How do I keep my coop clean?

[aart]

Sand! Love it! I have sand on the floor of my coop and I took a $5 toddler snow shovel and drilled a ton of 1/4" holes into. Each morning I open the coop to let them out, grab a 5 gal bucket I store under the coop and my home made kitty scooper and spend less than a minute sifting the sand under the perches, dump the poop in the bucket and tuck it back under the coop (my coop is raised 2 feet off the ground on cinder blocks to prevent mice and snakes and give the girls more sheltered area outside the coop). Easy as can be. If I'm feeling lazy I even skip a day or two. No smells what-so-ever and always make me want to go the beach.. looks like a little zen garden in the coop. The other plus is if it does happen to get wet for whatever reason (occasionally a hard sideways rain will get in thru the eaves) I just stir the sand up / flip it over an it dries in no time. They can also use it for their grit (although I still provide granite grit), dust bathing, and they eat their spilled food right out of it. So far no downsides for me at all. Good luck!

How long have you had it?
How big is your coop(feet by feet)?
How many birds?

 

[Des R]

I've sand in there since May. My Coop is a kids playhouse and doghouse melded together. The playhouse itself is about 5' x 7' with a 6' peak roof... then we removed one side wall and the front off a dog house and attached it to the side for the feeding area and nesting boxes. It's an additional 3' x 5' I'd guess. It's about 50 square feet of floor space, then different levels of roosting posts up in the peak. I have 12 girls in the coop.

The run is 25'x25' and down to dirt and leaves, so I let them free range our acre yard when we are home, and most days someone is home, so they spend very little time in there.

 

[pugggmama]

I made a wooden tray and filled it with sand for under the roosts. A cat litter box scoop does the trick every morning.

 

[rayday61]

I use a ladder roost angled from the floor to the ceiling. Under that I put three cement trays (Lowes $5.00 each) under the ladder roost and fill 1/2 way with pine shavings. I empty the trays every 4-6 weeks into my compost bin for the garden. Works great. My plywood floor is covered with a heavy vinyl tarp to keep fluids from soaking into it, which would cause a strong odor.

 

[Riverdog]

My interior coop floor area is 4'x4' and I have 5 birds roosting. I set up their roost bar in the middle and then pile a minimum of 3" of pine shavings on the entire floor area. I have a double door that allows easy access to the area. To clean, I simply use a small shovel to pick up the droppings and shavings and it never bleeds through to the floor. I add shavings as needed and completely change it about every 6 weeks. Works for me, no muss, no fuss. My coop also has 3 nesting boxes attached to the side of the roosting area which require cleaning less frequently and they are accessible from outside to gather eggs without opening the double doors.

 

[gfvirga]

Have you checked the deep litter method? I have never cleaned my coop the poop is just there breaking down. If your coop stays dry it doesn't smell at all. In the spring I will clean everything out and mix it in the soil for our veggie garden.

 

[olivigus]

Lots of good advice here. You should definitely fix the moisture/ventilation problems, and I will add my vote for doing a DAILY poop scoop. That simple action completely changed my coop cleaning issues. We use pine shavings in the coop—a 4 to 6 inch layer—and our hens really only go in their coop to lay and roost. I’m out there anyway in the mornings to put out the feeder and check the water stations, so it literally only adds a few minutes to the routine to go into the coop and pick up the poop from under the roosts. I just wear a glove and pick it up by hand. The pine shavings have absorbed much of the moisture and cling to the surface, so it’s really easy to scoop up. Then on my way back to the house I dump the bucket into the compost bin. On one of the weekend mornings, I just do the usual daily pick-up and then replenish the shavings—takes 10 minutes tops, and the coop stays fresh.

What is your coop floor made of? I was interested in doing deep litter, but have heard it works best for the run or inside if you have a dirt floor so the beneficial microbes can get in there and help things break down. Our coop is off the ground with vinyl flooring over the boards, so the shavings/daily cleaning is working well. As an added bonus, the mix of shavings and poop that winds up in my bucket each day appears to be a near perfect mix of brown to green, because the compost heats up nicely and breaks down very quickly.

 

[AmandaMBG]

I have a poop board I put about 2.5" deep with American Choice mini flake bedding. It sifts through a kitty litter scoop perfectly!!! Under it I have a rubber mat cut to fit so if it for some reason gets moist or I get mites I can take it out and disinfect. I used the mini flakes with ducks and they worked amazing compared to everything else I have tried. They absorb a tremendous amount of moisture without getting gross. I've actually been hoarding my last bag of it because they've been having supply issues with it. When it gets dirty I throw it into the run and the small flakes compost down way faster than the regular stuff too.
The reason I prefer this over sand is how easy it is to change out, it absorbs moisture unlike sand, and it is much lighter.

[COLOR=EE82EE]I have tried pine shavings, I have tried straw/hay... I cannot keep the coop clean! It always has a God awful odor and the floor is always so nasty and caked! HELP! I want to keep my flock clean and well kept!!  [/COLOR] 

 

[FarmerTan]

Sand! I do clean their poop every morning but so far, the sand has kept it fresh smelling in there and it cleans their feet as well! No dirty eggs here! We also have permanent open vents (hardware cloth secured) at the top of the coop, that is 10 feet tall. So far so good!

 

[Callous]

I use diatomaceous earth with pine shavings in my coop not only does it keep the odor down but it helps control foot lice and flies. During the winter I do deep bedding, not changing the floor for three to four months. I just sprinkle diatomaceous earth over the old layer and add fresh shavings sprinkled with more of the DE. Surprisingly the odor is mild or nonexistent even opening the coop door to get eggs.