advice on sand coop/run daily chores with new laying pullets

[Little Coop on Salt Creek]

Hi everybody!

I am curious about some daily flock management and how ya'll manage your daily duties. So this is what we have: a sand floor coop and run (run actually is 2/3 sand and 1/3 dirt and straw). You can see a pic of the outside of our set-up in my avatar picture. Our girls are of the following ages.. 6 pullets are 17 weeks today, 10 pullets and 1 cockerel are 16 weeks today and 6 more pullets are 12 weeks today.

Right now, I go out in the early morning (usually between 6:30 and 7:00) to clean any poo in the run I missed from the night before, open up their automatic food feeders (we cover at night, to discourage mice, etc), open up run pop door, clean overnight poo out of coop, open or close coop windows (depending upon weather) and top-off any food and check the waterers. Then depending upon our daily schedule I will go out again between 9:30 and 10:30 to let everyone free-range in the backyard for about an hour.

I have heard to leave all chores until egg-laying is complete for the day, so I am curious if that is a good "rule" to follow or if others have done different schedules that work well. We have 1 hen, 17 weeks today (a Silver Laced Wyandotte) who we have observed starting to squat. So, we will have at least 1 layer in our bunch of newbies soon (we hope!)

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Hens will lay from Sun up to Sun down, so if you wait until all have laid you'd be out there in the dark. I constantly disrupt my hens in the nestboxes, they just come back when I'm done.

That's a lot of daily poop scooping. I scoop up after 13 turkeys daily and it gets monotonous day after day.

 

[Little Coop on Salt Creek]

Hens will lay from Sun up to Sun down, so if you wait until all have laid you'd be out there in the dark. I constantly disrupt my hens in the nestboxes, they just come back when I'm done.

That's a lot of daily poop scooping. I scoop up after 13 turkeys daily and it gets monotonous day after day.

Well, that is good to know! I certainly don't want to be out in the dark doing my stuff! With the sand, it really is easy to scoop, especially since most of it in the coop is on poop boards with PDZ. We prefer to keep up on it (if the day allows).. it sure does keep down on the smell! I also enjoy the interaction with them. Many of our more skittish girls have mellowed since I am a presence consistently.

 

[aart]

I constantly disrupt my hens in the nestboxes, they just come back when I'm done.

Ditto Dat^^^
Actually, I think it's good to be active in the coop frequently, they'll get used to your presence and it won't bother them. I go in every night for a head check and often touch them, sometimes pick them up, so they get used to it. Then it's much easier if you have to attend to something.
Just be calm, move slow, talk softly......calm, confident, committed.

 

[ChickenMammX4]

We do "chicken chores" when it's convenient, usually it's early afternoon. The hens have an auto popdoor so no need to to be out there early/late.

 

[Little Coop on Salt Creek]

Ditto Dat^^^
Actually, I think it's good to be active in the coop frequently, they'll get used to your presence and it won't bother them. I go in every night for a head check and often touch them, sometimes pick them up, so they get used to it. Then it's much easier if you have to attend to something.
Just be calm, move slow, talk softly......calm, confident, committed.

Well, it seems as though I'm on the right track! I am always in our coop/run outside of my daily chores.. talking and petting, just plain interacting I apparently AM the weird chicken lady that I didn't think I would turn out to be!

 

[IdyllwildAcres]

I have not cleaned the poop at all, deep litter method. I would not have chickens if I had to clean poop daily or even weekly. I think it will go well over a year before I clean it out. Sounds like too much work to me.

Gary

 

[Little Coop on Salt Creek]

I would so much rather clean up the poo than deal with the smell. We definitely don't have to clean it as much as I do, but I'd rather keep it clean when I'm able to. The sand also seems to be good for keeping our coop cool this summer.

 

[IdyllwildAcres]

I would so much rather clean up the poo than deal with the smell. We definitely don't have to clean it as much as I do, but I'd rather keep it clean when I'm able to. The sand also seems to be good for keeping our coop cool this summer.

My coop does not smell bad at all, smells like hay/compost.

Gary

 

[Little Coop on Salt Creek]

My coop does not smell bad at all, smells like hay/compost.

Gary

That is awesome Gary.
Part of our decision was what we observed with our friends who have done deep litter and all of their coops started to smell really bad after keeping chickens for any length of time. Maybe you won't have that problem!