Peeee--ewwwwww

Last night I got home from work. When I opened my car door, the worst stench filled my nose. I know the smell of chickens. My cousin in Pennsylvania co-owns a chicken farm with her husband. You could have knocked me over with the stench. I wondered if my septic tank had somehow seeped up to the yard. 

But like I said, I know the smell of chickens. And it was late, so I still had the task of gathering up my flock to enclose them into the safest portion of the coop. Five of my chickens, thankfully, have learned where they are safe to sleep. Three of my littlest ones were cuddled together in a corner. They decided to be hard to corral. There's nothing like chasing moving chicks with bugs dive-bombing your face because of your iPhone flashlight. 

I felt bad, though, putting my babies in their coop. I wasn't sure where the reek was coming from. But, better to be smelly than eaten by a fox. So in they went. 

As I went to sleep, I imagined that if I lived in a subdivision I'd have the city council knocking on my door in the morning. The chickens didn't smell that morning when I went to work, so how did they smell so bad that night? Was it the five days of constant rain? Was it the composter, which has a load of wet, nasty chicken cage cleaning? Was it the bales of hay that got wet? Is it just time to clean the coop? Is it that I have the wrong litter? 

This morning, I woke up, thinking that maybe I needed to burn all my chicken's leftovers and start my compost anew and coop floor anew.  The last time I checked my composter, it was full of bugs and maggots. Was that the smell? 

As soon as I stepped outside, the smell was greatly reduced, but I still got whiffs of chicken in every part of my yard. But at least it was better than last night. 

Mentally calculating when I'd be able to squeeze in cleaning a coop, I checked my compost tumbler and was delighted at the result.

Black gold awaited me. (Sadly, no, I didn't discover an oil well), but the beginnings of amazing, dark, rich soil. Suddenly, I loved the smell. Loved that I had no neighbors nearby. My chickens will be given a cleaner coop, but I'm keeping all of that stinky nastiness for next Spring's garden. 

 

It's all mine!