Cleaning the coop - what to use?

[aumismommy]

We just got rid of our "flock" of all roosters (super luck we had in straight run = out of 8, 7 were roos) so now we went the sexed route
Anyway, we have our coop that is now empty as the babies are inside, we know we need to clean it and sanitize it but there are so many different things people say. What do we need to do to make the coop safe? It's wood with an attached run underneath that sits on the dirt - and on those lines do we need to be putting something on the top of the dirt (litter?) this time?

THANK YOU!

 

[Folly's place]

I'm a very low-key chicken sanitizer; at least here in Michigan it's been fine. I have a 10' by 15' coop, old stye wood construction, concrete floor with rubber mats. I use deep bedding with shavings, and clean it out completely maybe twice a year. At that time I shake either pyrethrin or sevin dust everywhere, then add a new layer of shavings. My flock has been rolling on for 21 years, with new birds either hatched here, or added as chicks every year. No bleach, scrubbing, or flaming, just shoveling out. Mary

 

[donrae]

I'm a very low-key chicken sanitizer; at least here in Michigan it's been fine. I have a 10' by 15' coop, old stye wood construction, concrete floor with rubber mats. I use deep bedding with shavings, and clean it out completely maybe twice a year. At that time I shake either pyrethrin or sevin dust everywhere, then add a new layer of shavings. My flock has been rolling on for 21 years, with new birds either hatched here, or added as chicks every year. No bleach, scrubbing, or flaming, just shoveling out. Mary

I'm like this. If you had no diseases, why sanitize? Chicks, like babies of all types, need to be exposed to normal bacteria to develop normal immune systems. I'd clean out poo, lay out a new bale of shavings and call it good. I've never sanitized a coop and don't have bugs/mites or diseases.