Coop clean out

[Our6chicks]

I’ve seen a wide range of answers for this one. My coop is 6x7. I have 9 chickens. I use hemp bedding in my coop. I clean the poop every morning from under the roosts. They occasionally go into the coop during the day. These poops I leave be and just turn the bedding over. I have a good 3-4” of hemp. I had planned on completely cleaning out twice a year. It doesn’t smell. It’s dry. Is that enough? Should I clean it completely out once a week? Month? Picture of chicken and bedding below. TIA

 

[tripletfeb]

As long as it doesnt smell or get wet, its fine. I use pine shavings in my coop and only clean it out twice a year. I put more bedding down as needed and the chickens turn it for me. Its called the deep bedding method

 

[Our6chicks]

As long as it doesnt smell or get wet, its fine. I use pine shavings in my coop and only clean it out twice a year. I put more bedding down as needed and the chickens turn it for me. Its called the deep bedding method

Thank you! That’s what I was aiming for and then I read (from my vet) it should be once a week so I felt like a terrible mom.

 

[tripletfeb]

Thank you! That’s what I was aiming for and then I read (from my vet) it should be once a week so I felt like a terrible mom.

If it does not smell or get wet, once a week is a waste of time, in my opinion. Especially since you scoop poop every morning. I don't even do that!

 

[Our6chicks]

If it does not smell or get wet, once a week is a waste of time, in my opinion. Especially since you scoop poop every morning. I don't even do that!

 

[Ascholten]

I generally go out every morning with the tongs and grab the poop out of mine. Occasionally if I sleep in a little late, by the time I get in there, they already scratched and scuffled around and its buried under the pine shavings.

From what I have seen with my flock, as long as it's not stinky, or anything nasty like moldy or wet it's not that big of a problem. Another thing to keep an eye out for is pests. If there are a lot of flies or rodents that could be come an issue too.

I only have 4 chickens so it's not that big of a deal in my case thankfully, but with that another thing you can do it you wish, about once a week or so, go in there and just turn the hay over, you don't need to dig all the way to the bottom if you have an open bottom pen, but give it a little turning. Generally any turds that they turned over will dry our fairly fast, and now you have the little dried poops you can pick up or however you collect them, pick em out of the straw and discard.

There is also some powder I seen in the TSC that is like some sort of composting stuff they say to sprinkle on the floor when you put new hay in. Does not seem to to much IMO but another option to look into maybe?

Aaron

 

[Our6chicks]

I generally go out every morning with the tongs and grab the poop out of mine. Occasionally if I sleep in a little late, by the time I get in there, they already scratched and scuffled around and its buried under the pine shavings.

From what I have seen with my flock, as long as it's not stinky, or anything nasty like moldy or wet it's not that big of a problem. Another thing to keep an eye out for is pests. If there are a lot of flies or rodents that could be come an issue too.

I only have 4 chickens so it's not that big of a deal in my case thankfully, but with that another thing you can do it you wish, about once a week or so, go in there and just turn the hay over, you don't need to dig all the way to the bottom if you have an open bottom pen, but give it a little turning. Generally any turds that they turned over will dry our fairly fast, and now you have the little dried poops you can pick up or however you collect them, pick em out of the straw and discard.

There is also some powder I seen in the TSC that is like some sort of composting stuff they say to sprinkle on the floor when you put new hay in. Does not seem to to much IMO but another option to look into maybe?

Aaron

Great! Now I don’t feel so bad. After I pick up their turds in the morning, I do a quick turnover for any I missed. I also use Coop Recuperate. Pictured below. It dries poop up and refreshes.

 

[IdyllwildAcres]

I cleaned my coop out once, about 2.5 years in. I plan on cleaning it out again this fall. Deep litter method on dirt floor.

 

[Our6chicks]

I cleaned my coop out once, about 2.5 years in. I plan on cleaning it out again this fall. Deep litter method on dirt floor.

That is awesome! My anxiety is going down now.

 

[Ascholten]

The biggest issue you will have, is if you have a period with a lot of rain, like we have in Florida here sometimes, we can go a week with really crappy rainy weather. In those times stuff can start to get moist and the coop can get a bit dank in there. As long as there is not any standing water you should be ok, but then it may be a bit more important to keep stuff cleaner. Id also venture to say on days like that, the birds may want to spend more time inside as well, meaning more poop IN the pen .vs. elsewhere.

You can always throw fresh hay / straw / shavings etc on top of the old stuff too if it's starting to get overly moist or worry some. While new over the top of old is NEVER a good alternative to cleaning if you truly have an issue, it can help temporarily until things dry out or you do get a chance to clean it properly if needed.

Another point of concern I'll say is, if you have a bird that is sick or got the squirts, you'll want to get that out of there, scoop that turd up and out instead of covering as that can get you into trouble fast if you let a sick birds droppings fester / mold up and possibly infect others.

Aaron