dust in the coop? cleaning?

[vermontgal]

My coop is not too poopy, but it seems to be too dusty. Is this just 2-3 months of chicken dander? Pine shaving have some dust in them. I use Stall Dry. Recently, the coop has rarely gotten above freezing, so the litter is dried out as all the poop is frozen. I know this will change at the next thaw.

I have been managing litter by keeping 3-4" of shavings on the main coop floor (4x5 for 4 birds). Then periodically, I scraped off my dropping board and replace the shavings on the dropping board with "slightly poopy" ones from the main coop level. I add new shavings to the main coop. So, it is a system of clean - poopy - very poopy --> out.

Should I clean out the coop, with a complete removal of all the shavings?

If I vacuum the dust, what type of vacuum cleaner should I use?

Shop vac and house vac have HEPA filters on them. I don't want to clog the filter.

Thanks for any advice.

 

[brooster]

twice a year i clean the dust out, probably not often enough, but..

i take everything out, clean the entire coop. I sweep the walls down, take everyrhing out and take the air compressor to it/ broom. put down sweeping compound and sweep again, then i spray with bleach solution, and put all the clean stuff back in, by next week it has dust collecting.

but thats what i do

 

[Chicken Woman]

My coop is the same way. I use stall dry as well. We have a pretty dry climate as when it snows it is pure powder !

I was told to us a garden sprayer and spray some moisture into the shavings to cut down on dust.

I hesitate to do that as it is so darn cold !

 

[cmom]

When I clean out my coop after I shovel the majority of the poopy litter out then I take a shop vac and vacuum out whatever is left over. I have never washed out my coops but they aren't dirty. Once in a great while I take some bleach water in a sprayer and spray the roosts where there may have been poop on them, then I take a small bucket of clean water with a rag and wipe them off and that is what I do.

 

[LynneP]

I find that leaving the spider webs a little longer helps with dust!

In a cold-weather climate you might find Stable Boy a little better than Stall Dri (about 4 C for a 10x10 setup plus 2C with each new bale of shavings). It mixes with any food-grade DE you might wish to use. I find it grabs the dust better and drags it down into the bedding, perhaps because it has a density of 2 so tends to settle with gravity. When you scrape any roosts or ledges, use a catch bucket to grab the scrapings.

 

[Guinea Goonie]

The chickies (especially the little ones) put off an extraordinary amount of dander. My coop looks like it snowed in there !!

When the little ones get feathered out, the dust/dander goes down quite a bit.

I take a vacuum cleaner to it once a year.

 

[pipermark]

Just a note, you should think of wearing a face mask (surgical mask) when cleaning a dusty coop. Just like you should working in any dusty environment.

 

[Alleychick]

I do the deep litter method so i only clean about 4 times a year. But when i take everything out i lock the girls outside open all doors and windows and take the leaf blower to it!!! Then i clean everything with vinegar. I use stall dri plus ive been feeding the girls lotsa cracked corn from our bins and its pretty dusty!