How far do YOU go to get the chicken coop clean.

[darkmatter]

What's with the cleaning of a Coop.? I removed 8 wheelbarrows of brown gold for my Garden this spring from my sub-ground level dirt floored pit which I use the deep litter composting process to make fertilizer. (See my BYC page for pics of my setup) And now, have started adding my lawnmower clippings and other raked up stuff to start the process over for another year. I'll add layers all summer, then in the winter the composting helps with the heat while it turns into Garden Gold.

 

[woodmort]

I'm with darkmatter--I think some of you take cleaning way too seriously. You can get it too clean--leave some bacteria in there to start the next composting job. I shovel mine out once a year--in the spring--at which point I sweep it as best I can, wash the windows and then replace the shavings to a depth of 4/6". When those shaving get "fowled" up I add more. I have 40-some birds in a 20 X 20' coop and they do fine--they are free-ranged most days but pretty much confine themselves during the winter and rainy days.

 

[ben is a terror]

maybe it's just one of girl things. We like are kids room to be tidy. In case the bring over friends.

Sorry to any guys who posted about a real good cleaning.Starting mine yesterday all plastics that can fit went through the dishwasher what couldn't got washed and rinsed in a light bleach and super hot water mix. It will take me about 1 week to do if I repaint.

 

[gdplum]

Put lots of sand on your coop floor...3-6 inches. Clean daily with horse manure fork...use scraper to scrape poop off roost. I use this method and have no problems in coop. Replenish sand as needed. Some of the sand will stick to the poop...but helps poop decompose when in compost pile.

 

[krcote]

Quote:
Exactly.

 

[debontheweb]

I use the deep litter method with pine shavings and diatomaceous earth which I change every 6 months after regularily adding more shavings , more DME and stirring. I have straw in the raised nesting boxes, which always remain remarkably clean. The litter goes into the compost. There are no odours coming from the coop.
Deb

 

[Aria]

Quote:
This is exactly what we do....Aria

 

[spotstealer]

My coop is small, 4X6 and houses six chicks. My floor is covered with linoleum. I spread out a layer of shavings. I have a broom/dust pan that I use. The dust pan has a long enough handle to reach from one end of the coop to the other without having to crawl inside. It also has a squeegie blade on it. It works great. My cleanout access goes all the way to the floor so all I do is position my wheel barrow under the opening and scrape the shavingds right into the wheel barrow, then off to the composter. Its actually quicker than cleaning up after my two labs.

 

[Judy]

Quote:
Exactly.

Me, too, with minor variations.

 

[Mac in Wisco]

Quote:
Maybe, maybe not. As we are organic and don't use deworming medications or pesticides, we completely clean out and disinfect the hen house between flocks and then let the house and pasture rest for a few weeks before restocking to help break parasite cycles.

I realize that many don't replace their flocks like I do, but some of the same can apply. If you have a portable coop or a way to rotate the ground they are using, a thorough clean out along with different ground to run on can help reduce parasite loads. If you deworm your birds, deworming at the same time would really get you off to a clean start.