How often do u clean your coop? Any tips or tricks how to not maintain

[Patricia Jane]

I thoroughly clean mine twice a year (spring and fall)and the rest of the year I tidy up. I use the deep liter method and use poop boards under the roosts and clean them daily. Mine are only in at night or to lay other than that they are outside. Mine stays clean with no smells.

 

[sunnysideuprarebreeds]

OMG I clean out the coop once a week. When it rains it gets all gross from them going in and out. Am I crazy for cleaning so often LOL? It is a chore but I feel they lay better when they always have nice clean hay to lay in. I put fresh hay everyday as well and at the end of the week I clean the whole thing out. The only time I go a little longer is when it is freezing out during our cold Maine winters and I may go three weeks if everything freezes up.

 

[sunnysideuprarebreeds]

Also even though I live in a rural area neighbors are pretty close and hate that I have chickens since they dont believe in having them. So I am even more aware of any smell that may travel over to their yards.

 

[hockmangirl]

Oh my gosh! I clean mine out about once every two weeks or less. Jealous of the monthers! Completely dump the bedding and put in fresh. I scrape/brush the roosts down, while I'm in there as well. I use (compressed sawdust) animal bedding pellets. They work great to keep the odor down, and poof up when they come in the contact with the wet, so there is no moisture problem. I even threw some down in front of the pen gate because it was starting to get mucky there from all the rain & in and out. It worked great! Turned to dust in the rain and hasn't been mucky there since.

I have a raised coop, with a pull out tray as the "floor" where you place the bedding. Works great for cleaning out the pen. And you don't have to bend. Wish I could say I made it, but I bought it, so it's not my design.

http://hockmangirl.blogspot.com/2011/09/our-new-coop.html Here's a link to the blogpost I wrote about it, that has pictures and a video that explains it better, if you are interested.

 

[hockmangirl]

Quote:
You are NOT crazy! I clean mine out nearly as often, and my neighbors are even all chicken lovers!

So glad I just saw your post, because I was starting to feel like the crazy one!

 

[tuckertori]

There are a few things to think about: How many chickens do you have? Do they free range at all or are they always in the coop/run area? How big is your space?
My girls' coop is only 4 x 8 and their roost is 4 x 4 but they free range from sun up to sun down, coming in only if they want to. I use the deep litter method, so need to clean and sanitize 2 times a year on the coop floor. I have a metal pan that is an oil drip pan from the garage that fits perfectly under my roost. I clean it 1-2 times a week. In the hot summer, more often. I find that keeping my coop clean isn't as much work as I thought it might be. And, it's fun to chat with the girls while I do.

 

[ldutch123]

Thanks for all he suggestions. I have an 80 sq ft coop with 12 birds. It's dry and sealed and raised. The chickens r only in it at night they roam the property all other times. I'm thinking a definately need a poop board because when I clean the coop it appears mostly dry except under the roost.

 

[Mattemma]

When I first put in new shavings I admit I will spot clean the entire chicken shed not just the roost area.Unfortunately I get a few days behind and then I end up just mixing the floor stuff or adding a layer on it till I clean out te whole shed. If you were to use sand then I would scoop it daily. I did for a week,but there was still a funky smell so I went back to pine. I just watched a video Modern Marvels The Egg and one farmer used rice hulls in a deep litter method.

 

[kuntrygirl]

I only have to clean my coops about every 2 or 3 months. I have about 90 chickens and they free range all day. They only nap and sleep in the coop. I have 11 coops and some have sand bedding, a couple have hay bedding and the rest have dirt runs. I don't ever have to clean the sand coops as far as poop on the sand floor. I change the hay bedding every 2 or 3 months and rarely have to clean the dirt runs. The only cleaning is scraping any poop from the roosts and c leaning the walls when poop is on the back walls. I have open-air coops so there is absolutely no smell. Minimal cleaning at my place.

 

[Nicole01]

I was cleaning the coop and run 5 times daily, but my neck pain has been so bad, I'm only out there 2-3 times everyday. I'm not cleaning the run as well as I should. I'm only picking the poop I see and not digging deeper.

It still doesn't smell, so I must be doing an okay job. The run is covered in plastic, so snow doesn't get inside. I thought the smell would be worse.