Inherited Large (for me) chicken coop, uncleaned.

[Alagirl]

No, the prior owners left and moved to a bigger property and took the Alpaca's, chicken's goats and pigs w them. They left in a hurry and the dad who was elderly was left to clean up and remove stuff as much as he could. I find things all over daily. The property and structures sat empty for 6 months, we moved in and I had a ton of other priorities first.

remember: Chicken poop is good fertilizer!
Normally I'd say baby steps, but you already have the chicks.
When you get around to it, take pictures of the equipment.
I bet the locals on BYC can identify it for you (and help you instructions for the doors)

 

[stephenthayer61]

remember: Chicken poop is good fertilizer!
Normally I'd say baby steps, but you already have the chicks.
When you get around to it, take pictures of the equipment.
I bet the locals on BYC can identify it for you (and help you instructions for the doors)

Yes, I am the type to go all in or nothing, buying the chicks motivated me to start getting the coop ready, I cleaned the outside up, discovered where the old compost pit is located and tore out the exterior fencing as it was haphazardly installed. As you can see, behind the coop is a children's (old, very old) swing/playset. I believe it was for the Chickens to climb on.

 

[Alagirl]

Scrubbing off hard baked on chicken poop is almost impossible. I'd just scrape everything down to get the high spots, sweep, and either nuke with bleach or whitewash the inside. .Poop on the outside exposed to rain should be breaking down on it's own; no?.

you might have to chisel some away.

 

[MGG]

After working 12 hours last night, then a few errands were done. I started to clena at 11a. This first floor was filthy. Poop treys had about 6lbs of Pooh on them each.

I highly doubt that coop has ever been cleaned. I had to shuck, push and scrape the dirt and hay off the floor. It was disgusting. I brought two buckets and rinsed off the wood floor after aggressively cleaning the floor, let it dry and placed 3 packs of pine shavings down. The other half of the run and brooding area needs fixing to protect vs predators, but the main house is 100% secure. They are running around in there chasing all kinds of bugs and eating grass that’s in the front run.

I didn’t get upstairs yet either. I wore a respirator but, goggles, gloves and long sleeves. Even wore a hair net. That was no fun but it’s done!

Thanks for all the advice !

It looks great! Those are your Easter Egger chicks?
They look like they're actually red sexlinks to me. Feed stores are notorious for mixing up labels.

 

[kodster]

a beginner myself, in your case I would go with 'thorough' right now: poop and feather removal and a good scrub with a decent cleaner/disinfectant.
Just to be safe.
There might be some elbow grease involved (perhaps done masks to not inhale any sh*t?)

I'm a long-timer (10+ years now), but I would also recommend a thorough cleaning as Alagirl recommends. You don't know what diseases are hidden in that coop... some of them can be fatal to your new flock, such as Marek's or Coccidosis. Best to start out fresh and clean as possible to get rid of any bacteria, viruses, and parasites that are embedded in there.

 

[rosemarythyme]

So my Chickens turned 12 weeks old yesterday. I have at least 5 roosters out of the 7 chickens we bought from tractor supply. I definitely have one hen, hoping the other is a hen also. Not gonna lie, pretty disappointed about that.

Did you buy straight run? Or is this a case of TSC mislabeling a bin? That's pretty discouraging to have to deal with right at the start of building up a flock.

 

[stephenthayer61]

What do you mean by anually?

Meaning I have 7 now, pretty sure I have two Cockrels and one I will have to get rid of. I want to add more annually, just need to become used to taking care of them.

 

[stephenthayer61]

It looks great! Those are your Easter Egger chicks?
They look like they're actually red sexlinks to me. Feed stores are notorious for mixing up labels.

Yes they are supposed to be EE. I got them from TSC. Glad I did cause it forced me to clean the coop. The coop wa drown the priority list. Once we got chicks, it moved up the list quick.
I have at least 2 roo’s. I may have 4. Two I thought were hens, definitely showing some too traits. Ole Cogburn is definitely a roo. He looks like one already.

 

[Ebony Rose]

As you're going through all the work to thoroughly clean that NICE coop, you may consider prophalactically dusting it with mite/tick powder that's safe for chickens. The name of the active ingredient escapes me, so hoping someone will chime in with the generic or brand name of the stuff I'm talking about.

 

[3KillerBs]

I am in Cecil County Maryland. Moved here in the early winter.

If you put your location into your profile people can give you better-targeted advice. Climate matters.

Hard work getting this ready, but not so hard as having to build it.