How to disinfect the run

[chicky gal1]

does the lime burn the chickens feet? can i apply it inside the coops to sanitize also?

 

[Chullicken]

Really think (My 2 sq. yards of opinion) is to disinfect the 'hard' objects inside your run, ladder/ramp, perches, food dishes etc using some of the things prescribed and a paint scrapper just to start. A solid maintenance program which consists of just getting out there weekly if not more and removing debris, feathers, old stuff, and poop. That goes a very long way and it's easy not to mention simple. And hey, disinfect your manure shoes once in a while, easy and simple.

Some great information on here, but really its getting kind of complicated. Chickens can be time-consuming as it is. I would also encourage people to have more than one run if enclosed and set up some kind of pasture rotation plan for their flocks. Can have two separate pens, two separate entrances. Some articles and post on here for that very subject with pros and cons.

A lot of the things we fear the most need your chickens present and pooping with some other conditions such as moisture to grow and be active. Though, we really can't get rid of it all. Several times a year shut one off and open the other and then fully clean out the previous run. Till the soil however you choose to do it to get the layers exposed to the elements reducing the nasties little save places in the dark. Folks, the Sun has been killing things for millions of years...use it! Remove the first few inches from the not used pen and replace with fresh substrate. Its some work but not it's truly not that bad. A lot of this stuff will naturally die off when you start removing these conditions.

Keep in mind there are bad things in our soil, keep in mind there are also good things in the soil that help maintain the balance of the two. Encourage those good things! I feel a lot of people encourage killing everything which can cause an unbalance within this cycle leading to severe blooms of bacteria and viruses without anything keeping it in check as a real possibility. Just takes a little initiative to do some basic 101 research and you can end up having an excellent result that doesn't require an MSDS to be posted on your coop wall or respirators and bio suits.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

... I was wondering what is the best way to disinfect the run?...

a bleach/water solution will be effective, but even better, more potent, supersanitizer is bleach/vinegar/water solution...

If you are serious about sanitation and cleanliness, then spade or rototill up the run and add as much slacked lime as is necessary to make the ground white. You can then either water the slacked lie in or wait for a rain. Just give the lime or lie time to work before returning your chickens to their run. You will be greeted by a hissing sound when the slacked lime begins to work along with some smoke.

Slacked lime was once used to speed up decomposition to make it possible for the bodies (make that bones) of people who died overseas to be quickly returned to their homes for final burial.

 

[Mrs. K]

I have never disinfected a run or a coop. I have raked up soil bedding, and swept out the coop.

Be very careful with chemicals and follow the directions carefully. I do not use any.

 

[Tpaxton]

After reading AZMamas post about the necropsy, and dlhunicorn's response about disinfecting, I was wondering what is the best way to disinfect the run?
Inside the house I can figure out, but not outside. Would you maybe put the 1:10 bleach solution in a garden sprayer and hose it down while the chickens are out in the yard (mine, not theirs)? They eat the dirt, so I didn't know if this would hurt them, although it doesn't sound like it would be too good.

I read that you can make vinegar water with white vinegar one cup of vinegar to one cup of water and then add two tablespoons of alcohol, the 70% isopropyl alcohol and a few drops of lemon juice. This will make an effective disinfectant for your chickens without exposing them to bleach which can harm them especially if it soaks into the ground. I've never tried bleach out in their outdoor run. I've been afraid to so I've used this solution the evening before I put them outside because we do have birds that fly around the outdoor run even though they can't get inside. I've only used it once and so far everything is okay I only have five chickens and I keep them isolated away from wild birds and any other chickens there's no other chickens around the area where I live so just thought I'd give you that information and hope that it's helpful

 

[Loving my girls]

I don’t know if this is classed as disinfecting, it’s certainly using chemicals.
Throughout the majority of the year I clean with water, plain ordinary water. Every now and then I wipe everything with white vinegar. I used to use cider vinegar but someone pointed out that it attracts flies.
Every so often, maybe four times a year, I do my normal clean and then liberally spray with a mite killer spray. I tend to dismantle the insides for this so I’m not spraying Willy Nilly about the coop. Then I leave everything in the sun to dry while I wipe down the walls and scrub the floor with household floor cleaner then rince like mad.

It’s a double whammy, the girls get a clean coop and I feel very, very pleased with myself. This whole process ends with a bottle of rose