How often do you clean your chicken's coop?

[PirateGirl]

I clean directly under the roost maybe once every 2-3 weeks. If I start getting dirty eggs or the material has been kicked out of nest boxes I clean them, if I had to guess maybe once a month. That's about it. A few times a year I sweep out all the pine shavings. If the dirt in the run gets too compacted I take a pick to it and break it up, then things get composting again and the chickens can work the soil better and they usually get some worms and bugs from it.

 

[aart]

Depends mostly on how you will manage the manure, and how big your coop is.


-I use poop boards under roosts with thin(<1/2") layer of sand/PDZ mix, sifted daily(takes 5-10mins) into bucket going to friends compost.

-Scrape big or wet poops off roost and ramps as needed.

-Pine shavings on coop floor, add some occasionally, totally changed out once or twice a year, old shavings added to run.

-Runs have semi-deep litter, never clean anything out, just add smaller dry materials.

-Nests are bedded with straw, add some occasionally, change out if needed(broken egg).

There is no odor, unless a fresh cecal has been dropped and when I open the bucket to add more poop.

That's how I 'clean', have not found any reason to clean 'deeper' in 4 years.

 

[jreardon1918]

I too scoop the poop boards. . One year in, have removed the shavings twice. Neither time was really needed. They spend all their time in the run or on the roost. The poop boards catch most of the mess. The scooped poop goes in the run. The run is becoming deep litter. The coop is deep bedding. Even the nest boxes stay dry and clean.
Good luck. YMMV (Your Mileage May Vary).

 

[TerryH]

We use a poop tray with PDZ under the roosts. Sift the poops out every few days. Deep bedding in the coop. 6" to 12" of pine shavings. Just add a fresh bag of shavings once in a while. Change out the bedding once a year or so including a pretty major clean, sweep, wash, blow etc... at that time. More for my sanity than the chickens welfare. Shavings from the coop go in the compost pile or into the run. The run is an assortment of chips, grass clippings, leaves etc... Never really do much of anything with the run other than rake in the holes made by the excavators.

Bottom line is that there's lots of good suggestions being made. Somewhere in the midst of all of that is something that will work for you but you're going to have to live with it for a while to see what methods work for your situation.

Pic from the big clean out last weekend...

 

[mechanic57]

I also use PDZ under the roost. I built a litter box and use a litter box scoop to clean out the clumps at least once a week. PDZ dehydrates the droppings and greatly reduces the smell which reduces flies in the summer. Having a catch for the night time droppings means having to replace bedding material less often.

I have a very large coop and usually change out the floor bedding once a year in the spring. My birds spend most of their time outside or in the run during the day so the bedding (pine shavings) goes most of the year with just me adding more on top. In winter, November to February, when we get snow and cold winds, the birds spend much more time in the coop. This is when the bedding gets abused and in the spring it gets removed and replaced. I clean out the nesting boxes as needed if I start getting dirty eggs.

 

[adkhunter1590]

We will have two coop setups this year so I’ll be doing two different ways of keeping it clean. Our home base coop is deep litter and our mobile pasture coop will be cleaned out every day or two to help fertilize the fields we are rotating them on. Our deep litter coop gets cleaned out usually 2 times a year. Once in the spring we will remove the 12-14 inch deep litter down to bare dirt/stone floor. The bottom 8inches of this is usually almost all powdered material. We add hay and pine shavings throughout the winter and scratch feed to keep the chickens turning it up. Do a nice deep clean in the spring then do another good clean out late fall just before the snow starts flying. I could probably go a full year in between cleanings but it’s not a big deal to do it twice in a year.
The mobile pasture coop has a metal grate in the center of the floor that the droppings will fall through and be swept onto daily to help fertilize the fields. I’ll put a light layer of pine shavings down just to help with moisture abosorbtion and to dry out wet poops but it won’t be all that thick.

 

[Blooie]

Every couple of years when I need the composted litter for the garden.