How to prepare used coop

[SecondChanceRanch]

Hi All,

I was gifted a coop that hasn't been used in years. I have scraped out the old remaining litter. I am placing new hens in 3 days. What should I do before I lay pine?

Should I disinfect from that long ago?

Can or should I lay kitchen cabinet, sticky liner down to cover the older, rough board under the litter?

Any advice would be SO helpful. I am SO new.

 

[Lady of McCamley]

The good news is that it hasn't been used in years for poultry, so most of the possible poultry diseases and parasites should be gone if it was kept in sun and weather.

If there is some crud still, I would scrub the coop with a mix of Oxyclean (hydrogen peroxide soap). That really lifts up the crud and is a cheap disinfectant....make it stronger solution, be generous in the powder scoop vs. water, (use rubber gloves so your hands don't dry out) and let it set for about 30 minutes, then swab it out. Crud lifts away.

ETA (Once dry), I'd then either sprinkle permethrin dust or spray it with permethrin spray just in case there might be some red roost mites lurking deep in a seam somewhere, as those can be pretty hardy, but if it has been over a year, even those should have died.

I like to put feed bags cut up as liners rather than sticky kitchen liner. The kitchen liner never really stays stuck, and once you get bird crud into it, it is a mess, neither up or down, pain to pull off, but doesn't stick fully either.

I open up feed bags (from the chicken feed) and cut them up and lay them down on the floor covering the boards. Patchwork and layer as needed. I then place pine shavings on top of that. When it is time to clean the coop, I roll the feed bags like a burrito and all the stuff pulls out. I dump it into the runs for deep litter.

Clean up is really fast and easy. My base boards stay so clean that I only need to scrub out every couple of years....if then. I also put feed liners in the nest boxes.

I do sprinkle permethrin dust under the feed bags and on top of the litter. You could do that as well, unless you simply spray each time you deep clean.

My thoughts.
LofMc

 

[Lady of McCamley]

and...

 

[SecondChanceRanch]

This is VERY helpful! I am sure I can secure some feed bags from a neighbor. I am sure it's been years definitely at the VERY least one.

I will look up the other items you mentioned as I am totally new. LOL

 

[Lady of McCamley]

Nothing magical about Oxyclean...it is in the laundry detergent section at the grocery store.

The permethrin dust is Poultry Dust at the feed store. Gordon's permethrin spray is also good, again at the feed store....or on Amazon if you want.

Have fun with your new chickens.
LofMc