Cleaning coop.

[birdygal]

Our chickens are fee range and the only ones that use the coop are the nesters and babies and 2 ducks at night. My husband says the coop needs nothing done since the rest of the chickens are not in there and ducks at night. but hens nest and babies? Is he correct?

 

[moetrout]

Only you can tell for sure. If you use the deep litter method then he is most likely right. I do the deep litter method and only clean my coup twice a year. chickens will eat their own poop so walking around in some is really no big deal. I read from people on here that scoop poop out of their coup everyday. That too me is just too much work. I suspect these folks don't have a day job or something.
Many of the things we do for our chickens are not really need by the chickens, but are done under that guise when really it just makes US feel better. Like heating your coup in the winter, not needed, but so many people (me included!) worry about them when it is bitter cold out. I still don't heat my coup though. All it takes is seeing them out free ranging on a 10 degree day like it's nothing special to know this is right.

 

[JackE]

Watch it there Moe. Talking about people cleaning their coop every day, Then about no heat needed in the winter,(How cruel). But when you talk about chickens eating their own crap.... What are you trying to do, make people's heads explode.
Jack

 

[toofarout]

Funny!

 

[will hunt for food]

I use a poop board, and scrape it 1x a day. I also throw some pine shavings on it to absorb the poop and make it easier to scrape. That all ends up in my composter. That and fresh food/water is all I want to do on a daily basis. It takes about 15 minutes.

I clean my coop 1x a year other than the daily board scrape board. The yearly cleaning includes replacing the floor shavings, wiping down the walls (chickens must have poop fights at night), and cleaning out the nest boxes.