[Sca-cooks] Chicken question

[Saint Phlip]

Depends on how often you clean up after them. The smell is from their
manure. Keep in mind they're omnivores, so they digest meat quite
well, but that always smells, particularly on a hot day. If you keep
their cage/roost area clean, and have a reasonably large yard for them
to run around in, so that rain and weather cause the manure they drop
though the day to deteriorate faster than it builds up, you shouldn't
have a problem. My 2 dozen are about 20 ft from our back door, and
they don't bother Margali's sensitive sniffer unless it's really hot
and the wind is blowing the wrong way. You do, however, want to be
careful where you walk, or do as I do and have a dedicated pair of
boots for going into the pen.

And, I suggest that in addition to their layer mash or pellets, and
the calcium/grit supplement, that you add a little dog food to their
food, particularly if they don't have a very big run. They can use the
extra protein, and it's very much a loved treat for them.

You'll also find, as time goes by (more than a couple days) that the
smell issue decreases- your nose gets tired of being outraged ;-) You
were exposed to a pretty intense situation. A couple laying hens
shouldn't be a problem, particularly if you raise them from peeps.

Just one thing- NEVER feed them saurkraut ;-)

On 5/18/07, Kathleen Madsen <kmadsen12000 at yahoo.com> wrote:
> Phlip, I'm really enjoying your posts on the ducks,
> geese, and chickens.  I do, however, have a question.
> Do chickens really smell as bad as I remember?  I only
> survived two afternoons of egg collecting for our
> landlady in the German village we lived in when I was
> a child.  Granted, she had a few thousand birds in one
> place so the smell was rather intense.  Lord, I can
> *still* smell it today.  I'd like to have a couple of
> chickens myself but if they have that smell I just
> won't be able to go near them.  Are there some
> chickens that smell more than others?  Can I ever get
> around my smell issue?  My husband says I need
> therapy.  ;)
>
> Eibhlin


-- 
Saint Phlip

Heat it up
Hit it hard
Repent as necessary.

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