How Often Should I Clean My Coop?

[HelloSweetie]

Hi! I am a relatively new chicken owner (we got all of our girls *and suspected boy* in February.) Our coop is a converted old shed. We use wood shavings as bedding and have six chickens. I'm just wondering how often we should clean out the coop (both partially and completely.) We live in the dry Colorado heat so mold and humidity isn't too much of an issue. If I can get any tips at all it would be fantastic. Thanks!

 

[Johnn]

I usually clean mine out once a week, sometimes more, sometimes less. I think you just know when its time to clean it out.

 

[HelloSweetie]

How do you clean it? I usually rake out the bedding and put it in our compost and then hose down the coop.

 

[Johnn]

How do you clean it? I usually rake out the bedding and put it in our compost and then hose down the coop.

I don't even do that much! I Just empty all the bedding and replace with new bedding.

 

[Araucana16]

Hello! When I had chickens, usually my cleaning was every few days for their crate, and once a week for their run.

For the crate I would scoop all the bedding out and replace, usually hosing down. They were young when I had them in a create and *messy.*
For the run, I would simply take a hose, place my thumb *hard* on the top where the water comes out until it becomes a pressure spray, and give the whole thing a good hose down. Walah

 

[Hokum Coco]

I tend to go with one day before it needs it. You will tend to get a poignant reminder when it one day after it needs it.

 

[MsChickenMomma]

I don't have a specific time when I clean my coop. I can usually just tell when it needs it. The shavings usually get dusty and it starts to smell. That's when I clean it. I just scoop it all out into buckets and then add new shavings to the coop (I only make it about 2 inches thick). We don't have a garden so I just spread the manure and shavings really thin in the part of our lawn that we don't mow.

I think every chicken owner cleans their coop more or less often than others. It all depends on what works best for you and your chickens.

 

[mrballance]

I clean once a month. It doesn't stink but everyone seems to clean once a week. I have six hens in a 5x6 coop

 

[Hokum Coco]

In a perfect world I clean my poop boards every day. I heavy clean my coop once a year. October after I harvest my garden.

 

[4 the Birds]

+1

Chicken coops require daily visits to scrape clean poop boards, check water and refresh, check feeders and add feed, and just to stop in to say "Hi" to the birds.

If you don't have poop boards then you add cover or spread some bedding (also DE and or Sweet PDZ is good) over the waste every few days or so and shovel out every month as it piles up. I usually do a full bedding removal and refresh with new in the Spring and then again in the Fall. I would limit hosing down the coop only during the full coop cleaning times. A dry coop is "the ticket". Hope this helps!