Am i overdoing it ? some people think im nuts, pics added

[ChickenCanoe]

Quote:
I think it depends on how many birds you have in relation to how big the coop is, what type bedding you use and if you use a dropping board.
If you have 3 or 4 birds in a small coop and you have the time the old saying goes - cleanliness is next to Godliness.
There is no way I could keep up with that schedule. I always have 2 or 3 coops/pens operating. 10 or more hens in one, meat birds in another and young replacements in another. I believe in deep bedding and the hens have a fairly large coop and run and get bedding completely replaced 3 times a year with occasional removal of droppings and new shavings added frequently.
The birds in higher concentrations get changed every 2 or 3 weeks but they spend most of their days roaming outside.

I do admire and frankly amazed by anyone that can keep their coops spotless.

By the way isn't the stuff you clean out the greatest thing for a compost pile. I have a big garden and actually started raising chickens for the manure and bug/weed control more than for eggs and meat.

 

[kuntrygirl]

Very nice! Keep up the good work.!

 

[JoAnn_WI_4-H_Mom]

Summer we use sliding open-bottomed shelters on electro-netted pasture. Each morning I release the birds and then slide the hut. If the former patch looks really nasty (like for CornX) I spray it down with the garden hose. When the pasture looks tired, we move the whole works to another spot. While the fencing is expensive, I LOVE this method.

Winter quarters are much more work, an insulated coop-room in a pole shed. Last year I had roost-poop containment/weekly removal that worked well, this year I do not and I regret it. We are going through far more shavings trying to bury the poop as it builds up. There will be one big clean-out in the spring when the birds move out. I will have the best mulched gardens in the county the FOLLOWING year, when the pile has had a chance to work a bit.

Cleaning up the coop keeps the eggs cleaner, which is important to me. Next year there will be better roost poop containment!

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Quote:
My pens are hoop houses over the garden beds. After a vegetable crop I cover crop it which is then the pasture for a flock. Then cover crop it again and then another vegetable crop. Frequently 2 rotations of veggies per year.

I had large mostly carbon compost piles which took forever to break down. The first time I added an entire coop cleanout to the pile it immediately shot up to 155 degrees F..

 

[chickendude]

Wow, I could never clean my coop every day. I clean about every 2 to 3 months and maybe even longer. I only have 8 chooks. I will clean more often when the weather is rainy. It all depends on smell in the coop. If I get a faint smell of ammonia it is time to clean the coop. As for the run, I never clean it. Mother nature does a great job for me. During the winter I do put hay or straw on the ground to keep the birds feet off of the snow. It also gives them something to scratch and occupy their minds. I find ventilation is the key to a fresh smelling coop. We are having had a cold winter and many nights around 0 deg. f. and below and still have not closed the pop door or any of the upper ventilation. Well I did close it for one night when the blizzard hit us a few weeks ago. My girls are all doing just fine and seem pretty happy. I'm not saying cleaning every day is a bad thing, but it does seem to be an overkill and a waste of money on bedding. But to each his own. JMHO.

 

[6chicks&aduck]

This actually helps to strecth how often i have to buy bedding , i do a thourough clean out once a month in winter and evry two weeks in the warm seasons s,s, f . im only buying bedding once a month , which is about $12

 

[kuntrygirl]

I have a lot of raised coops, so I put hay at the bottom of the coops. All I have to do is remove the hay and put fresh hay. The other coops have dirt runs, so I rake up the poop ever so often and put it in the 55 gallon drum with the other fertilizer. I have 150 chickens so when it's time to clean the coop, I am not a happy camper.

ETA: 150 chickens NOT coops.

 

[6chicks&aduck]

Quote:
im sure your not ,thats alot of cleaning !

 

[6chicks&aduck]

6chicks&aduck :

Quote:
im sure your not ,thats alot of cleaning !

visited your website , awesome birds !!!!!!!​

 

[chuckzoo]

I'm with you. I clean out my coop every morning. I have straw in there right now and they all sleep in the straw and not on a roost. As it warms up I will replace the straw with shaving again.

I clean the sand covered run every day with a pair kitty litter scoops and put it in my compost bin. I don't like them walking in the dropping or eating near them. I do like clean eggs!

I have just emptied out my whole compost bin (the compost looks great) onto my veggie garden and am hoping for great veggies as the weather warms.