Cleaning my coop - advice

[Guernsy]

Hi
My ducks and chickens (4 ducks and 10 chickens) live somewhat together. The chickens have their own coop with nesting boxes and roosting bars and the ducks also have a little coop across from them. They are connected by an enclosed run. Early in the morning around 7:30 I will let the ducks out. However, they will leave the entire enclosure and free roam in our yard. The chickens on the other hand will come out of their coop around the same time but will stay in the enclosure until about 1-2 pm.

The ducks have straw in their coop/pen/house (or whatever I should call where they are sleeping). It gets icky fast (they have no water in it) and I clean it about every 4-5 days. I scoop out the wet, poopy straw and throw it on a pile in the very far back in our yard.

The chicken coop has regular wood shavings (the kind you use for bunnies) as bedding. I also have wood shaving, topped with hay, in their nesting boxes. You can literally tell where the chickens are sitting on the roosting bars because that is where the poop is piling up fast. I was cleaning the coop about once a month. Also dumping the dirty shavings in the very far back of our yard.

In the enclosure that was connecting the duck and chicken coop, we had just regular dirt and the chickens liked to scratch in it.

Since the ducks use so much straw, my husband bought an entire bale of straw and just put it in the enclosure, so it would be easier to fill into the duck house when needed. However, the chickens turned it into a playground. They took it apart and now I have about a foot deep of straw in their enclosure. The chickens love to dig around in it, make little nests and sit in it, scratch in it all day, etc. I don't see a massive amount of poop yet, but that could be due to the fact that they scratch around the straw a lot.

Since they seem to like the straw so much, would it make sense to put the straw in their coop too? What are the disadvantages of using straw in a chicken coop vs wood shavings? I have heard of people doing the deep littler method or only cleaning their coop once every six months. How does that work? If I don't clean out the wood shavings every month, it gets stinky and we get flies. I don't want to do the sand method, since I don't have time to clean it every day.

I have been dumping the soiled shavings and straw in one big pile in the back of our years. The chickens and ducks will go there and scratch around, dig for bugs and hang out. Is that bad for them, since it is all their old poop? I am wondering if I should turn this pile into a compost pile. Just not sure if the wood shavings will compost and how to go about it.

Also, should I remove the straw from their enclosure and let them go back to dirt?
Thanks,

 

[One Lucky Momma]

Depending on what kind of floor is in the chicken coop, it sounds like you already have the beginnings of a deep bedding arrangement. How deep are the shavings? You need 8-10 inches of shavings (or whatever) and while you don’t need to replace them often, you do need to stir them around daily (IMO) to break up the droppings and rotate exposure of the shavings to air. You may need to retrofit your door openings to keep the shavings from spilling out. And while you won’t have to change them out you will need to augment with new shavings periodically. BTW, this is how we do it and so far it’s worked great.

I’ve read cautions against using straw in the coop as it potentially provides habit for lice and mites.

Sounds like your girls are enjoying the straw. I would leave it. Consider it enrichment

 

[aart]

How does that work? If I don't clean out the wood shavings every month, it gets stinky and we get flies.

Well, I don't have ducks or deep litter......

What kind of bedding you use may depend on how you manage the manure.
This is about cleaning, but covers my big picture
-I use poop boards under roosts with thin(<1/2") layer of sand/PDZ mix, sifted daily(takes 5-10mins) into bucket going to friends compost.
-Scrape big or wet poops off roost and ramps as needed.
-Pine shavings on coop floor, add some occasionally, totally changed out once or twice a year, old shavings added to run.
- My runs have semi-deep litter(cold composting), never clean anything out, just add smaller dry materials on occasion, add larger wood chippings as needed.
Aged ramial wood chippings are best IMO.
-Nests are bedded with straw, add some occasionally, change out if needed(broken egg).
There is no odor, unless a fresh cecal has been dropped and when I open the bucket to add more poop.

That's how I keep it 'clean', have not found any reason to clean 'deeper' in 7 years.

 

[Guernsy]

Well, I don't have ducks or deep litter......

What kind of bedding you use may depend on how you manage the manure.
This is about cleaning, but covers my big picture
-I use poop boards under roosts with thin(<1/2") layer of sand/PDZ mix, sifted daily(takes 5-10mins) into bucket going to friends compost.
-Scrape big or wet poops off roost and ramps as needed.
-Pine shavings on coop floor, add some occasionally, totally changed out once or twice a year, old shavings added to run.
- My runs have semi-deep litter(cold composting), never clean anything out, just add smaller dry materials on occasion, add larger wood chippings as needed.
Aged ramial wood chippings are best IMO.
-Nests are bedded with straw, add some occasionally, change out if needed(broken egg).
There is no odor, unless a fresh cecal has been dropped and when I open the bucket to add more poop.

That's how I keep it 'clean', have not found any reason to clean 'deeper' in 7 years.

So what are "poop boards"? Would I have wood shavings and then "poop boards" with sand on top of them? I think that would cover pretty much my entire coop since my roosting bars are spread out across the coop in a Zick zack pattern. Do you just use cardboard? How do you pick up the poop? Do you remove the "poop boards" daily and clean them from poop? What do you use as a sifter? Self-made? Thanks

I am trying to picture what "poop boards" look like.

 

[aart]

So what are "poop boards"? Would I have wood shavings and then "poop boards" with sand on top of them? I think that would cover pretty much my entire coop since my roosting bars are spread out across the coop in a Zick zack pattern. Do you just use cardboard? How do you pick up the poop? Do you remove the "poop boards" daily and clean them from poop? What do you use as a sifter? Self-made? Thanks

I am trying to picture what "poop boards" look like.

Here's some posts about it, they're kind of old, but changes are noted.
...and the threads these posts are in has a ton of examples of poop boards.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...s-poop-pictures.621363/page-111#post-13179595
Updates:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...s-poop-pictures.621363/page-178#post-18966048
https://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/1/...ch-x-9-inch-mesh-drawer-organizer-silver.html

 

[Daisycar]

I use this utensile to pick up the poops. It's very practical and efficient.

 

[mcdze]

since you free range you can always rethink your whole setup, to me, messing around with shavings and straw and whatnot is more work than i want to do .. i live in a warmer climate so dont need total enclosure, but if i did flip up panels on hinges would solve it .. the coop is lifted a couple of feet on stilts and the entire bottom is wired over joists with a plywood middle panel where the food bowl is screwed down (yeah its about shot i need to replace that soon lol) .. a quick spray every day and the coop is poop free .. it builds up underneath but a shovel fixes that a couple of times a year ... anyway its a stress free setup really, maybe you could gleen some ideas .. the top is semi enclosed to block wind and they sleep in the rafters .. one end i have blocked off to introduce new chicks until theyre old enough my rocks wont beat them up too bad .. theres actually 6 nest boxes but they only use one lol ... so its about 14 or so years old now i made it out of scraps .. when i redo it i'd just like to make it a tad bigger but it houses up to 8 birds real good in the free range scenario ...

 

[Yardfulla poopers]

Hi
My ducks and chickens (4 ducks and 10 chickens) live somewhat together. The chickens have their own coop with nesting boxes and roosting bars and the ducks also have a little coop across from them. They are connected by an enclosed run. Early in the morning around 7:30 I will let the ducks out. However, they will leave the entire enclosure and free roam in our yard. The chickens on the other hand will come out of their coop around the same time but will stay in the enclosure until about 1-2 pm.

The ducks have straw in their coop/pen/house (or whatever I should call where they are sleeping). It gets icky fast (they have no water in it) and I clean it about every 4-5 days. I scoop out the wet, poopy straw and throw it on a pile in the very far back in our yard.

The chicken coop has regular wood shavings (the kind you use for bunnies) as bedding. I also have wood shaving, topped with hay, in their nesting boxes. You can literally tell where the chickens are sitting on the roosting bars because that is where the poop is piling up fast. I was cleaning the coop about once a month. Also dumping the dirty shavings in the very far back of our yard.

In the enclosure that was connecting the duck and chicken coop, we had just regular dirt and the chickens liked to scratch in it.

Since the ducks use so much straw, my husband bought an entire bale of straw and just put it in the enclosure, so it would be easier to fill into the duck house when needed. However, the chickens turned it into a playground. They took it apart and now I have about a foot deep of straw in their enclosure. The chickens love to dig around in it, make little nests and sit in it, scratch in it all day, etc. I don't see a massive amount of poop yet, but that could be due to the fact that they scratch around the straw a lot.

Since they seem to like the straw so much, would it make sense to put the straw in their coop too? What are the disadvantages of using straw in a chicken coop vs wood shavings? I have heard of people doing the deep littler method or only cleaning their coop once every six months. How does that work? If I don't clean out the wood shavings every month, it gets stinky and we get flies. I don't want to do the sand method, since I don't have time to clean it every day.

I have been dumping the soiled shavings and straw in one big pile in the back of our years. The chickens and ducks will go there and scratch around, dig for bugs and hang out. Is that bad for them, since it is all their old poop? I am wondering if I should turn this pile into a compost pile. Just not sure if the wood shavings will compost and how to go about it.

Also, should I remove the straw from their enclosure and let them go back to dirt?
Thanks,

Your situation sounds similar to mine, i can't do poop boards either, at least until I do some coop modifications. I compost everything, the wood chips do break down. But your pile in the back will eventually compost itself anyway. The chickens help it by scratching everything around. There's nothing I have found to make the cleanup of the ducks any easier. I don't give them food or water at night and still it is a soggy mess every morning. I have been using whatever I can that's free as bedding for them (pine needles, grass clippings, etc) i just as more to the top for a couple days before shoveling it all out on day 3. I haven't tried the deep method with them but might soon. It would be great if there was a quicker, easier way.