How often should the coop get cleaned?

[LynneP]

It's a tough question to answer because it depends on the number and kind of birds, ventilation and how dry you can keep things.

I clean the night droppings every morning with a scraper and rectangular bucket, and do a little swiping before shutting the coops for the night.

I don't use deep litter because I have concrete floors, plank-cover and I'm able to obtain either Stable Boy powder or food-grade DE to assist in keeping the bedding dry. We have covered runs so the hens don't drag moisture in, either.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=7693-Coop_Hygiene

 

[OregonChickenGal]

Quote:
I pick by hand also. I use my rubber garden gloves. Works great.

 

[trinityfly]

I figure I am down to the coop first thing each morning to let the birds out (20 birds) into the free range so I might as well clean up. It takes about 10 min but I can dawdle and spend a few minutes talking with them, shooing them about and sometimes handling them. Ok, so sometimes 15 minutes! I use a small hand rake and pick out the largest of the poo from the nesting boxes (I use rice hulls), the roost (pine shavings or rice hulls) then a light rake to the coop floor and run. The poo goes into a 50 gal trash can for export as mulch. The floor of the coop and run are covered by a thin layer of mixed rice hulls and pine shavings over a bed of decomposed granite and sand. I usually add a scoop or two of the bedding materials here and there but only if needed. The chickens love it when I drop a scoop of rice hulls on the ground and they immediately jump into it kicking it about. I make sure the chicken feed is in good shape and abundant. The final act of the morning is to pour some of the water out of the raised water founts so that there is always fresh water. Oh yes, I collect the eggs. I have been doing this for about 8 years. Happy healthy birds are and watched over birds.

This is the result

 

[SparksNV]

I use deep litter and go into the coop daily to scoop up the droppings. I also scoop up droppings in their run. I have about 5 inches of deep litter in the coop now and in the spring I will remove it all and replace. I use 2 kitty litter scoops ($1 each at dollar tree). One to actually move the poo into the scoop of the other one. Not easy on the back but works well (I wash my hands very well when I go inside). I keep a bag in a bucket to put the poo in. Because I am composting with it, I put the bucket in a covered bin with air holes. When it's full, I dump it into my compost pile. I have a poo door under the roosts but have yet to come up with a poo tray that would work. Need to put some thought into that.

What I'm doing now doesn't take long and it keeps everyone happy (humans and hens) because the coop is clean and so is the run.

 

[Ed62]

Quote:
Does that make a difference? If so, why?

Ed

 

[incubatingisfun]

i clean my coop every week.i used wood shavings.

 

[Mahonri]

I have a linoleum floor in my big coop and we sweep and mop every week.

For my pens on the concrete, we put down DE and pineshavings and sweep them up every two to three weeks.

 

[PuckPuckPuck]

Quote:
Does that make a difference? If so, why?

Ed

This is a good question. I will be building a coop this spring and want concrete floors. With our cold winters here, I also wanted deep litter for the added warmth.

 

[ladybug99]

My coop is 10 X 10 and I have 12 chickens... now that it is colder out I am noticing that there is abit of an ammonia smell after about 2 weeks or so.. So I have been cleaning it every 2 weeks...It takes about 10 minues or so to scoop up the yucky wood shavings and put new down....in the summer months I did not notice the smell as bad.. must have been because both windows were open as well as the coop door... now the only thing open is the chicken hatch... ventilation makes a big difference

 

[Judy]

You can use a variation of deep litter on any floor. There are many variations of the DLM, and nothing wrong with no litter and hosing or cleaning often, if you prefer. You have to go by your situation and things like ammonia and general odor, as Patandchickens said. I use DLM on a dirt floor, wouldn't have any other kind, and only clean the coop if I want the stuff for my garden. Just add pine shavings, pelletized lime, DE, or whatever, as the need arises. The poop gradually dries and becomes dirt. And no, my coop does not smell. This probably works best in a warmer climate like mine, as parts of the coop "walls" are hardware cloth. In nearly 4 years I've never had foot problems, or illness due to worms, mites/lice, or anything else.

In a small coop, some sort of poop board is very helpful as this is about half their daily poop.

I would not let mine sleep in nest boxes. You end up with a little poop on an egg once in a while anyway, but you certainly want to minimize it. Block them off at night or whatever it takes.