How long does it take YOU to clean your coop?

[1cutechick]

where do you get that peat moss and hemp? That sounds interesting. I use straw on the poop-decks and floor and clean both every other week. I shovel it out onto an old tarp, and drag it into the pen where the chickens compost it for me. I am going to start cleaning the poop decks a couple times each week, we seem to have a lot of flies in there lately. We have 11 chickens and only two of them turned out to be hens, so some of these guys have to go. I do the same thing with my goat barn, just two little girls but I pick up daily in between a full clean.

 

[vehve]

where do you get that peat moss and hemp? That sounds interesting. I use straw on the poop-decks and floor and clean both every other week. I shovel it out onto an old tarp, and drag it into the pen where the chickens compost it for me. I am going to start cleaning the poop decks a couple times each week, we seem to have a lot of flies in there lately. We have 11 chickens and only two of them turned out to be hens, so some of these guys have to go. I do the same thing with my goat barn, just two little girls but I pick up daily in between a full clean.

I don't think my shopping spots will help you much, as I live in Finland. Peat is a pretty common bedding here, especially for cows and in some cases horses too. The hemp is more of a newcomer on the market, and I've only bought imported bales meant for rabbits and other small pets, but I should be getting a larger load from a Finnish manufacturer who's starting up production this year. I think peat moss can be found in the states in some places, but it's not considered a sustainable material over there, so it can be a bit tough. Here we only utilize about 2 percent of what our forests produce annually, so it's very much a sustainable product in our country. The growing of hemp has been legalized in some states recently to my understanding, so you might start finding it. And if you don't, it's a great business opportunity for someone.

 

[cinnimon]

hello vehve!!!! how do you retrieve the eggs????? It looks like the nest are in the back,,,,,,and it takes me about 3 min to shovel my houses ,I have two and 4 hens and I rooster

 

[vehve]

hello vehve!!!! how do you retrieve the eggs????? It looks like the nest are in the back,,,,,,and it takes me about 3 min to shovel my houses ,I have two and 4 hens and I rooster

The egg nests are accessed from the outside. There's a link under my avatar to an article about my coop build, check it out if you're interested.

I built the coop so that it can be opened from all sides, with no need to ever go into it. It's actually not that big, so I wouldn't want to cram myself in there. The feeder and waterer are attached to a service door, and the whole wall behind the roosts opens up for easy cleaning.

Here's the layout:

This has been working really well so far.

 

[LNMND]

My 35 hens are on deep litter in dirt floor coop (former cow shelter) 12'x20' with an attached 8'x20' fully screened run, opening onto pasture surrounded by electric poultry netting. I use dry grass cuttings for nesting material and just toss it onto the coop floor when dirtied.

Waterer is half a 50 gallon lidded food grade drum set partway into the ground inside the coop, gravity fed through a float valve from rainwater barrel and backup hose. Hens reach through 2" diam. holes drilled in the sides above water level, below the lid. I keep a couple of algae-eating aquarium fish in it. They do a good job and save me a lot of work. During the hottest time of the year I bail the tank weekly; otherwise it stays clean. If doing again I would elevate the entire tank and ask the girls to climb to a platform to drink from it. They could not scratch dust and litter into it, and I could drain it by gravity instead of bailing.

Conversion to deep litter system inside the coop changed everything for the better. No poop piling up, no smell, no flies, almost no work, and fine compost material produced. Now I just pile wood shavings from a local cabinetry shop (no pressure treated wood allowed) and the girls constantly turn it over. Sprinkle DE at feeders, waterer, and in nest boxes weekly. From time to time when my compost pile needs a boost or garden or fruit trees need mulch, I pull out a couple of wheelbarrows of old litter from the lower regions. 4 or 5 times a year I throw about 3 cubic yards of fluffy new litter below the favorite roosts and let the girls spread it out.

Hens roost on large diameter bamboo poles screwed to the wall at various heights and locations. When roosts get dirty I replace them with new ones cut from a bamboo grove in the yard, and burn the old roosting poles. (I use an old wooden ladder suspended horizontally for chicks, and gradually raise the height. This gets cleaned and repainted for each new group.) Horizontal surfaces get too dirty too fast so I have tried to eliminate them where possible. I use a metal scraper to clean what I can't burn, always wearing a dust mask and gloves.

Recently I added deep litter in the dirt run as well, and eliminated flies in that area. First I raked the dirt floor deeply and gave the girls a couple of days to clean out existing fly larvae in the ground. Then added wheelbarrows full of fresh cut grass (essentially green hay) and banana leaves, garden materials with all the attached roots to about 6" depth. Each week I am adding whatever fresh green material is available. Chickens LOVE it! I am now thinking of the run as a place where chickens accelerate compost production while browsing and hunting through the green material. I created this run a year ago as a place to raise chicks safe from hawks, but it is used by all the adults when there are no chicks in residence. I can see an added benefit to having warm cushy compost for the little ones when they first come outside in January (here in south Florida).

 

[sewchick]

4x8 coop 15 minutes. I only have 4 bantams. They don't crap a lot.

 

[iwiw60]

Quote: Vertical nipples have a tendency to leak. the horizontal ones don't. Here's an example:





Be sure to use a 3/8" drill bit only....these water nipples are "self-tapping" and make a perfect water-tight seal. I have never had a single problem with them at all.

 

[Blooie]

Vertical nipples have a tendency to leak. the horizontal ones don't. Here's an example:





Be sure to use a 3/8" drill bit only....these water nipples are "self-tapping" and make a perfect water-tight seal. I have never had a single problem with them at all.

I haven't had any issues with them at all either. I still have my smaller bucket with vertical nipples hanging in the coop - I was going to save it and use it for chicks, but decided after coming home from a trip to an almost-empty waterer in the run (each daughter thought the other was filing it) I put the small one back in the coop so there was always a water source. I don't think the girls will make that mistake again, but better safe than sorry. And the vertical nipples do drip in the coop a little bit, but it's no big deal. It's so terribly dry and dusty in there that I just rake the damp bedding out into the rest of the coop to help with composting the litter. Composting does take a little moisture.

 

[pfields]

It takes me about 15 minutes each morning. I have a poop board under the roost with sweet pdz and some de. I use a litter scoop to sift it and throw the poo in a bucket that I keep by the coop. I check the floor for any new droppings and that's it. My coop has a cement floor with wood shavings and wood pellets that have broken down on the floor. They free range all day so really not much on the floor just the poop board from the night before. We'll replace with all new shaving after summer so we can put the old in our garden.

 

[Temp]

I clean my 6 x 9 coop weekly it only takes about 10 min. I just shut the birds outside put the tractor bucket in front of the door ans scrape the dirty shavings into the bucket. I have a wood working shop and I make more shavings than I can use so I usually add a full 30 gal garbage can each time, a handful of scratch every evening keeps things stirred up and looking fresh.
Come cold weather I will keep 6 or 8 inches of shavings on the floor and clean less often so I am sure it will take longer to clean.