Coop Maintenance... What are my options?

[ToniTalley]

We use straw in the nests, wood shavings on the coop floor (vinyl) and sand in the run. Also have a pdz covered poop board and that keeps the coop quite clean and eliminates most of the odor. In winter when it's super cold we toss a straw flake into the run so the chooks have something to mess with and after it's spread all over, the bonus is giving their feet a rest from the cold sand.

 

[Peppercorngal]

Interesting this came up today. I just cleaned out my coop! Because of the slope we have a coop built on a platform off the ground. We used regular vinyl flooring and I cover it with shavings. I have 26 chickens, the coop is 8x10 ft and I only have to removed the old shavings and add new about 3 times per year. It sure makes it easy to shovel out with my trusty plastic snow shovel!

 

[aart]

Interesting this came up today. I just cleaned out my coop! Because of the slope we have a coop built on a platform off the ground. We used regular vinyl flooring and I cover it with shavings. I have 26 chickens, the coop is 8x10 ft and I only have to removed the old shavings and add new about 3 times per year. It sure makes it easy to shovel out with my trusty plastic snow shovel!

Yes! It's nice because the poop doesn't stick to the vinyl like it would to wood, Easy to scrape off any that does kinda stick.
Do you use poop boards?
Do you birds freak out with the new bedding?
Mine act like it's hot coals, have taken to saving some of the old and sprinkling over the new to 'camouflage' the new shavings.

 

[Peppercorngal]

Yes! It's nice because the poop doesn't stick to the vinyl like it would to wood, Easy to scrape off any that does kinda stick.
Do you use poop boards?
Do you birds freak out with the new bedding?
Mine act like it's hot coals, have taken to saving some of the old and sprinkling over the new to 'camouflage' the new shavings.

No, I don't use poop boards. I have 7 different roosts and they use different ones all the time. Not all of them all the time, so I never know. Also it would make it too difficult to enter the coop to gather eggs. And No, they don't care about new bedding at all. They just ignore what they are walking on all together it seems. You know each flock is different, yours must have sensitive feet! Or maybe they don't like "clean"!!

 

[aart]

You know each flock is different, yours must have sensitive feet!

I think it was because it looked different, much brighter color.

 

[Peppercorngal]

I think it was because it looked different, much brighter color.

Yep, that could be, not sensitive feet, but sensitive eyes! Smart chickens!

 

[aart]

Yep, that could be, not sensitive feet, but sensitive eyes! Smart chickens!

Chicken Chickens!
Thankfully some of them had some sense and they all ended up going to roost,
thought I'd have a chicken Rodeo on my hands at dusk if they didn't get over it.

 

[TerryH]

We voted for deep bedding in the coop with PDZ in the poop tray. Floor is covered with Blackjack 57 roof coating then 6" to 12" of pine shavings. Just toss out another bag when needed. 1/2" of PDZ in the tray. Poops are sifted out of the PDZ a few times per week. The pine shavings and PDZ zap the moisture out of the poop so there is no smell. Mixture of straw, shavings etc... in the run. Works well. Just did annual coop clean out today.