how often do i need to clean??

[Cknldy]

Thank you so much everyone! I didn't know what everyone else had in there own chicken coops! Is there anything else I could use for bedding?? And I was planing to have most the run grass and in a corner put some sand. Is this a good idea?? 

The grass isn't going to stay. All the beautiful grass filled run pictures you see are when the chickens are new to that coop or a brand new run. The grass will become a barren mud flat so some type of bedding/ litter has to be used even in the run. I used the deep litter method with hay all last year in a covered run. Ladies have a roost 'box' w/ chunky sawdust under it so I scoop poo every morning and just toss it out in the run. The entire run gets flipped and turned with the hoe each morning and clean hay added as needed. Never had a problem. I have heard so much about sand that I will be switching to using it in the runs this year. If all goes well I may use sand in warm weather and in brooder then deep litter hay in cold weather for warmth.

 

[Cknldy]

For the question on types of wood- cedar in a closed space without good ventilation sometimes causes breathing problems and due to sap I wouldn't use fresh pine shavings/sawdust. We cut our own firewood so we just collect the sawdust from using the chainsaw but let it dry out before storing or using. Throw a piece of rotten log into your run, flip it every few days or once a week. Chickens love the bugs!

 

[Kernel Cluck]

One word... sand. No doubt, easy to clean, keeps the hens feet squeeky clean, they love to dust bath and way less dusty that wood shavings

 

[aj napier]

hey I heard sand is a good liter for the coop whats your alls opinion??

 

[mammalucy]

I cleared all the poop everyday off perches and ramps etc in the shed/coop then took as much up off the floor as I could then scatter some more shavings on top but I didn't layer it as deep and removed all the bedding once a week. I only had 4 hens with an outdoor run but they poop a lot during the night and I found cleaning them out once a week is fine. But everyone has there own way

 

[aj napier]

how deep???

 

[mammalucy]

Me?? It was usually about 2-3 inches deep.

 

[Michael Apple]

The grass isn't going to stay. All the beautiful grass filled run pictures you see are when the chickens are new to that coop or a brand new run. The grass will become a barren mud flat so some type of bedding/ litter has to be used even in the run. I used the deep litter method with hay all last year in a covered run. Ladies have a roost 'box' w/ chunky sawdust under it so I scoop poo every morning and just toss it out in the run. The entire run gets flipped and turned with the hoe each morning and clean hay added as needed. Never had a problem. I have heard so much about sand that I will be switching to using it in the runs this year. If all goes well I may use sand in warm weather and in brooder then deep litter hay in cold weather for warmth.

My 8 year old chicken yard has grass growing in it every season and I don't seed it. Now the number of birds are lower the last 2 years; reduced to 12 compared to 25. Space determines much. In a 30' x 40' run, this is not a problem. I ran drainage pipe underground when I originally built the yard, and the main thing for me is elimination of stagnant water pooling in the run during the rainy months. Location is important.

I always preferred shavings in the coop for absorbancy of droppings. Daily pick up under the roosts only takes a minute.

 

[Hillschicks]

Chickens do not like the rain. At least mine don't. I am planning on adding 30 more chickens before the warm weather is gone...so then we will see how it all goes. I feel like the  

 

[flockoffour]

I change the shavings in my run about every 2-3 weeks but I pick up the poop from under the roosts every day.