First time cleaning chicken house, need advice.

Finally, all our chickens from our first batch have been sold and we want to begin getting our second batch of chicken. I have some questions though.


1. Is it necessary to clean and disinfect between each batch... or would a regular cleaning (like the floors, feeders, waters, etc.) be ok? Is a deep clean a once a year thing or between every batch of chicken... we get 500 or more at a time.
2. If disinfecting is needed, do items inside the chicken house like chairs, shovels, ladders that are inside also have to be disinfected? (Last time our chicken were able to get in the front of the chicken house where we kept random assorted items. Now I am wondering if those things need to be disinfected too.)
3. What is a good procedure to clean/disinfect a chicken house? Any link you have is cool. Our chicken house is a large wooden house with a lot of chicken wire for the windows. We also have tarps to cover the chicken wire from outside... so don't know if those would need to be cleaned or disinfected too.


Last, we don't have a hose (it's Africa)... but we can fill buckets with water to throw on the floor or walls if need be.

Thanks!!!

Well hello faraway friend. Here are my thoughts and some questions..
You are keeping a large flock, so the best you can clean and disinfect, it would be to your benefit.
Q? Did you have any health issues or diseases known with the flock that you just sold off ??? I'm sure that there were some chickens that died as a result of such a large flock. But was there any infections that occurred to multiple birds at about the same time ?
If yes...... then maximize the clean up effort. If no,,, then you may get buy with just the floor, feeders, and waters.
Not sure what is available to you, but bleach used for laundry to whiten clothing works well to kill many bacteria and viruses, as well as protozoa, and other nasties that you want eliminated to promote good chicken health..
I have just a small flock, so I just physically clean out and use water to rinse out my coop. I have never needed to disinfect yet. My chickens are pets and have been staying healthy pretty much always. In your case with 500 birds, it is a sizable investment as well as a means of profit for you. DO THE BEST YOU CAN...

WISHING YOU BEST

cavemanrich said:

Well hello faraway friend. Here are my thoughts and some questions..
You are keeping a large flock, so the best you can clean and disinfect, it would be to your benefit.
Q? Did you have any health issues or diseases known with the flock that you just sold off ??? I'm sure that there were some chickens that died as a result of such a large flock. But was there any infections that occurred to multiple birds at about the same time ?
If yes...... then maximize the clean up effort. If no,,, then you may get buy with just the floor, feeders, and waters.
Not sure what is available to you, but bleach used for laundry to whiten clothing works well to kill many bacteria and viruses, as well as protozoa, and other nasties that you want eliminated to promote good chicken health..
I have just a small flock, so I just physically clean out and use water to rinse out my coop. I have never needed to disinfect yet. My chickens are pets and have been staying healthy pretty much always. In your case with 500 birds, it is a sizable investment as well as a means of profit for you. DO THE BEST YOU CAN...

WISHING YOU BEST

Click to expand...

Yes, we did have some diseases but the last time was around 6 weeks ago.It would be over two months by the time we get our next chicks. Do bacteria and viruses from the diseases live that long after the chicken are healthy again?

That depends on what you had going on. Some viruses can live on surfaces or in the soil for years. Some types of bacteria and protozoa are always present.