Cleaning in cold weather

[CarnivalOfTheAnimals]

Any advice on cleaning in sub-freezing weather?

Usually I clean thoroughly once a week, rinsing everything, cleaning with water and vinegar, re-rinsing, and letting dry, including perch bars, tray under the perches, nesting boxes, ramp up to the coop, and food and water bowls.

First, will remaining dampness freeze in the nesting boxes and cause damage to the wood, and second, how do others do this when you can no longer use the hose? Do you carry water out in a pail?

 

[SandyRiverChick]

Your particular set up has everything to do with the answer to this. I don't need to do deep cleaning in winter because my coop is dry. Daily cleaning of poop out of sand in poop tray's + a handful of PDZ keeps moisture out. Daily sweeping plywood floor of whatever might fall on it like sand, feathers an occasional poop accident. I might have to wipe some schmear with a paper towel and vinegar spray here and there but that's it. So a big focus on ventilation and insulation is what it takes as well as a good poop control. It took me 20years to get to this point but that why I can say from experience that it's about my set up.

 

[kcan2]

It sounds like you have great hygienic practices for your flock! In the wintertime, I use snow + a scrub brush to scrub out waterers, feed buckets, nest boxes, etc. I even use snow and a broom to scrub out the salt that inevitably ends up in the garage. Snow is a great abrasive, and at least where I am located, there is usually plenty of it!

 

[rosemarythyme]

Is this a plastic or wood coop? Might want to rethink your routine if this is a wood coop, as regardless of the weather conditions, wet leads to damage so a dry clean out is always better. Scrape, rake, sweep. I rarely see any reason to wash anything off, other than fermented food bowls (since those get pretty gross).

 

[Folly's place]

Our coop has deep bedding, and gets shoveled out two or at most three times each year. We don't do it in mid-winter! The feeders only have dry feed, so don't really get dirty, and the waterers get dumped out and rinsed weekly, usually, during the winter.
For water we have an all-weather hydrant right outside the coop, so it's very convenient all year. And electricity is great out there, so heated bases for the two waterers we use in cold weather.
Everything to make daily chores as easy as possible!
Mary