how aften do you clean your coop

[Dixiedoodle]

Every day, I go out to the coop, I wash out the waterers (twice daily), fill feeders, clean off the droppping board and apply fresh shavings, I check the nestboxes and reapply fresh shavings and rake the floor shavings around with a leaf rake. This gives me a chance to make sure there is no wet spots on the floor. I rake the run getting up all the old veggies that haven't been eaten from the day before and reapply fresh hay and a little scratch.. I fill their suet cage with cabbage, tomaotes, or other fresh veggies and rehang.. It only takes about 15-20 minutes 2x a day..

I put the droppings and other things raked up into a large compost pile..

 

[LizzyJo]

Dixiedoodle, can I come and live in your coop? Does it have cable?

 

[granmahen]

Quote:
Yep, mine's the same here in the middle of California. In the summer the girls roost in the run, its covered top to bottom with chicken wire with a nice solid roof and since we're in the city, we have no predators to speak of. They only lay their eggs in the coop and free range in the hottest part of the day. We deep litter and the good ventilation keeps it from cooking too fast. In the winter they only sleep in the coop when its very stormy. They are my easy peasy girls.

 

[Dixiedoodle]

LOL, no cable, no phone, no electric!!! It's sorta like a vacation from all that stuff--come on over... But if you find an egg it's MINE!!! LOL

 

[ShaggysGirl]

I've only had my chickens for 8 weeks but I'm not planning on cleaning out the coop till spring. When they were chicks I cleaned out their brooder once a day. Since I moved them to the 12x10 coop I do the deep litter I used agricultural lime, DE, Hay and wood shavings. I add DE and hay or shavings about every week or two. No flies and no smell. I'm hoping the litter will help keep them warm in the winter here in Michigan.
I do think sometimes people can over clean and it is good for them to be exposed to some germs to help build their immunity.

 

[LizzyJo]

So I took advice from here and went and got Stall Dry stuff for the feather people. It has diatamaceous earth in it! No one mentioned that. I feel like I got a really good deal!

 

[ace6175]

Wow! I feel like I'm lazy, really don't do much coop cleaning. Our coop is 10' x 4', has a linoleum floor. I'm using dried grass clippings on the floor. The chickens (11) are outside in a large fenced area (40' x 100') for the entire day, so I generally clean under the roosts about once a week, and look for any wet spots on the floor. So far, about 8 weeks, I've totally cleaned and changed the litter once. And that may have been overkill. So far, it's dry and the smell is minimal. And the chickens are healthy. Of course, I clean out the waterer every day.
All this may change when winter comes and they spend more time in the coop.