Coop Cleaning... How Often??

[shell25]

Hiya

Ive only been a chicken owner for a week and 1 day now (cleaned 3 times already), and im wondering how often i should be cleaning their coop out, they have got a run attached to it and free range for about 2-4 hours per day, but their coop gets quite dirty very quickly.

Can any1 help as dont want to be cleaning it out more than i really have to.

 

[Yay Chicks!]

What are you using on the floor of your coop? Pine shavings? Straw? Do you have a poop board under your roost?
I have a small coop just barely big enough for four birds and they have an attached run. I clean the poop board daily and sometimes I will scoop up a few large poops off the floor, but for the most part will stir up the shavings, add DE and more shavings as needed. I don't totally clean out the coop until it smells funky and that would be several months. I was a little more fanatical about it when they first went out to the coop, but since I was tossing mostly dry pine shavings, I modified my cleaning schedule.
Hope that helps a bit.

 

[teach1rusl]

A lot depends on the questions yay chicks asked. I scrape my dropping boards daily, so only do a "real" (big) cleaining 2x a year. I do spot clean bedding as needed. But if I didn't have the dropping boards, I'd be cleaning the bedding a LOT more often, because I don't like a stinky coop, and I don't like walking in poop when I'm out in the coop...

 

[Chickenmaven]

My method sounds vile, but it works.

I have a large coop (14x12) and a large run (12x30). We use pine shavings in the coop. We clean out the coop by raking the dirty shavings into the run about once a month (and replacing). We shovel out the run a couple times a year and use it as hot compost. Since we throw alot of garden & household scraps into the run, our chickens really do break down the old shavings into fine soil. My barometer for "dirty coop" is sticky poop. If a couple of chunks of poo stick to my coop boots, I figure that the coop & run are too poopy, not dry enough. Time to clean! We use the deep litter method and rarely have an issue with odor. Dry = Fine. As for the nests, that's where my food rests. I replace hay & shavings in the nests weekly.
I think alot of new chicken owners go overboard in the coop hygene department. That's terrific, if you have the time. However, don't feel bad if your set up looks less like Knott's Berry Farm and more like a real farm - there's no harm to the birds. Enjoy!

 

[gallinamama]

I think alot of new chicken owners go overboard in the coop hygene department....That would be me! I was cleaning the coop out every two days, and one big cleaning once a week with soap and bleach... I still do that every week to two weeks.. now.. but I do not clean clean like I used to... I found a great way to cut down on all of the cleaning...
I use wood shavings on the floor and every time I would waste so much shavings.. so now I still use the shavings but I put hay on top... soooooo much easier.. the poop seems to stay right on top of the hay.. and then all you have to do is lift up the hay and it comes up all in one , shavings underneath are still clean..!!! even after three to four days...I am so much happier... I have more time to do other things.
I finally found out the sex of all my chickens.. and I didn't have just two roosters..... I had 5!!! out of the nine!!! my poor little chickens... no wonder they couldn't give me eggs!! I have only two roosters left... so after next week... I will only have my laying chickens... Now I need to get more laying chickens... NO more roosters... maybe I will keep one... we will see... I got so mad at those darn roosters... they were coming after ME!!! One chased me out of the run... I chased him around the coop for over a half an hour.. finally caught him... gave him the look...youknow??? Now he is in the freezer coop.

 

[imusa76]

I have a 4x4 coop, and a 4X8 run, I have wood shavings in both (just enough to cover the floor), I replace the wood shaving in both every other week.
as for the coop, once a week I will scoop the poop from under the roost. for 6 LF they don't poop much over night, I also have lenolium flooring in there to keep the smell out of the wood flooring.
If the wood shavings in the run get wet I will replace that sooner, to keep the smell to a minimum.

I also have a roof mount exhaust fan (150 cfm) just to keep fresh air in the coop. (the coop is in my work shed, they have a cornerd off space, I need to keep the air fresh in there)

 

[swampwander]

My interior coop has a droppings pit which the girls roost over. In dry weather, the pine shavings move from the larger floor area into the droppings pit monthly and the pit cleaned every three to four months. When it is excessively wet, I base the need to clean on wet shavings. Our thundertsorms tend to have a lot of wind that blows the rain into every crack and crevice on the coop. And, my cleaning lis made easier because the girls free range in the yard all day.

 

[shell25]

Thankyou for your thoughts, they have straw in at the min, but they are in a very basic coop my new 1 as arrived today (waiting ready for the hubby to put together) which as a slide out tray so hopefully will make cleaning them out alot easier, i think im goin to put some shavings in as it seems alot of ppl use them. In the run its just grass and cant gt into the run easily where as my new 1 i will be able to walk in so i think i will invest in a poop scoop.

Thanks

 

[shell25]

Quote:
My new coop as arrived today and is (well im hoping) alot more pratical to clean out it as a slide out tray underneath the coop bit and the run i can actually walk into. I hope 1 of mine isn't a roo!!

 

[imusa76]

The wood shavings absorb some of the odors, that helps with how often you have to clean.
my Run has a cement floor, (to stop Rodents from digging in

) also helps me cleanup, I sweep up the wood shavings and hose it down.

the run did have grass at one time, after 2 weeks it was just dirt