how to keep the coop/run area as clean as possible

[walkerkm]

Hi There! Just received my 1st 2 RI Red Hens on Sunday.
So far they have laid 3 eggs yipee!
My question is, we have them in a fenced dog kennel with a coop inside as well-we have green netting/fencing on the ground to keep preditors out. I now see that chickens sure do poop a lot. can you tell me the best way to keep their area clean? Is it okay to sccop up the poop daily or weekly and then rinse the area down with water? will this cause them to get sick if the poop goes into the soil of which they eat grass from? Cleaning th coop is no issue. any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. thanks!

 

[osagebill88]

can you move it around like a tractor?

 

[walkerkm]

no, it's pretty well in one spot as it is heavy to move. any suggestions on cleanning. i don'twant to have a build up of waste.

 

[~*Sweet Cheeks*~]

You have the plastic netting on the ground that the chickens walk on? If that is the case, I would cover it with sand or bark chips.

I have my chicks in dog run attached to front of former horse stall. I had leveled the site (hard clay) put down 5-8" of pea gravel.

When the rain hit the pea gravel got swollowed up by suck your boots off clay muck. I was able to get FREE wood chips delivered from a tree trimming company that I spread 8-10" deep.

The chickens are now on the wood chips and I must say I LOVE them. The chickens scratch all day long looking for bugs so the poo gets mixed in and dried out. No smell, no flies. With the heat 80-90' (Pacific NW) they scratch down to a nice moist spot to lay to stay cool.

 

[walkerkm]

thanks Sweet Cheeks! makes sense-like a litterbox, but with wood chips instead. Sounds like very easy clean up. I will get the wood chips this weekend! thanks for the suggestion.

 

[big greg barker]

You don't say how big the kennel is, but if it were me, i would go in with an iron tooth rake every couple days and just rough up the ground and work the manure in. If there is grass in there right now, it won't take them long to take care of that..........

 

[walkerkm]

The coop is 3 feet long by 3 feet wide with a good pitch. The coop is open to a dog kennel area of 4X8. we only have 2 hens. Planning to add more sections to the fence to make the area larger for them to roam. The rake will work as well. just wasn't sure if it's sanitary to have any of the dropping diluted into the same area in which they eat grass.

Has anyone used organic layer feed? just bought some today-hope it will be better then the regular variety.

 

[cmom]

My birds are in their yard mostly. I hose the run down once in awhile.

 

[2txmedics]

I rake out the coop and scrub it hard with back side of a hoe, have hosed it down, now we put shaving in there. Seems cleaner but to me looks messy...it bothers me...

as to the run...I go in with a rake and hoe also and turn the dirt over for them.

Still has a smell though, not strong.

 

[Equus5O]

My run is mostly bare earth (it doesn't even qualify as earth, it's really clay!), with some sand. I swipe a few bucket loads of construction sand a week from my son's sandbox. I'm sure it's not to Pat's liking

, but it's been working, for the most part. The only time I had a problem was when we had a month straight of rain. It was supremely muddy and stinky.

Aside from the month of rain, it's been fairly dry in the run. So, I've been raking with a regular garden rake twice a week. I pick up the raked pile with a manure fork into a muck bucket, and it goes into the compost. After raking, I sprinkle StallDry about the run. I can't say for sure that the StallDry works, as I've been using it from the beginning. I suppose I'd have to go a week or so without it to be able to compare. As it is, I haven't noticed any stink.

Now that I've said all that, if you're hosing down, you must have a solid surface. If I hosed down my run ...... eeeewwwwwww