cleaning out poop?

[sc chicken]

About a month ago my DH built a henhouse with a large dirt floor for our 12 chicks. My hens are not free range (too many predators) so we wanted to make sure they had plenty of room to run about. We go into the henhouse at least three times a days and I haven't noticed much poop. When can I expect to have to clean it out? Should I start raking/ shoveling once a week in order to keep ahead of the game? I don't want my girls to get sick either- and I know how much they love their dust baths!
Any ideas? Suggestion? I'm a new egg and I want to do what's right for them.

 

[Wynette]

Look up Deep Litter Method on here, using the search function in teh blue bar above. I think that's probably the best method for a natural dirt floor! Good luck!

 

[sc chicken]

Thanks! I will look and see... Happy 4th to ya!

 

[Sissy]

Welcome from TN. Sc chicken.

I tried on my dirt floor a sack of wood shavings with some AG LIME
mixed in.
make sure its AG lime.. and it seems to be doing well. in our wood floor coop i use the same wood shavings but sprikled some Permectrin dusting powder to see what works best and so far im satisfied with both.
so you can make your choice.
The wood floor coop only gets cleaned out once a year but i add shavings when ever needed and stir it up..with the dusting powder and
I am just working on the dirt floor just adding shavings.
and havent sholved any out its only been started a month ago.
hope this helps.

 

[sc chicken]

It does- and thank you for the advice- the only thing I'm worried about is will my chickens be able to settle in the dirt and take their dust baths with the shavings??? It seems the more I find out the more I want to know!!

 

[CityChook]

They'll just move the shavings away from where they want to scratch. With 4-9 inches of deep litter (depending on the season), I only change out my shavings twice a year.

 

[Sissy]

SC chicken
What i did was to put an old
pan and filled it half way with Sand
made a dusting box.
added some
Permectrin dust or you can use
Ag lime mixed in. it keeps mites etc away..
I put it in one corner of their run and they dusted when ever they chose.

 

[sc chicken]

Thanks for the advice everyone!

It is nice to be able to ask pretty much anything chicken related!