How can I make my coop and run cleaner??

[averytexans]

We live in south Texas and are new to chickens. We built a 25' by 15' completely fenced in run with a 8' x 8' coop. We currently have 3 six week old ducks, 6 eight week old (we hope) hens and 12 - 4 to 5 others that came from a local rescue. That is 21 birds total. We live on the coast, so our ground is sand. The run is 90 percent roofed. The coop has an entire bag of pine shavings on the lineolum lined floor and hay in the four nesting boxes. Currently, we do nothing to the yard to clean, except hose down the roosting logs and ladder we have for them. We completely replace the bedding in the coop once a month. Since moving to nipple waterers, the ducks have quit making such a mess, but the coop and run smell..not bad, but more than I want it to. For the outside run, should we be raking or adding like yard clippings or something to help make it a more cleanly environment? We do feed them corn scratch out in the run, but their primary feeder is in the coop with developer feed...I will try to figure this iPad out and take some pictures, but any advice would be awesome!

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

I use sand in my coops too and love it. I use a plastic rake and kitty litter scoop.

Your run sounds fine. I wouldn't mix anything into it.

 

[aart]

Ducks do need a pan of water to rinse their head and nostrils, and maybe you know that, but you can keep that outside.

A poop board under the roosts might help make for easier cleaning of a majority of the droppings inside the coop.
Some folks use a poop board with sand mixed with a zeolite (which absorbs ammonia) product called PDZ.

 

[Chickie Mama]

We keep our ducks separate because they are so MESSY! Once they were old enough, we put their water outside. That way they can play in it and make a mess without any issue. For the chickens, we use the "deep litter method" and that has worked well for us... but I like the sand idea!!! I might try that! Thanks ChickensAreSweet!

 

[averytexans]

You use sand inside your coop as well? And you rake and scoop the poop? Our run is big, how often do you do that?

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

You use sand inside your coop as well? And you rake and scoop the poop? Our run is big, how often do you do that?

Yes I rake and scoop the poo every 2 days. Or more often if needed.

It really helps to use a THIN layer of sand. Otherwise it takes forever to sift through all that sand and the dust just flies everywhere. With a very thin layer I find that it is a fast job to get a poop-free coop!

My runs are very large garden areas and so they are grassy. But my two shed coops are just fabulous with sand in the bottom, since we have so much wet weather in the winter. If the edges of the shed get wet and stay wet (which happens every winter) I keep the sand scraped AWAY from the shed edges, with the sand in the middle of the shed floor and under the roosts. This keeps me from having to toss the sand each time I scoop it- if it gets wet it clumps and I throw it out.

I use about a bag of play sand per month per coop ($5 per bag at feed store or Home Depot). The wet mason sand just introduces moisture in the coop. I prefer the washed play sand that has been dried.