|
They don't smell if you provide them with some nice dry material (like wood shavings or straw) to hang out on. They definitely don't smell as much if you're afforded the luxury of letting them run free and evenly distribute their daytime droppings. Cleaning the coop is eventually necessary, and it is indeed vile. Seek the best frequency. Don't clean so frequently as to waste the dry material you put down, but don't let over a foot of dung accumulate on the floor either. It's extremely difficult to clean out if it stays moist because it's very heavy and it's one of the worst things you've ever smelled in your life.Definitely choose, or make a high and dry area to place the coop.
Even if you're insensitive, or less than sensitive to animal or chicken rights, you still stand to benefit from keeping chickens, or at least buying organic free-range eggs: All conventionally produced chickens and eggs have salmonella. Smaller farms and individual chickens don't necessarily, and probably don't have salmonella. Do people honestly prefer cheaper eggs guaranteed to have salmonella? With all factory farm produced animal products in such a centralized manner, we are really playing with the proverbial fire of disease tolerance to antibiotics, which is the other thing you can choose guarantee yourself whether you have chickens for eggs or meat - no use of antibiotics. Eggs from my chickens and other chickens with a similar free-range living situation have a very obvious better taste and texture due to the diverse food sources the chickens are free to explore, which in turn also makes their eggs more nutritious. There is plenty more to talk about on this issue, but I'll leave it at that. No Salmonella, No antibiotics, and tastier/more nutritious.
__________________
|