How to get rid of Bad Smell in Chicken Coop-litter management in summer

I was loved by nature and beautiful creation of God. My interest drove me to tame various animals including cats, rabbits, horse, dogs and alligators as well. I used to treat all of them as my own babies, trust me; I was their mother because most of my time and attention was devoted to my small farm. One fine day I went to take some milk and eggs from the nearby farm and fell in love with the adorable chickens. They were so cute, so adorable and so naughty that I decided there and then that I am going to make my own little chicken farm.

It was not tough for me to spend some dollars and obtain a mixed flock, the chicken coop and other necessary equipment. Without much knowledge about the coop care, maintenance and other related issues, I blindly jumped into the trouble myself. What happened after some time was all beyond my thought. Those were hot summer days, I never knew that my carelessness would cause this kind of trouble – I would feel the chickens were annoyed and there is some sort of bad smell in the coop. I thought it would get away itself and ignored. Eventually the odor got over the entire coop and the farm started stinking.

I ran to the professional poultry farmer nearby for help, he was an amazing person. He came along to teach me what went wrong and how to carry out the corrective measures.

Wet weather and humidity are enemies:

You all know the coop flooring is really sensitive and most of it when gets wet cause bad smell. Many times while filling up the water container spills water, this causes moisture in the flooring and it gets tacky. All you have to do is, take care of the spills and remove or turnover the wet litter each time after filling the containers. Also, make sure the containers are not too big that miss chicken thinks you have arranged a pool for her – be careful.

Ensure air circulation:

The chicken coop must have proper ventilation; it never means that must have big door and windows, but box fans. It depends upon the size of the coop and your sense of looking at the things. The proper air inflow and outflow would keep the flies, mites and other problems away. To some extent, you would be sure that the chances of bad smell are low. The air would also keep the chicken coop cool in summers; ultimately, you are preventing heat stress too.

Use of fresh flower:

You can use or sprinkle fresh flowers in the coop each morning so that tacky smell can be avoided – this would cheer the birds too because bad smell is even a torture for them.

Change the bedding frequently:

It is mandatory to change the chicken coop bedding after a week in the summers that goes damp. There are many types of beddings to choose from – look for the one, which dry quickly and easy to mange. In short, there are chances of bacteria development and bad smell. This affects chicken health also and you would never want to lose your adorable birds just for the sake of a few dollars.

Use of Diatomaceous Earth:

The best type of bedding for summers is hay; you must use it with diatomaceous earth powder so that it can absorb all the unwanted dirt and smell. The chicken poop and other issue regarding the decomposition during the summers can be handled this way easily.

In addition, it is said that we must keep lesser flooring during summers in order to avoid the heat instead of deep litter. Even the decomposition causes heat that may lead to severe coop issues. Carelessness especially in summers can lead to bad smelling chicken run and coop which would make the chickens unhappy. God forbid, unclean coop would invite multiple diseases too – I lost my three chickens because of the same mistake. I hope you follow the right ways, keep the coop dry, and clean during summers.