My neighbor Carol said my coop smelled like a wet dog and honestly she was right

Kevin Adams · 2026-10-14T04:15:06.614168+00:00

So about two months ago my next door neighbor Carol came over to drop off some tomato starts and she kind of paused by the run and said, real polite, "honey, I think your coop needs some air." I was a little hurt at first because I clean it every weekend, I swear. But then I actually stuck my head in there and wow, yeah, the ammonia smell about knocked me over. Turns out I had the bedding piled way too deep, like 6 inches of pine shavings in a 4x8 coop with 5 hens, and all it was doing was trapping the moisture from their poop underneath. Also I had the vent up top blocked with a feed sack because I was worried about drafts in January here in Spokane, which was a dumb move on my part. So I pulled out half the shavings, unblocked the vent, and started doing the deep litter thing where you just turn it with a rake a couple times a week instead of dumping it all. Three weeks later the smell is basically gone and the girls seem way more active. My question is, do you all add anything to the litter to help dry it out, like DE or that Sweet PDZ stuff, or is turning it enough on its own?

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My neighbor Carol said my coop smelled like a wet dog and honestly she was right | Backyard Chicken Keepers - Librear