop. The key to preventing ammonia is limiting the moisture.
Read on to find out more about how to clean your coop, things to put in your coop to prevent foul odors, and other cleaning methods.
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What to Put in a Chicken Coop to Keep it Clean?
As far as materials to optimize air ventilation, encourage sanitation, and reduce moisture, consider the following materials to add to your cleaning repertoire for the coop.
Hay
Carbon-based litter
Sand
Herbs
Dropping boards
Windows
Vents
Vinegar, apple cider vinegar, orange peel vinegar
Interested in seeing a “deep cleaning” routine for the coop? Check out this video with tips for a monthly cleaning routine you can follow:
What Makes a Chicken Coop Smell?
The primary reason your chicken coop smells beyond your average “farm animal smell” is because of a substance called ammonia.
Because a chicken’s poop is rich in nitrogen and can easily be exposed to moisture, it generates ammonia. Ammonia is a colorless gas that omits a pungent, sharp, and unpleasing odor that can be harmful, not only to the chickens but to you and other living things around the coop.
When a chicken is exposed to ammonia for long periods, it will cause severe respiratory problems, infected guts, and even vision problems. As humans, we can also suffer from this after prolonged exposure and neglect to eliminate the odor.
Further, ammonia is activated through exposure to moisture. Moisture can easily work its way through the coop via humidity, a broken egg, neglect of cleaning, rain, spilled water, etc. Even if you live in a dry climate, moisture will still find itself in the coop one way or another.
Therefore, the goal of chicken coop cleaning is to eradicate the ammonia smell through moisture control and a few other methods we will go over in this article.
How to Prevent a Chicken Coop from Smelling
There are numerous full-proof methods to prevent your chicken coop from smelling and for keeping your chickens safe from ammonia. Let’s take a look at some popular methods for odor control.
Rethink Your Flooring
The type of flooring you have greatly affected moisture retention and, therefore, the smell of your coop. Some floors are easier to clean than others, some trap more moisture, and some last longer than others. Here are some floor options to consider for your coop.
Concrete
Concrete floors are extremely durable, easy to clean, can hello chickens cool down in warmer weather, can keep pests out, and are excellent protection against predators. Additionally, concrete will not lock in moisture as some other options do.
As for the cons of concrete floors, they are more expensive, can damage a chicken’s feet and legs if not installed properly, and lack effective bedding, it is permanent and is colder in the winter months.
If you are leaning more toward a concrete floor, make sure that you lay plenty of soft bedding to prevent your chicken from scratching open its feet. Additionally, you’ll need to fill any cracks or gaps in the concrete to prevent any injury to your chickens’ legs.
Plywood
Plywood is normally abundant, low cost, easy to clean and maintain, easy to put together, keep predators out, and easy to put together.
However, plywood does rot over time and will need to be replaced. Depending on how much moisture and humidity are in your area will determine how often you’ll need to replace the plywood.
Additionally, if you don’t use bedding, the plywood will then be harder to clean since much gets dug into the material. Therefore, it will be hard to scrape and get out.
Non-Plywood, Wooden Floors
Non-plywood wooden floors are easier to obtain than most other flooring materials and a whole lot easier to build. Additionally, they can come at a lower cost.
However, wooden floors are a lot harder to clean especially compared to concrete and plywood flooring. The gaps between the wooden planks gather a lot of muck which means you will have to spend more time scraping between the boards.
Try Deep Litter
Deep litter is a natural cleaning method that limits your cleaning time in the long run and is incredibly beneficial for your chickens and garden! Here are a few steps to consider when thinking of deep litter for your coop.
What is Deep Litter? The Science Behind It
Deep litter is similar to your composting pile with three phases of decomposition.
The first phase reaches a moderate temperature for a couple of days. The second phase reaches a higher temperature over a couple of days. Lastly, the third phase reaches the maturation phase in which the materials take several months to cool down.
When it is time to remove the layers, use all the materials and muck as compost! It is rich in nitrogen and will help your plants thrive.
Layering
When conducting the deep litter technique, start with a layer of “browns.” The most popular material for this layer is pine shavings because they are non-toxic to chickens and make for great compost later on.
When considering which “brown” to use, stay away from cedar! Cedar is incredibly toxic to chickens. When chickens are raised with cedar bedding, they can get sick and die.
As for the “green” component, you don’t need one! Your chicken’s poop, rich in nitrogen, will provide the “green” element.
Add about 6-inches of brown and a bit of carbon-based litter. As your chickens poop, add more litter. You should end up with about a 12-inch litter bed.
The litter you use is great for a chicken’s health (specifically carbon-based). They act as beneficial microbes for the chickens.
Aerating
The layers need to be turned up regularly to promote proper airflow for the natural process to effectively take place, to prevent moisture from building, and for eliminating odor.
If you don’t want to go into the coop every few days with a rake to turn the litter, scatter some chicken scratch along the coop floor. Since chickens love to scratch, they will help you properly aerate the litter.
We still recommend going in with a rake to identify any areas the chickens did not scratch and turn it up yourself if necessary.
Removing Litter
Once you’ve reached 12 inches of litter, remove 6 inches to begin part of the decomposition process again.
Try not to remove all of the litter unless absolutely necessary. Once the litter has sat, it will generate those beneficial microbes which you don’t want to get rid of.
Benefits
With this process, you don’t have to make cleaning your coop a full-time job and you get fantastic compost out of it while eliminating the odor.
If you have a smaller coop, we don’t recommend this method as it will only, fully work if you have a decent-sized flock.
Remember that Moisture is Not Your Friend
As stated previously, moisture triggers that ammonia smell. Therefore, it is essential to focus on creating as little moisture as possible in the coop.
Consider purchasing a dehumidifier for the coop especially if you live in more humid areas. Additionally, if you don’t use the deep litter method, you’ll need to remove the bedding and litter weekly to prevent moisture from building up in the coop.
Keep the Air Moving
Natural air flow is an easy, effective method for drawing out moisture. Install vents high up in the coop and/or build windows for the coop.
When employing either of these options, we recommend you consider two factors: predators and cold weather.
If you are going with a window, make sure it is not too big and install some sturdy wire to stretch across the opening.
For the vents, it is best to place them higher up and above where the chickens are, but this opens the door for coldness to seep into the coop. Use well-insulated, natural bedding (like pine shavings or the deep litter method) to keep your chickens warm or a heat lamp if necessary.
Sprinkle Fresh Herbs
Herbs will not only help repel odor, but they are great, healthy snacks for the chickens too. For example, mint and rosemary will help repel pests and deworm your chickens.
Keep Flies Out
Flies are drawn to moist areas, so it’s only natural they will find their way into your coop. However, they can carry some diseases with them and infect your chickens.
To keep the flies away, keep the moisture level extremely low in the coop by conducting one of the methods listed here.
Remove leftover food scraps, clean the coop with vinegar solutions, and maintain a clean coop to help prevent flies from infiltrating the coop.
Try a New Type of Bedding
If you are using bedding such as hay or sand (not bad choices, but you might be tired of the maintenance), then try pine shavings or another natural shaving that isn’t cedar.
Hay or straw are good options, but they can quickly grow stinky and are harder to clean. With sand, it is easier to clean but it can not compost, and it is very dusty when kicked up.
Try Lime
Barn lime is a fantastic material to put in your coop to help kill bacteria and promote healthy chickens. Barn lime is rich in calcium and other great substances that create stronger, healthier eggs and help with the overall health of the chickens.
Use Odor Neutralizers
Diatomaceous Earth (DE) kills insects and other pests to dry out and die. Naturally, DE eliminates the moisture in the area which is the main reason why the coop smells.
If you do use DE, make sure it is food grade only, less than 2% crystalline silica, and no fillers.
Baking soda, too, kills many types of mold that might manifest from moisture in the coop.
Clean Often
We recommend doing a general cleaning for your coop weekly. Grabe a shovel, rake, scraper, stiff-brsitled brush, a vinegar solution, hose, and natural bedding.
Remove all the bedding, scrape the excess, and hose down with water and a vinegar solution.
Let the water and vinegar sit and soak for a few minutes then go back in and scrape up and brush any excess muck that is left.
Finally, hose down one more time and let the coop dry completely before adding new, clean bedding.
Focus on Drainage in the Outdoor Areas
Moisture, especially during the rainy season, will make its way into the coop. A chicken’s muddy feet will track in that wet dirt and collect moisture inside. Therefore, drainage is necessary.
Consider placing straw, adding a boardwalk, or scattering pine needles to keep your chicken coop smelling fresh. Straw, pine shavings, and pine needles will help wipe off a chicken’s feet before entering the coop. A small boardwalk or deck operates the same way in providing a space for your chickens to wipe off their feet.
How Often Should I Clean My Chicken Coop?
In general, you should clean your coop weekly by removing the bedding and replacing it with clean, dry bedding.
Once a month, we recommend you do a deep clean to disinfect the coop and make sure the space remains dry.
Final Thoughts
The key to keeping your coop clean and odor-free is keeping all that moisture out of the coop. Make sure to keep the natural airflow in the coop constant via windows or vents. Also, consider installing a mounted oscillating fan set on low.
To suck the moisture out of the coop, consider purchasing a dehumidifier, trying the deep litter method, and/or using baking soda.
Once a month, do a deep cleaning where you completely disinfect and dry out the coop to encourage healthy chickens and reduce any chance of ammonia infiltrating the coop.
Start the cleaning process by evaluating your current coop space and flock. Which bedding do you prefer? Do you have space to install a window? After you evaluate the space, take on those odors by trying out one of the methods we’ve laid out!
Want to learn more about raising chickens? Be sure to check out these articles!
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