How often to clean coop?

[BeardedLadyFarm]

10x10 = 100 square feet, which equals 4 square feet per bird. I believe that is exactly what everyone here recommends, no?

During summer, I clean out weekly, but this time of year, I use a little DE or Stall Dri, and another layer of shavings. Things stay dry, and more or less odorless.

I agree that it sounds like you need more ventilation more than you need to clean more often. Wet poo= smelly poo.

Also at 15 weeks, they can take 32 degrees for a few hours at least at least. I have one not much older who has been outside for a couple of months. We've hardly been above freezing for several weeks, and she's just fine. She ranges all day, everyday.

 

[Terri]

i haven't cleaned my coop out, i have 6 hen and a rooster in a 6'x10' coop, I turned the pine shavings every couple of days, they do have a big run, and i free range them alot. It will be a year in March, so I am looking forward to alot of fertilzer.

 

[Chook-A-Holic]

Another vote for Stall Dri. I sprinkle a couple of cups in mine every couple of weeks during the winter and lightly turn the shavings. I also add a few shavings if needed. Smells like chickens not like poo or ammonia. At night if it is really cold and windy I shut the ventilation off until the next morning. Then I open the man door the next am to let it air out. If it is very windy the next am I prop a 2x6x3' board between the door and the jamb to let in adequate airflow to keep the moisture down. I kinda had this in mind as well as prevent escapee's when I fixed the coop with a 3' foyer area.

 

[lesterlu]

good thread klevesque, i am finally going to add a poop board. you inspired me to start a thread on composting.

 

[klevesque]

Quote:
I really really suck at math! So is a 10x10 big enough for 25 birds?

We woke up to 2.5 degrees outside this morning. I think they'll stay inside. It's currrently 27 degrees in the coop with 2 heat lamps near the waterer.

 

[JimWWhite]

Everyday. I have 3 to 4 inches of pine shavings on the floor of our 4x7 coop and when I go out in the morning to let them out of the coop I clean up the poop. Only takes about five minutes. We have 19 Gold Comets. I've got a recycling bin just outside the run and everything goes in there until I can spread it out over the garden in the spring. I have about three inches of sand in our 18x21 run and I turn that over with a pointed hoe about every third day to work the poop into the soil. Again, in the spring I'll remove about a third of that and put it on the garden and replace what I take with fresh sand in the run. No mess, no flies, no smell. That's not an issue right now with the arctic blast we've been having for the past three weeks here in the South but it's what I do.

 

[Sir Birdaholic]

I'm a ranch hand, so I work from before sun-up to after sundown. I can only clean my coop on weekends, & I don't hear them complain. I rake up the bad spots & add more litter.

 

[Uzuri]

Scoop daily, totally dig out and re-bed whenever I decide I can't stand it any more

But the daily scooping is a must, or they'd be knee-deep in droppings.

 

[Zed3]

My coop is 5 x 5 elevated 2 feet above the ground and this is what I do for my 6 Golden Comet hens. I built a dropping board approx. 10 inches below their roost. Then I put 2 plastic tubs with 3 inches of kitty litter on the board. Almost all droppings land in the tubs. Every several days I use a scoop to separate the pooh from the litter. The girls don't very often so very little pooh ends up on the floor. I have 6 to 8 inches of straw on the floor and I throw scratch and BOSS on top of the straw. The girls keep it mixed up real well. I also use Stall Dri or DE occasionally, not sure if I need too. The only time I have an odor issue is when I wait too long to clean out the tubs. This is my first year with chickens so I don't know when I will need to clean the floor but from the looks of things it won't be any time soon. Not sure how practical this would if I had more chickens, but I am going to find out come Spring.

 

[skovats]

also is the coop properly vented (fresh air) yes 25 chickens is alot I wouls also add wood shavings once a week and get it deep u can use lysol to clean thats what i do as well