Coop cleanout timing ?

[mrkep]

This will be our first spring with chickens, 15 Buckeyes, laying 9-12 eggs a day. The coop is now 12" deep litter, last changed in Nov., so it needs to be changed. I also want to rearrange the nest boxes and roost bars, probably 4-5 hours of work. So here's my question,,if I lock them all out of the coop , will that foul up their egg-laying schedule? They lay thruout the day so I can't plan around a time. They are going on 9 months old, are they due to moult that I could do it then when they are not layng? They all freak out so much with any little change, I want to avoid as much of that as possible.
Thanks, mrkep

 

[flightfeather21]

Doing it in moulting when they are not laying would be the best choice.

But what I'm suggesting is if the coop gets really bad, do a little bit of work each day or so. That way the coop will be cleaner AND the hens can still lay eggs. I would probably save the nest boxes and roosts for the end.

Hope it helped!

~flightfeather21~

 

[darkmatter]

Quote:
I clean out my deep litter usually once a year in the spring. I don't lock out the chickens and they don't come into the coop usually when I'm making changes, but sometimes a hen will persist in staying in the nest box while I work and sometimes she will leave in a hurry letting me know she's displeased. They get over it. (See my BYC page for pics of my setup)