1965 coop

grannytaz · Aug 2, 2015

I have a coop on the side of my barn that I am trying to clean out. It hasn't been used as a coop since 1965, I think. It has a dirt floor under all the old straw, but over the years mice have gotten in there. I am almost down to the dirt. How clean does it have to be before I put new straw or shavings in it? i don't want to make my chickens sick when I move them other.

The other thing I found was it has "in floor heating" from the artesian well.

Thank you for any info.

Percheron chick · Aug 2, 2015

I wouldn't worry about 50 year old dirt. Clean it out to a reasonable point and get the show on the road.

oldhenlikesdogs · Aug 2, 2015

Sounds nice, I am a farm girl, all dirt floor sheds get cleaned out once a year, go down to firm soil, you may find you need to get some fill in like gravel to raise it up, especially if it hasn't been used in a while, you should need to do this once, you will be grateful that you did, then top with sand, shavings, hay, straw, whatever you were going to use, though you could just leave it gravel and rake up dropping occasionally, I use a mixed bedding system a bit of everything everywhere. Make sure to use a dust mask when cleaning, rodent droppings can be deadly if inhaled, as well as dust and mold. Sure would love to see pictures, I love old out buildings.