Frequency of cleaning coop floor

[featherz]

That's exactly what I do, too, JackE. And, for the same reasons

. No flies, no smells, no problems, less work

.

X3. I clean out twice a year. Stir it up, add more on top, clean out in spring and fall. I also add sweet PDZ. I have three huge coops, I couldn't even think of cleaning them daily. You should see the shavings I cleaned out in spring -hardly even looked dirty. And no poop board either.

 

[LakeBird]

I clean mine here & there because I use the poop in my garden after composting. Great stuff for growing things.

Do you wait 30 days before mixing the poop into your garden?

 

[Time-Out]

Just wondering what the frequency of cleaning the coop floor should be. Currently I clean the indoor pen everyday. Should I do this for the coop?

Thank you in advance for all your feed back.

When you say 'indoor pen', do you mean the house they go in to sleep? Generally, we call that the coop and the outdoor area is the run, just so you don't get confused with teminology.

Examples of coop/run combos would be pretty much any of the prefab stuff. If it came with the house and run all together then I think that is what Texas chick mum meant.

Look at the other threads, there is a very good one called 'Poop board convert gross pics' or something along those lines. It has some fantastic photos.

What suits you best depends on your setup. I have both one of the cheap prefabs and a huge stable. The small one wouldn't fit a poop board, nor can I deep litter it, but I only keep two bantam hens in there (it's barely 7sqft), so I clean it out every 2-3 months and hose it out once a year with disinfectant et al. My other gets emptied twice a year. In the meantime, I do as Jack and pile fresh sawdust on top. I do have a poop board in it though, that I scoop once a week. I'm thinking I might even be able to go a whole year without cleaning it out. They used to be on straw which seemed to get dirtier a lot quicker than shavings.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

Quote: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/621363/poop-board-convert-warning-graphic-gross-poop-pictures
Here is a whole thread on poop boards- basically they are a board under the roost that you scrape all the time so your shavings underneath don't get messy, on the floor. There are some pics in the thread.

I would like to have a poop board but don't, so I treat the whole floor as a poop board and keep it coated pretty well with sweet PDZ powder (not granules).

I have discovered that I have MANY fewer mite problems when I don't have shavings everywhere.

 

[LakeBird]

We are almost done with our coop. Here is a picture of our poop boards. I use Sweet PDZ on the poop boards - it acts like kitty litter. Great stuff. I scoop it up once a day - takes like 5 minutes.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

We are almost done with our coop. Here is a picture of our poop boards. I use Sweet PDZ on the poop boards - it acts like kitty litter. Great stuff. I scoop it up once a day - takes like 5 minutes. !

Oh Wow! Now that is what I would do if I were to build a new coop!!!!

 

[bucky52]

I scoop up chicken poo in the coop and run every day.someone on byc.suggested putting sand in the run and coop.best thing ever.the sand absorbs the mositure from the poo.and i use a kitty scoop.makes cleaning so much easier.it does help keeping the flies down.and i also springle de in and around the coop and run.

 

[TXchickmum]

My husband constructed our coops from recycled fencing. He built a double-sided "house", with two wire/frame sides (due to the very hot climate, here). The nesting boxes and roosts are in this area. He built a ladder which descends from this top floor down to a "bottom floor". It is filled with sand/dirt - the run, area. Their feeders/waterers are here, as they prefer this area during the day. (also have a roost in each run to accommodate the small flocks). Again, most of the day they are out and about the garden/lawn. The coops/runs are small enough that it is no problem to clean each twice daily. -just eliminates odors and flies.

 

[LakeBird]

We built our poop boards 18" wide because of the coop. We discovered that on occasion, our chickens’ projectile poop. It went behind the board and onto the back window. We are going to place a splash guard along the back of the boards by making it taller.

 

[CTratterriers]

All,

I think I may have confused you. I was referring to the coop they sleep in not their run. I only have 4 hens. We used the free coop plans from Purina so our coop is an exact duplicate. I still don't understand what a poop board is.

Regards,