I need some kind advice please.

[Caffus]

I had 10 chickens before that my husband got from a feed store about 4 years ago. He mostly cared for them and built their coop. They have all died but one...for varied reasons...mostly predators killed them.
Anyhow, the old coop is filled with poop! Years old dry dust poop and fresh poop. Yuck! The coop is made with particle board and unfinished wood...so I dont want to soak it. I do want to make it healthy and fresh for my new chicks who will be 6 weeks in a week and a half. They were a gift.

Mind you, I am a 51 year old woman with an atuo immune disease, arthritis and extreme fatigue. I also have a very small income.
I have some 1st Saturday lime. I am hoping can help. Any kind advice is apreciated.

 

[50-45-1]

I would remove everything.
Wear a mask or filter and Shovel and sweep it clean, open it up to the sun and fresh air.
I would clean with bleach, but others may have other recomendations.
You may want to put your remaining girl elswhere for a couple days.
I would revamp the coop and rethink roost placement and nest boxes when I put it back together.
How were the previous chickens lost to preditors?
Also if the coop is not secure, now the time to check it out. Any gap or hole bigger than an inch needs to be corrected or covered with 1/4 inch hardware cloth.
I am 62 and do deep coop cleaning 4 times a year.
Wish I was there to help you.
I love doing that stuff!
Goodluck with your new chickens!

 

[3KillerBs]

Essentially, it needs to be thoroughly shoveled out and re-bedded. If your chickens have never been unhealthy it might not pay to get the coop wet trying to scrub it down thoroughly -- especially if you have no place to put that lovely lady in the picture while it dries and airs out.

If you aren't able to do that yourself, perhaps you can enlist labor from some kind of service organization? A church youth group or men's group? A 4-H club?

There are many charity groups who are willing to help shut-ins with major yard chores -- from scouting groups to motorcycle clubs. Hopefully if you make your need known to your family, friends, etc. you can get in touch with them.

 

[Ridgerunner]

You still have a chicken living in there so you are not talking about diseases, parasites, anything like that. With that chicken still living in there if she has it she will pass it on. If she is acting healthy I would not worry about that. So all you are talking about is appearance, freshening it up.

First I'd knock down cobwebs and such with a broom, then rake it out. Wear breathing protection, dusty chicken poop can cause issues in people without some of your conditions. Perform any necessary maintenance. Add new bedding if you use bedding.

I can't see any practical reason to do anything else. It depends on how pretty you want to make it. Chickens don't care about that kind of stuff but it's important to some people.

 

[Caffus]

I would remove everything.
Wear a mask or filter and Shovel and sweep it clean, open it up to the sun and fresh air.
I would clean with bleach, but others may have other recomendations.
You may want to put your remaining girl elswhere for a couple days.
I would revamp the coop and rethink roost placement and nest boxes when I put it back together.
How were the previous chickens lost to preditors?
Also if the coop is not secure, now the time to check it out. Any gap or hole bigger than an inch needs to be corrected or covered with 1/4 inch hardware cloth.
I am 62 and do deep coop cleaning 4 times a year.
Wish I was there to help you.
I love doing that stuff!
Goodluck with your new chickens!

I did buy hardwear cloth. I can not use bleach...as it would kill my plants that are around the outside of the coop. Maybe a little viniger water spray and a wet rag.

 

[Caffus]

I did buy hardwear cloth. I can not use bleach...as it would kill my plants that are around the outside of the coop. Maybe a little viniger water spray and a wet rag. Im trying to understand why all the cleaning. My other chickens never got sick. Thier coop was never cleaned. They are very messy birds.

You still have a chicken living in there so you are not talking about diseases, parasites, anything like that. With that chicken still living in there if she has it she will pass it on. If she is acting healthy I would not worry about that. So all you are talking about is appearance, freshening it up.

First I'd knock down cobwebs and such with a broom, then rake it out. Wear breathing protection, dusty chicken poop can cause issues in people without some of your conditions. Perform any necessary maintenance. Add new bedding if you use bedding.

I can't see any practical reason to do anything else. It depends on how pretty you want to make it. Chickens don't care about that kind of stuff but it's important to some people.

You still have a chicken living in there so you are not talking about diseases, parasites, anything like that. With that chicken still living in there if she has it she will pass it on. If she is acting healthy I would not worry about that. So all you are talking about is appearance, freshening it up.

First I'd knock down cobwebs and such with a broom, then rake it out. Wear breathing protection, dusty chicken poop can cause issues in people without some of your conditions. Perform any necessary maintenance. Add new bedding if you use bedding.

I can't see any practical reason to do anything else. It depends on how pretty you want to make it. Chickens don't care about that kind of stuff but it's important to some people.

Yes! Thank you the chicken in there is healthy. I can shovel some poop out and do some sweeping. I can add some lime stone powder and add bedding. Im using flock fresh bedding. I can also wipe it down a little with a bucket and viniger water. Im adding a new feeder and waterer and securing it better with hardwear cloth. Does that sound good?

 

[electrycmonk]

I'm a gearheaded geek & would like to ask if you comfy taking a few photos of the coop? Specifically the 5-10 feet away on any of the 4 side you can get a shot of? Maybe even a fake eagles eye view by holding the phone/camera over your head to see the top of the coop and surrounding area?

The goal here is to offer a "second set of eyes" from a few of us who can ask or suggest fixes or ideas using the stuff you have on hand to maybe " reinforce the coop against predators" & likely the elements - specifically wetness and direct sunlight.

This way we can give you ideas like using broken Branch's as roosting rails or simple but, very usable job ngle gyms for the chicks to hop around on, roost on etc all for just the time it takes you to gather it up and tie it or nail or screw it together....

There is a ga-zillion folks here who are making do with what they have laying around and there are those of us upcycling as well. Together with others with a willingness to offer ideas for you to play with to give your Chickie's a "better than fighting chance" to thrive and not just survive.... What could it hurt. Right?

Things like know ing that places like Lowe's & HD offer up warped and. Racked pieces of wood and plywood at 75-90% off - it's called "Kulled lumber" and they let ya pick thru it and ask what kinda deal will ya give me for this stuff. And there is the stuff affectionately called "stickers" which are free - all you have to do is ask for some. I got 2 full pallets of then 2 years ago. They are all about 48" long and range in size around the width of a 2X4 or slightly narrower.

This is very useable stuff.
You can see it in the latest pics in my coop build thread as they are the framing for the poop board & roosting rails as well as the wall mounted tables for the dog crates used for the hatchlings....

This stuff could really help with anything.

Good luck and hang in there it's all gonna turnout fine....

I saw you made reference to line?
You know about making some lime based "white wash"? That's what I did to the insides of our coop and plan to do it to the outside wood of the run and stuff around it this fall.... This stuff is very surprising that it really cuts down the poo odor.... And you don't have to "wash it" you just mix up some more and toss a layer over everything as it is every year or so.....
Butidigress.....

 

[Somerzby]

Things like know ing that places like Lowe's & HD offer up warped and. Racked pieces of wood and plywood at 75-90% off - it's called "Kulled lumber" and they let ya pick thru it and ask what kinda deal will ya give me for this stuff. And there is the stuff affectionately called "stickers" which are free - all you have to do is ask for some.

I would also suggest trying a second hand building supplies company as they might have some building materials at a much cheaper rate.

You'll probably be surprised at how good it looks after a good clean, and I wouldn't worry too much about getting the particle board wet - it can take a little bit of water just so long as it's not constantly exposed to the weather.

It would be good to see those photos from 10 feet away.

 

[Sonya9]

Yes! Thank you the chicken in there is healthy. I can shovel some poop out and do some sweeping. I can add some lime stone powder and add bedding. Im using flock fresh bedding. I can also wipe it down a little with a bucket and viniger water. Im adding a new feeder and waterer and securing it better with hardwear cloth. Does that sound good?

Sounds good to me. Keep in mind people add chicks to existing flocks all the time and the hen houses are NOT sanitized ahead of time! They are usually just swept out with new shavings on the floor. What is the lyme supposed to do? Are you sure it is non-caustic?

Do have a plan to separate the chicks from the hen initially in case she takes offense to her coop being over-run by little strangers. If you end up with some used chicken wire fix a small chick pen so the babies can be enclosed initially and give the hen some time to adjust.

Oh and try to clean it out 2-3 days before the chicks go in. You don't want to freak out your older hen by tearing up the hen house and then filling it with strangers all in 1 day.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Personally i would not bother with the vinegar water. Not sure what that gains you. You are just adding some new birds. I integrate new chickens all the time, some brooder-raised and some broody-raised. I don't do anything special as far as cleaning or sterilizing.

I understand you wanting to spiff it up a bit but they are going to be living where chickens live. I integrate so often it's not anything special to me. It is a great opportunity to do maintenance but will breathing those vinegar fumes hurt you?