how often do you clean out the coop?

[gale65]

We use sand and I scoop it about every 3-4 days. I would do it more often but when I scoop, I HAVE to shower and wash my hair right away after. It's just my thing. But I use a non permanent color to cover gray and it only lasts 28 shampoos so I don't want to wash too often or I'll have to color more often-and I hate doing it myself so I have it done by someone else. My hair is not oily so I can get away with washing it every 3 or 4 days so that's when I clean the coop. I can't stomach the thought of that dust that gets stirred up being in my hair...

eta: I don't clean the walls at all. I guess I will if I have to due to disease or bugs or something or if it gets really gross but there's not even any poop on it right now.

 

[Nicole01]

I clean the coop and run several times a day scooping out the poop. I change the litter about every 3-4 weeks when it's all crushed from walking on it and mixed with sand from outside. I wash off the roosts and floor when I change out the litter. The walls are clean, so they don't need cleaning. I need to cover my roosts since they are so wide, so the poop doesn't soak in. I sprinkle the roost with DE everyday and a mix of sevin and DE once a week. We have zero bugs in the coop and no flies in the run.

 

[Prisserbabe]

I dont get what the litter method is will someone lighten me up please

 

[gale65]

Here's info about the deep litter method. I wanted to do it but dh bought me a prefab coop and there's no way to do deep litter in it unless I make a new pop door so we used sand.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=70

 

[nickie]

In short its fermenting your poo for a long time. Use them search in the upper right corner and plug in deep litter method. Lots of great stuff about it there.

 

[Chiko]

Every Day I--Broom out the pen removing all the debris and food the girls dropped.
Every Week I--Take out some straw from the coop and add new fresh straw and clean out the nest boxes, and thoroughly brush and clean out the pen.
Every Month I-- Completely clean out the pen and coop scraping the coop clean and clean out all feeders and waterers and nest boxes.. Refresh everything and throw ALL the garbage away that they accumulated over the month..

--Hector

 

[ThinkingChickens]

I clean the poop trays and add fresh bedding twice a week. I do a full hose down and scrubbing once every other week if not more. I rake the run each weekend. I can't wait for sand!

 

[back4roosting]

I read an article that said chicken raising should be a 10 minute a day process - for us small flock keepers. I liked that idea and have been sticking to it. I rake the straw in the coop to freshen it up and keep the flies away, pick up the really messing droppings under the roost, replace a small amount of shavings, and freshen up the water - done for the day. Once a month; the straw gets replaced and the shavings get a better change. Once a year; deep cleaning with bleach.

 

[citychickx6]

I clean the poop boards daily.
The roosts themselves once a week.
The floor is pine shavings and changed once a week.
The walls get a spot cleaning as needed with a wet rag and very light on the bleach water.
The nest boxes are not in use YET but will get the same once a week change.

I wash the water containers daily making sure to RINSE RINSE RINSE.
The chickens have a treat dish that gets washed out daily too.
Poop boards are such a help. I covered mine in linoleum so cleaning is rather effortless.

Total time cleaning is about 15 minutes a day. Saturdays it is 30 minutes due to the shavings changes and scrubbing the roosts.

 

[fireguy56]

Hi, To start..our coop is 10'x 12'..raised with wood floor covered with congoleum....deep litter with pine shavings, some DE as needed and Sevin . Rake occasionaly when girls pile it up in one spot or more, but for the most part I let them keep it turned over by throwing some scratch in it from time to time. Have poop trays under both roosts. Scrape anything off roosts when we visit them. Poop trays covered with pine shavings, so usually every weekend my DW removes the trays(old Cafateria trays) and scrapes everything into a tote to bring out to the compost pile. We are only planning to clean entire coop yearly and change out pine shavings. We do however add some as needed. Can tell you I walk in there with bare feet often and hardly ever step on anything wet. We do not water in the coop, only in the run. I havn't seen a waterer yet that can't be knocked over by large, crazy birds. Plus, we went with nipple system fed by ice cold well water. Tired of washing out traditional waterers. We also have a bird bath in run that they love. The rain fills it for us here in Louisiana. We want to enjoy our girls on our terms and not be tied to them as a job, so we went as automated as we could. Hope this helps...what works for us might not work for you...ust keep reading all the good advice folks give here at BYC.

Erik