Raising chickens stinks.......literally!!!!

[Brice Acton]

Today I thought it would be a good idea to clean the barn out since it was pouring down rain outside. The barn has been shut up since last fall to help retain any heat and now the smell of ammonia is unbearable. I have heard the old timers talk about using dehydrated lime to control the smell in hog barns and also help dry up the bedding. Does anyone know if line can be used around chickens? Has anyone done this before? After it is cleaned I will post pics of my setup to get any and all suggestions on improving it.

[Mike Gilbert]

I have been using barn lime on the concrete  floors of poultry pens for about 30 years.   It is sprinkled on after a clean-out, and then a layer of fresh pine shavings goes down.   It does help dry up the moisture and neutralizes some of the ammonia.   I have observed no ill effects from using it.    I have noticed those 50 lb bags have gotten heavier over the years.   

[Brice Acton]

Thanks Mike. Then I will pick some up when I head to dinner. Now only if I could snap my fingers and the feed room, the breeding pens, the aisle way and the layer pen all be cleaned my life would be great.

[DeWayne Edgin]

If you get any type of worms that breath through their skin like maggots or what ever, lime is a good way to kill them and some other unwanted germs to. I use lime alot. It works real good in areas were you set your chickens water and under their roost to.

[Schroeder]

Here's my problem with lime.  I compost all the litter and add it to my garden.  The soil already tends towards alkaline, and I don't want to make it worse.

[Lee G]

Interesting! I've never used lime myself.

What I do use to keep things dry is a mixture of Stall-Dry and peat moss thrown right onto straw bedding. The chickens do all the hard work of mixing everything up, and there is no odor at all.
Makes wonderful compost too. 

Oh, and really good ventilation also helps with dryness. In my experience chickens seem to do the best with lots of fresh air.  -40C is common for my area in winter (quite literally a deep freezer, haha) and I keep wide open vents and cracked windows year round. Just have to be careful there are no drafts in the roosting area and all is well. 

[Brice Acton]

Thanks for all the help! I am happy I joined the ABC, everyone seems so willing to offer suggestions and advice.

[DeWayne Edgin]

I grew up on a dairy farm and now we raise beef cattle. We would always try to lime our fields. It helps the soil and keeps out slugs from eating your plants. It should not be bad for a compost pile. Thats just my opion.

[Mike Gilbert]

In our area the soil is tested for ph levels to determine whether it needs lime (too acid) or not.  On our soil lime must be added to raise alfalfa.   But if the soil were already alkaline you would not want to add lime, as that would make it unsuitable for raising crops.

[Brice Acton]

We have 1500 acres of grain and 300 acres of alfalfa and we spread about 2 tons of lime on every acre about every 5 years based on the soil tests which are done annually. I was just unsure if the lime would be harmful to the lungs of my birds. I have used it to help breakdown compost piles. Lime is a great resource but can be very dangerous. I have seen it dry a persons skin and it can destroy lungs but only if it is dehydrated, hydrated lime isn't as bad.

[Carrie Gildersleeve]

If you don't want to use lime you could use food grade diatomaceous earth. It is my understanding that it does not affect ph levels.

[Fyremare]

I have begun to test Sweet PDZ, which is a stall drier derived from volcanic rock. It has helped even in the outdoor areas this year with smell.Comes in powder or granulated form. We've had a really wet summer. Not sure if it would change PH or not.
It's supposed to transmute the amonia into available nitrogen. I will be putting the soiled bedding in the flower beds and see what happens. So far so good.
I still use some food grade DE, it can do some things that the PDZ can't IMO.