Clarification please...

[kchampion]

Ok, help me out here please.
1. DE ---in the run or the coop? I use DLM in coop. If yes for DE, how often?
2. Coop---only clean nesting boxes? Stir up the rest?
Thanks Peeps...

 

[DobieLover]

Ok, help me out here please.
1. DE ---in the run or the coop? I use DLM in coop. If yes for DE, how often?
2. Coop---only clean nesting boxes? Stir up the rest?
Thanks Peeps...

You don't need DE at all. It can be a respiratory irritant. It's sad. You read all those great anecdotal claims about DE but it really doesn't work.

What type of flooring do you have for DLM? I really believe it is best to use DLM on an earth floor or to add soil to it for it to really work correctly. You need those little buggies to break down the poop and compost the litter. If you have a truly well functioning, established DLM, stir the litter daily or every other day to aerate and keep the poop in contact with the buggies that break it down.

Unless there is a broken egg or a naughty youngster has slept in the nest box, there shouldn't be much in there to clean. I haven't cleaned my nest boxes since I moved the flock into their new coop on Easter Sunday.

 

[kchampion]

You don't need DE at all. It can be a respiratory irritant. It's sad. You read all those great anecdotal claims about DE but it really doesn't work.

What type of flooring do you have for DLM? I really believe it is best to use DLM on an earth floor or to add soil to it for it to really work correctly. You need those little buggies to break down the poop and compost the litter. If you have a truly well functioning, established DLM, stir the litter daily or every other day to aerate and keep the poop in contact with the buggies that break it down.

Unless there is a broken egg or a naughty youngster has slept in the nest box, there shouldn't be much in there to clean. I haven't cleaned my nest boxes since I moved the flock into their new coop on Easter Sunday.

I have feathers and a few poopers in my nesting boxes!

 

[DobieLover]

I have feathers and a few poopers in my nesting boxes!

Uh oh! Pullets? You might want to close off the boxes at night and re-open in the morning. No one should be sleeping in there.

I have two pullets and cockerel who get yanked out of the boxes nearly every night when I do head count and lock up. By the time I do this, it's too dark for them to do anything but to just sit tight where I put them on the roosts.

 

[Mybackyardpeepers]

I do not use DE especially in a coop. All purpose sand in the coop, shavings in the nesting boxes. I sift the sand and pick through the nesting boxes at least once a week.

 

[kchampion]

Uh oh! Pullets? You might want to close off the boxes at night and re-open in the morning. No one should be sleeping in there.

I have two pullets and cockerel who get yanked out of the boxes nearly every night when I do head count and lock up. By the time I do this, it's too dark for them to do anything but to just sit tight where I put them on the roosts.

Yep!! LOL. We are at the 16 week mark, so I know eggs are coming soon. Want to have tidy beds for the girls! Thanks for the tips. No DE ever-check. Dirt on the floor of wooden coop under pine shavings-check.

 

[kchampion]

I do not use DE especially in a coop. All purpose sand in the coop, shavings in the nesting boxes. I sift the sand and pick through the nesting boxes at least once a week.

Sand on the coop floor? Really? That works?

 

[DobieLover]

Sand on the coop floor? Really? That works?

It does for some. It makes scooping the poop out easier.

I have poop boards under my roosts that have about 1/2" layer of sand and PDZ in them. I use a metal kitty litter scoop to clean the boards daily.

My setup is such that I never close the pop door to my coop so the birds just hop off the roost in the morning and go out to the run. The vast majority of the poop in the coop is manually removed via the poop boards. The run has wood chips for litter that the chickens mix up while scratching around in there. The run has a solid roof so everything stays dry. No smell.

The coop will get cleaned and sanitized once a year.

 

[kchampion]

It does for some. It makes scooping the poop out easier.

I have poop boards under my roosts that have about 1/2" layer of sand and PDZ in them. I use a metal kitty litter scoop to clean the boards daily.

My setup is such that I never close the pop door to my coop so the birds just hop off the roost in the morning and go out to the run. The vast majority of the poop in the coop is manually removed via the poop boards. The run has wood chips for litter that the chickens mix up while scratching around in there. The run has a solid roof so everything stays dry. No smell.

The coop will get cleaned and sanitized once a year.

Ok, we have a very similar setup! So I am on the right track! Mine have the same "open door policy" because the run is secured, similar to Alcatraz! LOL I do not smell anything either, so that is good! I do have pine shavings everywhere in the coop- floor and nesting boxes. I think isolating chips to boxes and sand on the floor may help the kids learn the difference too! Thanks folks!

 

[Mybackyardpeepers]

Sand on the coop floor? Really? That works?

Yes, I like it much better than shavings. I still use a light layer of shavings to keep the dust down, but it saves on how much shavings I go through. The sand dries out the poop better than shavings too, less yuck to walk on.