Four Ways To Keep Your Coop Clean And Clean-smelling

[chickens_13]

"I have linoleum glued over OSB and caulked all around so that bacteria and pests will have no place to hide from my annual cleaning."


You actually have linoleum on the floor? We considered that but felt it was too slippery for the birds. No? Sure would make clean up easier!


Chris/Rachel N. Texas

 

[patandchickens]

Lots and lots of BYCers have linoleum (or anyhow vinyl flooring) -- the key is to still use bedding on top of it. It is not *instead of* bedding, it is just a little extra help as an underneath liner to prevent turned-under poo from sticking as tenaciously to the floor

I do not personally feel it really adds anything useful, but it is not *bad* either as long as it's installed so that moisture can't get under it easily.

Pat

 

[gsim]

You actually have linoleum on the floor? We considered that but felt it was too slippery for the birds. No? Sure would make clean up easier!

I believe that the linoleum makes a superior floor. Reason is, I think it is far easier to disinfect compared to OSB, plywood, or wooden planks, or dirt. I suspect that if anyone has mites/pests infect their flock, and has to do a complete cleaning, they would soon find out for themselves. Anyway, that is why I did it. Far easier annual cleanup as well. In fact, I took leftovers and glued/stapled them in between each wall stud to that they slope outwards to lap over the 2X4 baseplate of the 4 walls. I even caulked along the top and sides to boot. So when I do my annual coop cleaning I can hose down the coop all around from knee-height to the floor. I even sloped the floor 1/2" lower on the side where the entrance and two pop doors are. Makes it that much easier to sweep the water out those openings. Of course the chooks are kept outside while two fans dry the floor. It dries far far faster than it would if it was just plywood, planks, or OSB. Then the new litter is put down. I just keep adding new litter for the whole year and cover up what little poop I see on the floor daily with a handful of litter that I pick up from wherever. It works very well for my 23 chooks in my situation, which is an 8X16 coop. Obviously a more crowded coop would mean more coop cleaning. Size matters!

Ihave not yet used the food grade Diatomaceous Earth, but plan to put it in their dust bath outside. I had a dust bath inside last winter. May repeat that this winter too. Amazingly, they never pooped in it once.

A note of interest here: I have one hen that is crippled. She got that way by some accident that we did not witness during the first week the whole flock was moved from our garage in 4 boxes to their coop. Thing is, I was concerned that she would be bullied. She is never bullied. She is part of the flock and feeds with the others unafraid when I bring daily treats, greens, etc. She has gone from sleeping on the roost with the others to sleeping in the litter under one of the poop boards. We have been blessed with this flock. I suspect the roomy run and large coop contributes to the harmony my flock seems to enjoy.

 

[isadream]

Ok so what is a poop board??

Renee

 

[gsim]

Quote:


It is described in my original post at the beginning of this thread. It is a piece of plywood, OSB, formica counter-top, galvanized steel, etc that rests below the roost pole. It should be 24" wide and at lest as long as the roost pole. The roost pole should be 12" from the wall. This way the droppings always end up on the poop board and not on the floor in the litter. This is one of my 4 points to keeping your coop cleaner. The poop board should be scraped first thing in the AM when you open your coop and fill the feed dish/trough, etc. I put the scrapings into a plastic tote bin that I keep below the poop board. I keep the lid snapped into place too for prevention of odor. Periodically I empty the poop into the garden (fall and wintertime) or into shrub beds, etc (springtime and summer).

Daily scraping and disposal keep your coop smelling clean. This has worked like a charm for me for around 1 1/2 years.

 

[ZephyrWoodsFarm]

Can you post a picture of the inside of your coop so I can visualize it? It sounds pretty awesome and I am gathering ideas for a coop in the spring.

 

[chickens_13]

Thanks for the great advice!

Chris/Rachel
Chicken Rookies

 

[showme69]

Thanks for the tips. And you answered a question I had on using vinyl flooring. I'm new to BYC and I'm in the planning stages of the coop I'll build in the spring. I was contemplating using vinyl on the floor and you convinced me I was on the right track. Thanks again.

 

[zekii]

Quote:


It is described in my original post at the beginning of this thread. It is a piece of plywood, OSB, formica counter-top, galvanized steel, etc that rests below the roost pole. It should be 24" wide and at lest as long as the roost pole. The roost pole should be 12" from the wall. This way the droppings always end up on the poop board and not on the floor in the litter. This is one of my 4 points to keeping your coop cleaner. The poop board should be scraped first thing in the AM when you open your coop and fill the feed dish/trough, etc. I put the scrapings into a plastic tote bin that I keep below the poop board. I keep the lid snapped into place too for prevention of odor. Periodically I empty the poop into the garden (fall and wintertime) or into shrub beds, etc (springtime and summer).

Daily scraping and disposal keep your coop smelling clean. This has worked like a charm for me for around 1 1/2 years.

I also would like to see a picture of this poop board setup... seems like a good idea.
How do you keep the poop board off the floor/beding ? Suspended or on blocks ?
What are you using too scrap with ?

Zekii

 

[Iheartchicks<3:)]

How big can grass clippings be?!!!