Coop floor, flies, poop, and stank

[Tac01711]

Hello BYC.. we have a new coop that is fairly large and a pain to scrape and completely replace all the bedding, we have been using pine shavings but the poop becomes so unreal within a week or 2 and I replace everything inside the coop. But recently it got a lottle wet because of the waterer.. and it caused a horrible smell and flies and maggots I of course removed that waterer but everything inside got removed and I sprayed down the coop with an EO vinegar mixture that I found for coops online. I think the smell will go away pretty easily but ....


how do I get the boards to dry(bare wood) and allow the chickens to return to their coop tonight .. if I cover it with pine shavings again it'll just harbor the moisture right?

If I don't put the shavings Down, i will have a mess in the morning to scrape Right? And won't that make the smell worse if the poop seeps into the wood?

What can I cover the coop floor with as a moisture barrier? I have some linoleum and we have some paint we could also apply several coats and caulk it to seal the edges.

I like the idea of sand and litter scoop.. what are all the opinions on that and wheres the best place to get sand?

Sorry for all the questions

 

[wyoDreamer]

Are your roosts set-up in a way that you could put poop boards in to catch their morning poops. I find that most of the poop in my coop comes from the birds first thing in the morning ... however, I haven't figured out how to get poop boards in there yet, I may just have to redesign my roosts.

I think the pine shavings will still allow the wood floor to dry - as they will be dry themselves. But that is only an opinion as my coop floor is concrete.

 

[roosterhavoc]

Hello BYC.. we have a new coop that is fairly large and a pain to scrape and completely replace all the bedding, we have been using pine shavings but the poop becomes so unreal within a week or 2 and I replace everything inside the coop. But recently it got a lottle wet because of the waterer.. and it caused a horrible smell and flies and maggots I of course removed that waterer but everything inside got removed and I sprayed down the coop with an EO vinegar mixture that I found for coops online. I think the smell will go away pretty easily but ....


how do I get the boards to dry(bare wood) and allow the chickens to return to their coop tonight .. if I cover it with pine shavings again it'll just harbor the moisture right?

If I don't put the shavings Down, i will have a mess in the morning to scrape Right? And won't that make the smell worse if the poop seeps into the wood?

What can I cover the coop floor with as a moisture barrier? I have some linoleum and we have some paint we could also apply several coats and caulk it to seal the edges.

I like the idea of sand and litter scoop.. what are all the opinions on that and wheres the best place to get sand?

Sorry for all the questions

Don’t put the waterer in the coop. Linoleum would work to make it easier to sweep out.

 

[Rick M]

The wood needs to dry before you put anything over it otherwise it will mold. You could just put the linoleum down for tonight on top of the wood and then remove it in the morning to let the wood dry. If you cover and leave it wet the wood will mold and rot.

 

[flyin-lowe]

How big is the coop and how many birds do you have? I have 16 in mine and use a version of deep litter. I start with a few inches of pine chips. Then every couple weeks I throw in a few inches of grass clippings, or leaves, picked weeds, etc. I try to mix it up every couple weeks. I try not to add any more pine chips and only use straw when I have to as those 2 things seem to break down the slowest. When I throw in the new layer the birds love digging through it and churning everything up. I continue this cycle for 6 months and by then the bottom layer is broken down into compost. I shovel it all onto my garden in the fall and it sits there all weekend. I do the same over the winter and clean again in the spring. I throw it all onto my garden and then till it under. Never have a problem with smells, bugs, etc. and my garden has flourished the last several years.

 

[rosemarythyme]

I agree with not keeping the waterer in the coop. I think I'd put a thin layer of shavings down for now, so it can dry out but still protect the floor from being completely pooped on.

The linoleum should be fine as a barrier to protect the wood, once it dries out. Or paint. I use Black Jack 57 which is a rubberized coating that gets painted on, though it has a longer cure time which isn't ideal for a coop already in use.

I use wood chips in my coop and as I don't have poop boards, I scoop up under the roost area each morning. Other than that I've only cleaned out the litter once so far and figure I can get by doing full clean outs twice a year.

 

[Mimi13]

My coop floor has linoleum on it and then covered in construction grade sand (particles are of different sizes and looks like big grains of beach sand). I do have a droppings board (DB) that also has linoleum on it. I give it a dusting of zeolite, Sweet PDZ, every morning after scraping the poop off. It helps to dry the smears and helps the nightly poop not to stick to the DB as much. I use a kitty litter scoop to remove the poops in the sand. It’s all very simple, with no smell or flies, as long as you remove the overnight droppings.

 

[aart]

How big is the coop and how many birds do you have?

Good and important questions^^^...
.....pics of coop, inside and out, would help too.

Also...
Where in this world are you located?
Climate is almost always a factor.
Please add your general geographical location to your profile.
It's easy to do, then it's always there!

 

[Wee Farmer Sarah]

My spoiled birds are prolific poopers. I use an old plastic snow shovel to scoop out under the roost every other day or so. Try adding more wood chips and I have recently added a little lime and DE to the wood chips and that made a big difference. Just a half cup of each mixed in well.

 

[Tac01711]

I have 22 small birds at this time. They are all about 9 weeks and less. My coop is 8x5ish. We will be getting rid of a few soon when they are completely feathered which I believe most of them are. Once I got the floor to dry, we haven't had an issue with flies anymore. The smell is back to minimal.


I will try to update my location.

I live in NE Alabama