newbie-how often should i clean the coop

[alaskalife]

Cleaning the coop.... My chicks are 5 weeks new. I moved them from the garage tote to the outdoor coop as they needed more space. I have pine shavings (also using it for compost) just curious how often i should scoop it all out and put new shavings in. In the garage i did every three days or my house would smell like a barn lol.

 

[SoCha]

Hi, depends on how much mess they make, I have some hens that barely make any mess and some that do. Also, do they have a run? If they do have a run and they are mostly outside I would say every 2 weeks. If they don’t once a week.

 

[alaskalife]

Hi, depends on how much mess they make, I have some hens that barely make any mess and some that do. Also, do they have a run? If they do have a run and they are mostly outside I would say every 2 weeks. If they don’t once a week.

Thank you! They don’t have a run yet it’s very cold outside still so i have only taken the out a few times on the really warm days.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Without run access it's basically a larger brooder, so you may need to clean it out anywhere from 3 days to a week, maybe? How many chicks and how large is the space?

Once they can access the outdoors the frequency for cleaning will drop as they will not spend most of their time inside.

 

[olivigus]

I pick up the poop under the roosts every morning. This simple thing really changed my chicken workload. It only takes 5 minutes a day, versus having to do a much bigger clean out every few weeks, and the coop stays fresh. Now that I've made it part of the morning routine, it's become an easy habit. About once a week I put down additional shavings to build it back up to about 5-6 inches, but for a 4 x 8 floored coop a bale will last me a whole month. I also like that it lets me check that everything is normal on a daily basis (we won't talk about the morning freak-out the day after I gave them some beets...). An added bonus is that the mix of shavings and poop I get from doing this seems to be a just about perfect balance of green/brown matter, and the compost heats up and breaks down very nicely.

 

[alaskalife]

Without run access it's basically a larger brooder, so you may need to clean it out anywhere from 3 days to a week, maybe? How many chicks and how large is the space?

Once they can access the outdoors the frequency for cleaning will drop as they will not spend most of their time inside.[/

Without run access it's basically a larger brooder, so you may need to clean it out anywhere from 3 days to a week, maybe? How many chicks and how large is the space?

Once they can access the outdoors the frequency for cleaning will drop as they will not spend most of their time inside.

i have 8 chicks and it’s 4 feet x 4 feet

 

[rosemarythyme]

i have 8 chicks and it’s 4 feet x 4 feet

Are you planning on keeping all the chicks? They're good on space right now but it's going to get tighter as they grow.

As far as cleanout, with the number of birds and space plus the waterer being in there maybe every 4 to 5 days will do. You'll have to play it by ear (or nose).

 

[chickens really]

I don't clean mine as often. I clean it once it's dirty. Once a Month depending on how dirty it gets.

 

[crazy4ChickensNducks]

With my 12-26 birds I clean out the coop every other to every 3 months, I use the DLM and it’s amazing! The chickens also love to scratch and make holes in the bedding, my coop is 12x12

 

[chkva]

I have 3 hens and 4 chicks... Both flocks have free range in a 1500 SQ FT run. They are never in their coops unless they're sleeping or laying eggs. I clean mine about every other week, I use straw as a bedding. Usually I do it by eye, if it looks dirty I clean it.

In the winter I used dried up leaves and I never change them out because I composted them inside the coop. I just refresh the leaves every week. It was a nice compost in March when I cleaned it all out and replaced it with straw.