How often to clean coop?

[effie]

Mine have almost 30 feet of roost for 17 of them and still squabble

not always but when they do it is quite the ruckus

 

[SC_Hugh]

This weekend, I installed a 9" tall divider between the roosting side and the nest box side, this will be easier to clean out the poopy side (roost area) and then transfer the nest box shavings over and add fresh shavings to the nest box area...improved coop clean out

I started out with 2" of fresh shavings on the nest box side and 3" under the roost, then I will add more as needed.

 

[jdesorda]

I use boot trays under the roosts, which I line with Speedy Dry (or similar material) from the automotive store (cheaper than kitty litter). Once a week I dump the boot trays and put in fresh Speedy Dry.

 

[triplepurpose]

Quote:
True. A really good rooster will even literally break up fights....

 

[itsmechrissy]

Well... I try to clean my coop daily but now that it's getting colder I do it like every other day. We only have 4 hens so it never gets too bad.

 

[BeccaSmith]

Quote:
DH is going to alter the nesting boxes so that they cannot climb on the top and also make a swing down door that we can open and close so they cannot sleep in the nesting boxes at night....it is just the two new chickens that are sleeping in the nesting boxes since the others won't let them on the roosts....they sure chase them two around and give them a hard time, sometimes two gang up on them at a time. There shouldn't be any over crowding, we have two separate roosts that are both used, one is around 3 to 4 feet long and has two sections to it for roosting on and the other is about 5 feet long with two sections to roost on and we only have 12 chickens....13 if you count the neighbors rooster that joined the girls last night....so overcrowding isn't an issue, there is plenty of room they are just flat out mean to the two new chickens....hubby was thinking we should get rid of them by placing an ad on craigslist and maybe peace would be restored but I don't know if I have the heart to send them off somewhere else where they will have to start to process all over again. I see ads on craigslit for one chicken that has to go because it doesn't get along with the dominate one and I just feel sorry for that chicken having to be introduced to a new flock after watching what has been happening to our two new ones.....and yes I know we didn't introduce them properly but we don't have the means to do so.....lesson learned!

 

[Nicole01]

I clean the coop and run 2-5 times everyday. It's getting pretty chilly in the morning's though cleaning the overnight poops.

 

[boulderchickenfan]

Hi,

This is my first year with chickens (6). They have a 6 x 6 x 6 foot coop area, and an attached outdoor totally enclosed run, 6 x 20' so they spend just the evenings inside. They mostly poop under the roosting area. I clean up the visible poop every day, first thing in the morning before breakfast, using rubber gloves and an old newspaper plastic bag, like cleaning out a kitty litter box. I use shavings, about 6 inches thick, and sprinkle/spread fresh shavings over the old every couple of days. This is probably a variation in the deep litter method, as I will probably change the whole litter next summer. There's no smell at all if I keep up with it. I've found that if I leave a heat lamp on in the night, the light keeps them more awake and they move around more, therefore spreading out the poop, so...I'm going to limit the heat lamp to just a few hours in the wee hours of the morning to take the chill off (I live in Colorado) and let them sleep longer. Hopefully the poop will then be more concentrated under the roost area. They don't poop in the nest boxes--I have three.

 

[lxlzbaca]

We use the deep litter method also and are just planning on doing our second round of cleaning. As of right now the plan is to completely remove the shavings, clean and replace them twice a year. So far it is working well for us.

 

[jhook1997]

Quote:
What size is this dropping board and what are the dims. of the roosts? I built one but mine is too deep or something....it seems to take up way too much room.