Cleaning Out the Coop

[Chickens rock!mysocks]

How often should I clean out the chicken coop? Sometimes it gets really poopy in there but the chickens don't seem to mind very much. I'm just worried that maybe im not cleaning the coop out often enough. I've had some people tell me every week and others tell me every year! What do you think?

 

[patandchickens]

Whatever seems reasonable to you. There is no one right answer, it depends on your situation and your tastes.

That said, I think there are *wrong* answers -- to me, if the chickens are walking directly in pure poo a lot (as opposed to shavings-with-little-particles-of-poo-stirred-among-them-and-the-occasional-fresh-clump), then that is too filthy; and if there are any air quality problems then while much of the solution is more ventilation, in some cases part of the solution is also better sanitation.

Experiment, you will arrive at what works best for you

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[Horizon Structures]

The once a year thing probably refers to the deep litter method, where you just keep adding fresh bedding on top and take out the whole thing as compost once a year. Do a search on here for more info!