How to Clean the Smell From an Old Chicken Yard

A build-up of ammonia and bacteria produce a strong odor in a dirty chicken coop. It can be offensive to people in the area and harmful to your chickens. With proper maintenance, your coop or yard need not stink, and you may not have to do a complete cleaning of the coop more often than once a year.

Things You'll Need

  • Broom
  • Rake
  • Scrub brush
  • Bucket
  • Disinfectant soap
  • Aspen shavings
  • Pine shavings
  • Scratch grain
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Instructions

  1. Thin Litter with Shaved Aspen

    • 1

      Take the chickens from the coop and either place them in an outdoor pen, or let them wander in the yard when you notice an odor developing in the coop.

    • 2

      Remove the nesting boxes, water delivery apparatus or troughs, food containers and any other accessories from the coop.

    • 3

      Sweep out the old aspen bedding --- available at pet or livestock feed stores --- with a broom and add it to your compost pile or sprinkle it over your garden. It makes excellent fertilizer.

    • 4

      If the floor of the coop is stained with feces, scrub it with a scrub brush and hot, soapy water. Use disinfectant soap in the hot water. Rinse and allow the floor to dry completely.

    • 5

      Outside the coop, wash the water troughs and food containers with a disinfectant soap and warm water. Rinse them thoroughly.

    • 6

      Add a new bedding layer of aspen shavings 3 to 4 inches deep and replace the coop accessories. You may let the chickens back inside at this time.

    Deep Litter with Shaved Pine

    • 7

      Remove the hens from the coop along with the accessories, sweep or rake out the old shavings and scrub the floor of the coop if necessary.

    • 8

      Sprinkle a thick layer of pine shavings around the inside of the coop, between 8 and 12 inches deep.

    • 9

      Pepper the floor of the coop with scratch grains (chicken food) on occasion, encouraging the hens to redistribute the shavings increasing aeration and preventing stagnation.

    • 10

      Add a thin layer of pine shavings and sprinkle more scratch over it whenever the coop smells of ammonia.

    • 11

      Sweep or rake out the old shavings once a year and replace them. The old shavings will become very rich compost that you can use in your garden.