Having a hard time with the amonia smell and the humidity in my new coop now that its cold and have to close it up at night.I guess I don`t have enough vents.bought new one yesteday and bigger,dh will put them in Sat.also poop boards under both roosts which I will clean everydday. Put a small fan in last night and left it running but did no good.It was 15 here last night and 27 in the coop this morning,the window were all frosted up.Had to turn of the light under the waterer so it would not freeze.Next spring will put in a lot of vents next to the ceiling.
ventilation problem
Do you have any vents down low? Or on the opposing side of the building? They don't have to be large, but having one low and one high will allow convection to move air through the whole coop. Having them just up high only vents the top of the coop, not where you and they are.
In a traditional coop, one long wall was taller than the other, with a bank of windows in it. There were vents above the windows that could be open, partially closed or completely closed. On the short side of the coop, the side facing north with no windows, there were an equal number of vents at floor level, also adjustable closure.
You can see how the windows would warm the coop, causing the heated air to rise, flowing out the higher vents and drawing fresh air in low under the roosts.
All vents were covered with wire-screen or hardware cloth.
Also I have found (thanks to my very messy Muscoveys) that the wood pellet bedding, originally sold here as "Woody Pet" does a great job of controlling noxious fumes. It gradually turns to lots of sawdust and lasts almost forever if you just add a little from time to time.
I've used the pelleted bedding too with my inside Seramas and it is great....absorbes everything and keeps the smell down.
Are you using the kind sold for bedding? I am secretely hoping that I might be able to use woodstove pellets.....
I think it may be important that the wood all be soft wood / pine, not hardwoods like walnut or such.
The pellets sold for bedding is not the same at all as the woodstove pellets, and I agree they work very well at absorbing the amonia and break down as they are intended to. However I do know some who use the wood stove pellets also. I'm not sure how well they work.
Green the amonia smell will always be greater during the cold season due to less time spent outdoors by the birds. To be sure ventilation is very important, and I agree with Jay on how to create circulation from lower vent to higher vent. It's the same basic system that heaters work off of. Also amonia is a sign of not enough shavings to absorb the more frequent habitat of the birds. What works during the warm season will not work during the cold as the conditions are totally different. Cold creates more density in the air and therefore holds the amonia from escaping as well as in the warm weather. Pile on another two to three inches of shavings and I am sure it will make an instant difference. Happy Holidays to a great family. Hay.
The cheapest way to use the pelleted pine is to buy it as horse bedding. I got it most recenlty at TSC, and paid $5.99 for the bale.
Thanks, catmad!
Do the pellets work better than the shavings?
They are definitely less messy and absorb odours better. I am not sure if the chickens like them better--if they want to snuggle in, they are a lot less snuggly.
I'd like to train mine to go poo in the outdoor run in all the leaves I put there and keep the indoor coop clean. I wonder how you'd go about training them? Give them treats like a dog? lol
Apparently you can condition parrots to "go" on command. This is very useful, until their owner goes away for a while--because unless the person who trained them to go tells them to, the poor birds won't go...at all.
I was reading a book on parrot care that warned against doing that for that very reason.
So will you always be there for your chickens?:0)
"Do the pellets work better than the shavings?"
The biggest drawback (for some) is that when they get wet they turn into sawdust. I use it as cat litter, and just wait until it's all fluff, and dump it (picking out "solids" in the meantime). Haven't used it for chickens, so can't comment on whether there's enough moisture to affect it.
With it used for chickens it takes a long time to turn to sawdust, but is still desirable as such. In fact I premoisten some of it in order to let them have a softer floor. The ducks make sawdust of their pellets in no time. I just stir it up and add more from time to time. No smell even from the ducks!
Catmad, buying it as horse bedding is exactly how I buy it. The nice thing about the pellets is that they don't foul the small waterers as the shavings do. So I use the shavings at one end of the pen and use the pellets at the end where the waterer and feeders are. I like it and the girls get to snuggle and don't foul the waterer so bad.
Hopefully when tractor supply opens up here they will have the pellets and I can try them.jayryunen showed dh what you wrote so when he puts in some more vents sat.he will be more informed.And hay will put down more shavings.the poop boards that I layed under the roosts really does help with the smell,it was froze to the boards this morning it was 7 this morning and 27 in the coop.BIG SNOW STORM COMMING STARTED AT 2;30 AND NOT ENDING UNTILL 7AM.Shoveling and snowblowing and plowing has started!!!!!!!!!!!!!