Disinfecting used chicken coops?

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BlueMoon-N-Farm

BlueMoon-N-Farm

Chirping
6 Years
May 17, 2013
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My family is contemplating moving to a house with more property that actually has built in chicken coops. They are very nice from the pictures, and appear to be well cleaned and kept, however i am very anal when it comes to bio security.
Should we move and actually be able to get the house in question, is there anyway or anything i can clean these coops and runs with to make sure they are clean and safe for my flock?
*edit*
Why am I getting a suspicious feeling that I posted in the wrong section?
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Can you find out how long it’s been since they actually had chickens in there? Some things can last in the ground for years, but most things can’t without a host. The longer it has been, the better you can feel about that.

I’m a believer in bleach. Watch how much you breathe, but wipe everything down with it or even better, mist it and let it stay a while. Soak the wood good and rinse it off after it dries. It takes a while for bleach to work. Try to get each and every surface.

I’d also suggest removing all the bedding you can and put in new bedding. Anything in the bedding is probably going to be in the ground outside anyway, but I’d consider that a reasonable precaution.

That’s probably the best you can reasonably do. You can never get 100% guarantee with any of this stuff, but I think your odds of being OK will be pretty good.
 
Ridgerunner said:
Can you find out how long it’s been since they actually had chickens in there? Some things can last in the ground for years, but most things can’t without a host. The longer it has been, the better you can feel about that.

I’m a believer in bleach. Watch how much you breathe, but wipe everything down with it or even better, mist it and let it stay a while. Soak the wood good and rinse it off after it dries. It takes a while for bleach to work. Try to get each and every surface.

I’d also suggest removing all the bedding you can and put in new bedding. Anything in the bedding is probably going to be in the ground outside anyway, but I’d consider that a reasonable precaution.

That’s probably the best you can reasonably do. You can never get 100% guarantee with any of this stuff, but I think your odds of being OK will be pretty good.
Click to expand...
Ah wonderful! Would flipping the soil and spraying bleach be effective as well? Or would lime be a better option?
 
You can try anything you want with the soil, but unless it is a really little coop and run and you keep then contained, I don't think you're going to get it all if anything is really there. Personally I wouldn't bother trying unless it is pretty small and you can replace the dirt. But that is up to you.

Dawg is pretty good at this stuff. Be interesting to get his thoughts on the dirt.
 
Ridgerunner said:
You can try anything you want with the soil, but unless it is a really little coop and run and you keep then contained, I don't think you're going to get it all if anything is really there. Personally I wouldn't bother trying unless it is pretty small and you can replace the dirt. But that is up to you.

Dawg is pretty good at this stuff. Be interesting to get his thoughts on the dirt.
Click to expand...
The runs appear to be fairly decent sizes, it probably would be a loosing battle but i would rather be safe and try then not and be sorry.
 
A few questions here: Can you find out when poultry was last housed in these coops/runs? Do you currently have poultry? If there is currently poultry in the new location, how long will it be vacated before you will be moving your birds in? Are we talking about a winter time move or a spring/summer move? You might contact your county extension and discuss your concerns with their poultry expert. Commercial poultry houses most likely do a thorough cleaning between broods, and although I'm sure the BYF keeper would not want to use the big guns (strong chemicals) that the commercial guys use, there must be some guidelines out there.
 
lazy gardener said:
A few questions here: Can you find out when poultry was last housed in these coops/runs? Do you currently have poultry? If there is currently poultry in the new location, how long will it be vacated before you will be moving your birds in? Are we talking about a winter time move or a spring/summer move? You might contact your county extension and discuss your concerns with their poultry expert. Commercial poultry houses most likely do a thorough cleaning between broods, and although I'm sure the BYF keeper would not want to use the big guns (strong chemicals) that the commercial guys use, there must be some guidelines out there.
Click to expand...
I will be able to find out this coming Wednesday, right now it would appear that they are still living in the home so there are birds there.
It would most likely be a spring move, and yes I do have poultry that would be coming with me.
 

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