How to Efficiently Clean Poop

[Compost King]

Wetting the coop is almost never a good idea

Well Said. I would rather have floor full of dry manure than have water in the coop. I won't even allow drinking water in a coop provided I never lock chickens in during the day. everyone has a different set up and method for manure management and what one person suggests may be the complete opposite of what someone else does. More than one method works. My Manure management has more to do with composting projects than it does with keeping chickens. Some people prioritize being clean and tidy, people in here even use linoleum floors in a coop so they can make it as clean as their kitchen floor in the house which would have someone like me look all puzzled as if they weren't respecting the manure (check my screen name, I am all about treating the manure right lol) We are all different. Alls I can say is keep it dry and covered in wood chips and you are good to go. When you feel like cleaning it out then clean it out, when you feel too lazy to clean it out add another layer of wood chips. If you want things all spic and span clean it out often and scrub it down which puzzles me why people do that but it works for them.

 

[Bear1978]

II’ll toss my 2 cents into the mix.

Being new to chickens and having them out in the coop and run now for a couple of weeks this is what works for me so far having 6 pullets.

I have two sets of roost both about 4ft long and 18in apart from the other running parallel. I have a poop board underneath with a 1/2in lip on the edge which keeps the PDZ from spilling over for the most part.

my coop is a converted playhouse that’s 4x6.

I have pine shavings on the floor and a hanging waterer within that has a piece of plywood under it just in case it gets bumped and any water spills. No feed in the coop however.

I find this method works best for me and my situation, clean up is minimal. I clean off the poop board with a cat litter scoop about once a day, but if I happen to skip a day it’s no big deal. I also pick up whatever poop may be on the pine shavings there in the floor.

As already has been said, chickens dookie the most when they’re asleep on the roosts so apart from the run, most of the poo is up on the poop board. Another time they seem to poop as when they’re eating, so that is another reason why I have no food in the coop.

The cleanup process takes me about 5 minutes at the most a day.

I do it in the late afternoon, around 6ish or so. Not in the morning as I prefer to sit on the back porch and drink my coffee and watch them run around in the chicken 12x12 run first thing than clean poop first thing in the am. But that’s just me. Different strokes for different folks!

So take the advice and info you have read on here. Mash it all up into an advice sammich and eat it how ever it works best for you!

 

[Compost King]

So take the advice and info you have read on here. Mash it all up into an advice sammich and eat it how ever it works best for you!

that's the best way to do it, there is no one size fits all method but the advice leads to people telling you what to avoid because some things must be avoided.

 

[Bear1978]

Very true! Maybe if all chickens, coops, runs, environments and situations were the same then yeah, one size WOULD fit all and there would be a set way and standard of doing things. But that’s just not the case, so we have to learn to adapt and figure out what works best with our situation and set up by taking the advice given and figuring out if and how it fits into our chicken keeping.

 

[David61]

Bear said 'dookie' ha haa ha
Bear also said what works best for you. What seems to work for most in some way for effective management of 'Dookie' is a Dookie board under the roost.

 

[Bear1978]

Yep, but some choose the deep litter method and from my understanding is that a dookie board is not needed or used for that? Like I said I use said board bcs it seems to keep the smell and waste management down but that’s just me. You do you! Lol

 

[aart]

Yep, but some choose the deep litter method and from my understanding is that a dookie board is not needed or used for that?

If doing a true deep litter, that will compost into good garden soil,
poop boards are not needed, you want that poop in the litter.

The terms 'deep litter' and 'deep bedding' are often misunderstood and misapplied.
I've always liked this explanation:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...-method-with-this-coop.1075545/#post-16440037

 

[3KillerBs]

Yep, but some choose the deep litter method and from my understanding is that a dookie board is not needed or used for that?

Yes.

I forgo the poop board and let the chickens stir the night poop into the bedding (a little scratch tossed in there a couple times a week encourages chicken labor). If it gets crusted I flip it with the manure fork and either add more bedding or consider if I should schedule a cleanout.

The coop was deep bedding rather than deep litter because I kept it dry. I have heard people complain that pine shavings don't compost well, but I found that making a compost pile from my bedding after cleanout -- watering the layers in then mostly ignoring it -- resulted in excellent compost in just a couple months (hot, wet climate).

With my new setup on the new property I may do the same or I may use the bedding in the run depending on my needs at the time.

 

[perkolator]

My method of cleaning poop is: I don't. Didn't want regular chores so went toward deep litter lazy method. Currently my coop has 1yr old bedding inside, around 6" deep when not fluffed up - it's dry, not very broken down at all and most importantly does not smell, have flies, etc. Going to let it go another year before considering cleaning it out. Maintenance is: throw down more bedding if needed, or flip the crust over; or toss in some scratch and let chickens do it for me

 

[GC-Raptor]

I was wondering how I can clean the chicken coop efficiently;

If your coop is raised like mine.
I use a wheelbarrow and a long handled rake. . I finish it with a small push broom, pulling of course.
When 7 chickens occupied it, A weekly cleaning sufficed. No poop boards.
They are only sleeping or eating inside. Rest of the time they're outside. GC