how often do you clean your coop

[crysmom]

well in my coop i normally use pine shavings, but I did a deep clean three weeks ago and am currently in Limbo, I have 8 adult hens using my 10 by 10 coop and am going to sell them and replace with the chicks I have indoors so..... instead of filling the coop with shavings that will need to be replaced when I switch to chicks i'm using grass clippings under the roosts its going to work fine for a couple weeks until the adults have moved on

so what i'm saying is use the hay you have for now maybe add some grass clippings and the birds will be fine till you can get more hay or some shavings

 

[3chimama]

I scoop up big poops each morning with a kitty litter scoop. Takes just a minute of my time when I let the girls out to free range. I use wood shavings...much easier than straw and the shavings are very absorbant. I deep clean 2x a year by shoveling out all the shavings and washing with a weak bleach solution, air dry and then put down a full bale of wood shavings...

 

[Cynthia12]

I know this is an older post, but I came across it and thought I would add to it.

I use the pine shavings in the winter for the inside and outside of the coop. Come warmer weather, I change to sand for the inside of my coop. Easier clean up! Just use a kitty litter scoop, once a day, or every other day, so easy. Less expensive than the pine shavings. I pay $11.00 dollars a bag here. Sand costs $3.00 a bag..I use two.

Clean up with pine shavings in winter...I do every week, or other week.

Clean up with sand..I scoop, don't change the sand for two months. I still use pine shavings in my nest boxes.

 

[WoodlandWoman]

For a deep litter coop, I clean out almost all the shavings once a year. I leave a bit in to reseed the new deep litter. I don't bleach. I also clean walls at that time and dust, as well as cleaning the screens and windows. I scrape the roosts, also. I wear a dust mask or respirator. We now have a little shop vac that's easy to haul out there. With a drywall bag, it's great for vacuuming the dust.

During the year, I add more shavings and scrape the roosts, as needed. I like to keep a bale of shavings in the corner of the coop with a big feed scoop in it. I can toss a few scoops of litter down as needed, in the parts of the coop that look like they need it. I keep a sharp putty knife hanging on the wall and scrape roosts as needed. I like a clean roost. The walls stay pretty clean, as I took advice to mount the roost 18" from the wall. I might clean screens, if they get too dusty.

I think I would disinfect the coop, if we'd ever had a disease outbreak. It's just never been an issue.

Cleaning the chicken tractor we use as a grow-out pen consists of moving it once a day.

 

[2txmedics]

Deep litter here, with food grade DE, and shavings, I get mine from a ad on craigslist, I just did a search and it took me two tries to find the right one, but one guy sells a 50lbs bag for 3.00 and thats what I use....I clean it out once a year, sift it and add some as needed...have 32 in my main flock coop and no flies, no smell, and very clean....when its time to change it out I keep two buckets worth to leave in the coop when I add the new shavings in, for the PH Balance.

 

[white01]

wow i clean mine every sat. i use pine shavings. scoop all of it out and replace with new....

 

[2txmedics]

WOW!!!! once a week! thats alot!.....I use to clean it out alot, until I read and discovered shavings. I used straw at first and it got clumpy and hard, and then I read that straw is hollow like an actual straw and can harbor bugs in it, like lice and mites. so I read and READ....and since Ive done mine this way, its been the best! No heavy cleaning but once a year and by heavy cleaning I mean I take it all out, keep two buckets of the old litter for the ph balance, I trash the rest into the garden....I make a DE paste and paint it on the floor and the walls and roosts......and then put in fresh shavings with my two buckets.

As time goes by during the year, I sift it out, and put in fresh shavings when I need it, which is not often....and it smells clean and Ive never had an issue with mites/lice since Ive done this. I have 32 in that flock, and when it storms I lock them in also....

 

[jessicaxx]

I clean my entire coop out once a week on the weekends too..i use pine shavings

 

[joan1708]

love this thread. Very good info for us novices!

 

[OnceAroundTheBlock]

I have a small coop, just large enough for 3 or 4 chickens but the 20 ft x 20 ft. run makes up for it so I don't feel too guilty about it.

I have a specially fabricated metal tray on the bottom of the coop with a roost bar nailed over it so the pine shavings get pretty poopy.

I completely clean out the soiled shavings and replace with nice clean ones about every week and a half. I can see where in the long term this is going to cost me some bucks since I have to buy pine shavings by the bag at Walmart or Tractor Supply, so in the Spring/Summer I'm going to start using sand and pine shavings only for the Fall/Winter.