how often do i need to clean??

[nursebecky99]

I don’t look at it as “all that”. It could be something as simple as a sheet of plywood under the roosts or get some plastic bins and set them on the floor. Or just clean it up when it builds up, whether that is daily, weekly, or whatever schedule works for you.

I use a droppings board because I want the pure poop to go into my compost bin. I don’t want any of the bedding mixed in with it. For some people that is not a problem at all.

Don’t worry too much about what is best for the chickens. Think more about what is best for you and is more convenient for you to do. As long as the coop does not get wet or stinky the chickens will do fine. The important thing is to find a method that works for you to achieve the not wet or stinky.

best advice ever..."not wet or stinky" LOL. I am using deep litter method with my coop and 4 chickens. Keeping about 4-6inches of litter. I just stir it up every other day or so. It smells like pine shavings, dusty though, and I am not sure what to do about the dust factor or if it is due to the shavings mostly.

 

[Stormy39]

Oh, My! I am new to this. This is my first season with new chicks. I have been cleaning their house, sand box and beds every other day. Will it hurt them to do that. I am a bit OCD about cleaning and don't think I could possibly let it go more than a week. I have 6 Bantams, 1 Wyandotte, and I believe 2 white Cochins. The ones I believe are Cochins were supposed to be something else but did not turn out that way. I still can't tell the hens from the roosters. I have only one trying to crow so I am certain it is a rooster. They are about 10 weeks old now. They have started to free range now too.

 

[Michael Apple]

best advice ever..."not wet or stinky" LOL. I am using deep litter method with my coop and 4 chickens. Keeping about 4-6inches of litter. I just stir it up every other day or so. It smells like pine shavings, dusty though, and I am not sure what to do about the dust factor or if it is due to the shavings mostly.

Actually it isn't. Avoiding moist coop floor environments to prevent the reproduction of coccidia, respiratory problems, parasitic worm eggs, and their hosts, should be common sense.The quote of "Don’t worry too much about what is best for the chickens. Think more about what is best for you and is more convenient for you to do" is not a good recommendation. It is a recommendation that leads to laziness and unhealthy birds.

4-6" of shavings is not a "deep litter method" commonly parroted on the forum. See the origin of it in my previous post. Deep litter method is merely not removing old shavings/straw that become caked with manure, and continuing to add shavings/straw, or other discarded vegetation. It is a compost pile in the coop instead of where it should be; a reserved area out in the pasture/yard. Shavings break down and get dusty. That's unavoidable, and shavings come in fine, medium, or large flake. Most people use medium or large flake in coops, and some brands are dustier than others. Coops get dusty, that's why they should be swept out/vacuumed as part of the cleaning procedure to prevent too much of it. This is also why good ventilation is key to healthy birds.

 

[Michael Apple]

Oh, My! I am new to this. This is my first season with new chicks. I have been cleaning their house, sand box and beds every other day. Will it hurt them to do that. I am a bit OCD about cleaning and don't think I could possibly let it go more than a week. I have 6 Bantams, 1 Wyandotte, and I believe 2 white Cochins. The ones I believe are Cochins were supposed to be something else but did not turn out that way. I still can't tell the hens from the roosters. I have only one trying to crow so I am certain it is a rooster. They are about 10 weeks old now. They have started to free range now too.

It depends on what your procedure is of "cleaning". It doesn't have to be a sterile laboratory, but I'll give you an idea. Chickens need to be in contact with their own feces and other organic matter within reason to build a strong immune system. Molds and fungi, bacterial build-up, rancid or discarded feed, and dead animal carcasses should obviously be avoided. I know folks who use sand in their chicken yards and swear by it. It keeps down fly populations, and is absorbent. It is easy to remove droppings like cleaning out a cat box. The amount of work depends on how many birds you have and how large your yard is.

I built my coops for my own preferences. I have one coop with a concrete floor and two with wooden flooring. The roofs are corrugated steel, there are windows/vents and no areas that leak during the rainy season. I use pine shavings on the floor area and nests in my coops. I have large yards of soil and grass. There are certain areas of loose soil they prefer to dust themselves.The location has good drainage and is large enough to keep birds from destroying all vegetation growth. I keep the yard mowed and pruned to deter overpopulation for slugs, snails, and other vectors for parasitic worms. I intend to add sand and topsoil in the yards this summer to improve drainage.

I do a quick pickup with a dog pooper scooper and a small steel rake under the roosts each morning. It only takes a couple minutes. This allows me to identify potential digestive problems in addition to preventing the build-up of manure. My coops don't stink, nor become moist caked up with manure.

About every 3 months, I remove old shavings, shop-vac the coops, disinfect with Oxine or Biophene, let dry, then treat all cracks, crevices, floors, walls, ceilings, nests, and roosts with Ravap EC or Permethrin concentrate, let dry, then add fresh shavings. I do this while chickens are ranging and they are allowed back in the coop when I am finished. I've mentioned it before, but just thought I'd give you an idea of procedure. I rarely have sick birds and never have rodent, mite or louse infestations.

 

[graciesmum]

I do not use shavings at all due to the dust and I feel it keeps the smell, I use builders sand on the floor in the coop and straw in the near boxes that's it, I clean up all the poop every morning and then rake the sand and fluff up the straw, then once a week I take the straw out clean nest boxes with disinfectant put fresh straw in and dust the whole coop with lice/mite powder

 

[Stormy39]

We are using an old shed that we converted. It has a concrete floor and two regular screened windows. Just put a new shingled roof on it and a run that comes off the one end of it with a door that I can lock at night. also has a regular storm/screen door on the other side with a window that can be opened there too. I am in the process of putting bars on the outside of the windows to prevent other animals from getting in through the screens. I put individual boxes in for every chicken. they have two roost posts, two water stations, two feeder stations, a sand box, and I am about to put in a swing. Since it is getting hot here now I am shutting down the heat lamps. I am considering putting a radio in to keep them company but they mostly free range during the day anyway. They also socialize with my neighbors chickens that I am taking care of during the day as well. They all seem to get along, I just hope it stays that way. Thanks for the information. I want to prevent nasty mites and lice but I don't want them to get sick on me either.

 

[beaglex3]

our coop is 7X12 and we have 14 hens in it. i tried deep litter but the ammonia smell got so bad i had to clean it out before i could even add a layer of shavings. i now clean it every 6-8 weeks. we use 4" and 6" boards as roosts so the poop doesn't drop to the floor. we scrape the poop off the rosting boards every day, but the smell still gets really strong. we have 8 vents cut into the walls...2 on each wall, so we think that is pretty good ventilation. the ladies have an outside run they stay in most of the day. we think we're doing all the right stuff to make deep litter a good option for our coop, but it sure isn't working out that way.
now 4 of our hens have bare red rumps and we're worried itmay be a result of the ammonia on the roosts. even tho we scrape the poop and they don't have to sit in it night after night, we're worried the build up on the wooden boards may be causing the feather loss and irritation. we have checked for mites and haven't found any. plus, wouldn't all of the hens have them...not only 4. they have had the feather loss for about 5 months now. they have indoor and outdoor dust baths with wood ashes, sand and DE. i was hoping that would prevent any lice or mites.
any suggestions for the ammonia smell, or should we just keep cleaning out every 6-8 weeks and give up any hope of deep litter? any ideas on whether the ammonia build up in the roosts may be causing the ladies to loose feathers on their bums and get irritated skin?
and as long as i'm asking.......we have a bunch of garlic mustard in our yard. can i feed it to our chickens??

 

[Stormy39]

I put DE in the sand as well. I also sprinkled some under the straw in their boxes but not much. Outside we have a lot of silt soil and they love to dust themselves and roll in that too. My neighbor has some chickens that loose feathers on the their bottoms. I asked him about them and he told me it is because the stronger chickens will frequently go after weaker chickens by pecking out their feathers, particularly on their bottoms because that's the end that's facing the stronger chicken when the weaker tries to get away. If your hens lose feathers on their backs and necks it is because the roosters are mating them to often and pulling out their feathers.

 

[Chicken Girls]

My farm is about 100 years old. Whoever built my chicken house knew what they were doing! The coop is about 300 sq.ft. and has a sloping concrete floor that drains water/liquid away and preditors cannot dig under the coop. The roof is made of steel so snow does not collect on the roof and water drains off. All we have to do to clean it is to sweep up the shavings and hose the coop down and let dry. I live in Spokane Washington and our summers can ger very hot and we can get a lot of snow and ice in the winter. This coop keeps the chickens warm in the winter and cool in the summer. It isn't especially pretty to look at but it is well built, clean and the chickens like it. The chickens roost in the rafters and it would take a giant leap of faith for a predator to reach the chickens high in the rafters.

 

[joan1708]

I've had 3 silkies for 1 year and have cleaned out their coop once just because I hadn't done it yet. It didn't smell or look bad. I do take a kitty litter spatula and scoop out the overnight poop every morning.