Coop cleaning question....

[WoodlandWoman]

Vinegar is sometimes used to kill bacteria on surfaces, due to it's acidity. They've done studies in labs on this. You can google vinegar and antibacterial. It also kills mold.

For deep litter, I only start with enough shavings to thoroughly cover the floor. For me, starting with a thicker layer just means more stirring. I top dress lightly with clean shavings as needed, in the areas of the coop that need it.

I guess I'm doing a lasagna method, where the clean litter and the chicken's "input" are gradually layered in the coop. Rather than having a really thick layer of clean litter on the bottom that has to be stirred up to the top, to deal with all the chicken poop on the surface. That takes a lot of stirring, right from the beginning. I prefer to just regularly scatter a little litter where I need it. I'd rather have the cleanest layer of litter on top, where the chickens are walking, too.

When I first started doing deep litter, I did start with a thick layer of shavings and do a lot of stirring. This way just seemed more logical and like less work, so I started doing it this way. Either way works. You just have to have enough shavings combined with the chicken poop or you'll start to smell ammonia.

 

[Moabite]

Quote:
AVC and baking soda are used to clean about anything, but you don't need to use the expensive AVC with the "mother" in it to clean. We have a large squirt bottle with about 1 part vinegar to 1 part water, and a smidgen of Thieves oil as our basic all-around cleaner. A few squirts of that and a generous application of Elbow Grease will clean/disinfect most messes, if that doesn't work, then we have a large spice container full of Baking soda that we use in combination with it. The vinegar smell doesn't last too long, but the thieves oil goes a long way if you know what I mean.

 

[7L Farm]

Quote:
AVC and baking soda are used to clean about anything, but you don't need to use the expensive AVC with the "mother" in it to clean. We have a large squirt bottle with about 1 part vinegar to 1 part water, and a smidgen of Thieves oil as our basic all-around cleaner. A few squirts of that and a generous application of Elbow Grease will clean/disinfect most messes, if that doesn't work, then we have a large spice container full of Baking soda that we use in combination with it. The vinegar smell doesn't last too long, but the thieves oil goes a long way if you know what I mean.

Ok, but what is thieves oil & where do you get it?

 

[Pretty Pony]

Quote:
I was wondering the same thing. I get it now!

 

[Chicken.Lytle]

Quote:
AVC and baking soda are used to clean about anything, but you don't need to use the expensive AVC with the "mother" in it to clean. We have a large squirt bottle with about 1 part vinegar to 1 part water, and a smidgen of Thieves oil as our basic all-around cleaner. A few squirts of that and a generous application of Elbow Grease will clean/disinfect most messes, if that doesn't work, then we have a large spice container full of Baking soda that we use in combination with it. The vinegar smell doesn't last too long, but the thieves oil goes a long way if you know what I mean.

OK, I am confused. "Mother"? I thought that was for Oxine. I thought ACV was vinegar.

In any case, I just use 10% bleach solution when I want to disinfect the coop.

 

[Moabite]

ACV with the dark "mycelium" looking stuff or "Mother" is a health thing, but the distilled ACV is much cheaper to clean with. Thieves oil? To be honest, my wife brought into the house, I just looked it up

http://aromatherapy4u.wordpress.com...tial-oil-blend-the-plague-household-cleaning/