I recently gave my little chicken coop (2 hens) a big clean. I tried to find some infomation on how to clean a coop but couldn't find much so I hope this helps someone else.
The "stuff" I used.
A dry paint brush to dust the walls (good for getting into small cracks)
A small wet towel (for wiping walls after dusting)
Eucalyptus Oil (for deterring lice and termites)
Spray Botte (for dispersing Eucalyptus oil)
Hose/pressure cleaner
Dust Pan and brush
I started by removing the nesting material (straw, shredded paper, etc...), the perches, the litter board and any sources of food and water (the chickens were elsewhere in the yard).
The nesting material I bagged then threw away, the perches and the litter board I hosed down removing any poop.
I then set about dusting the entire insideof the coop armed with my paintbrush (I recommend opening all doors for ventilation, it gets really dusty!).
After I was satisfied all of the cobwebs and dust was gone I wiped all of the dusted surfaces with a wet towel. After the walls dried I mixed a teaspoon of eucalyptus oil into about 500ml of water and (using the spray bottle) gave the entire interior a spray with the oil making sure I sprayed extra into the nesting boxes and around the perches.
Take caution while using the oil because if it gets into your eyes you won't forget the painin a hurry! Just remember, you don't need a lot, you could even use half of what I used.
I then returned the perches back to their positions (gave them a spray as well) and put in fresh nesting material (also sprayed).
Fresh newspaper on the litterboard (yes...also sprayed) and the interior was finished!
Now I could've stopped there but I felt an urge to change the ground covering of my run. My current floor was made of a thin layer of mulch so out with the mulch and in with sand! I did a bit of research and found that sand makes a great run surface! My coop is actually raised about 20cm off the ground and sits on top of some tin roofing. So I used a thin layer of course grained sand to cover it.
Voila! My coop was completely clean and up-graded.
I hope this helps someone, good luck with your coop and I would love to here about any innovations you've included into your method!
(I will post photos of my coop shortly)
The "stuff" I used.
A dry paint brush to dust the walls (good for getting into small cracks)
A small wet towel (for wiping walls after dusting)
Eucalyptus Oil (for deterring lice and termites)
Spray Botte (for dispersing Eucalyptus oil)
Hose/pressure cleaner
Dust Pan and brush
I started by removing the nesting material (straw, shredded paper, etc...), the perches, the litter board and any sources of food and water (the chickens were elsewhere in the yard).
The nesting material I bagged then threw away, the perches and the litter board I hosed down removing any poop.
I then set about dusting the entire insideof the coop armed with my paintbrush (I recommend opening all doors for ventilation, it gets really dusty!).
After I was satisfied all of the cobwebs and dust was gone I wiped all of the dusted surfaces with a wet towel. After the walls dried I mixed a teaspoon of eucalyptus oil into about 500ml of water and (using the spray bottle) gave the entire interior a spray with the oil making sure I sprayed extra into the nesting boxes and around the perches.
Take caution while using the oil because if it gets into your eyes you won't forget the painin a hurry! Just remember, you don't need a lot, you could even use half of what I used.
I then returned the perches back to their positions (gave them a spray as well) and put in fresh nesting material (also sprayed).
Fresh newspaper on the litterboard (yes...also sprayed) and the interior was finished!
Now I could've stopped there but I felt an urge to change the ground covering of my run. My current floor was made of a thin layer of mulch so out with the mulch and in with sand! I did a bit of research and found that sand makes a great run surface! My coop is actually raised about 20cm off the ground and sits on top of some tin roofing. So I used a thin layer of course grained sand to cover it.
Voila! My coop was completely clean and up-graded.
I hope this helps someone, good luck with your coop and I would love to here about any innovations you've included into your method!
(I will post photos of my coop shortly)
