How often to clean coop?

[Barred Rocker]

I have some tin sheets under the roosts to catch poop so I can easily lift it up and dump in on next years garden spot. I usually just wait for a certain amount of build up maybe every 2 weeks or so. I have enough trouble cleaning my own house much less the hen house.

 

[rigagirl]

i cleaned mine about a month ago and with the cold they haven't gone out too much. I try and clean as much as i can in winter without hubby's help so he can do more of it when it stinks more in summer.

It went up to 25 today so off with the heat lamp and open the doors. They need Fresh air. I have 18 in a 10x10 and i feel that is too small for this time of the yr when they are inside more.

 

[millie481]

If I were you I would try the Deep Litter Method. It'll help eliminate so much work and you'll have some nice compost in the spring!

 

[trilyn]

Quote:

I do the deep litter method too, but I also have tons of ventilation. God knows I can't scrape the roosts in this weather (frozen solid) and nothing smells!! lol We are gonna be having a heatwave this week-mid thirties woo hoo!! So I'll be out scraping roosts and refreshing the dl and nesting boxes. Actually, I can't wait to do it because I feel like a bad chickie momma if the girls don't have scraped roosts and fresh nesting boxes. But they have plenty of food, water and boss to occupy their time, it'll have to do till tomorrow!

 

[Flippacase]

Quote:
well technacally 10x10 would be 100 square feet. 100 square feetdivided by 4(recomended interier coop space for chickens) you get 25. Which is how many chickens you have. so you do not have too many. YOU CAN NEVER HAVE TOO MANY!!!!


p.s. mine go outside in weather down to like 3 degrees.

 

[chookchick]

As a couple of poster have suggested--a poop board is going to make ALL the difference. Get a 2' wide board under their roost, cover it with linoleum, sprinkle with shavings and scrape it into a bucket daily (a couple of minutes work!). Then I imagine you could let the floor shavings go for a month or so, stirring them up once in a while. If you have moisture on INSIDE of the windows, you need to ventilate more and get rid of that poop, as others have said. You will be surprised at the difference!

 

[Tala]

Quote:
well technacally 10x10 would be 100 square feet. 100 square feetdivided by 4(recomended interier coop space for chickens) you get 25. Which is how many chickens you have. so you do not have too many. YOU CAN NEVER HAVE TOO MANY!!!!


p.s. mine go outside in weather down to like 3 degrees.

but they stated in the OP that they were staying inside all day long.
Assuming 4sq ft per bird is fine if you ALSO have 10sq ft per bird in the run. Being cooped up all day on limited space is not so great.
I wouldn't put that many birds in there all day every day.

 

[Dixiedoodle]

I have 12 chickens and use a poop board. I use pine shavings on the board, nestboxes and on the floor. I clean every morning. I use two kitty litter scoops (using one as a rake and the other as the shovel) and remove a two gallon bucket of poop and soiled shavings, from the board, nests, floor and replace shavings. It only takes about 15minutes to clean, add food, warm water and gather any eggs..

I don't have a problem with smell or soiled eggs.. I will always use poop boards in any of my future coops..

 

[patandchickens]

I don't think there's one right way. Different situations lend themselves to different management styles. Some cases you really do need to be cleaning things out every day; some cases you really don't need to be doing much at all hardly ever. And everything in between.

Personally, I clean droppings boards every morning (takes less than 10 seconds apiece, *literally* and I do mean literally), remove poo from under roost of the one pen without a droppings board every 10 days or so, and spot clean elsewhere occasionally. I sometimes remove the worst half of the bedding every year or so, but only if it seems to need it. I just top off with new as required. Mind, I have a lot more space per chicken, and a lot larger airspace int he building, than most people here are allowing.

Pat

 

[babettenj]

i too clean daily. it's just easier to keep after it than have a big smelly mess to clean. i keep plastic place mats on the poop board and just pick them up and the poo rolls off into bucket. i shuffle the liter around and pick big poos out. it's also a good time to make sure everything is ok in coop and with chickens (11). they free range for part of the day and love to sun bath even when it's cold out. they just don't like snow. they're 20 weeks old and I WANT AN EGG!