is there such a thing as to clean?

[graciesmum]

I use pet cage disinfectant says it's fine for birds, I wash the water and food things like I wash dishes with antibacterial washing up liquid, im in the UK and have unpredictable weather lol, I have wet weather alot and like to clean it weekly with the disinfectant as the wet poop seems to attract alot it bugs,

 

[graciesmum]

Must be the British movies of the '40s that influenced me, linguistically speaking. Or as my Canadian father would say, "eh?" I know James Bond doesn't talk like that. I wonder why?

James bond is not real lmao, I've never really watched it so not sure how he talks, apart from the obvious lines, " the names bond, James bond" "martini shaken not stirred" we don't all talk the queens English lol some of us are just common as mud lol

 

[what did I do]

I have never used a disinfectant! I think the disinfectant is a bit of an over kill unless you have some sort of a problem that requires it. I clean my coops anywhere from one week to once every 3 months. Three months is a bit long but sometimes our lives get a bit overwhelmed and busy. I clean out all the straw when I clean and that is it. I do not ever disinfection anything. I clean my watereres out when I water the girls so everyday to every few days depending on the waterer. I clean the feeder when it rains.

My chickens free range all year except when the weather is too cold. I feed and water outside except during the winter. I do not do deep litter or any special way of keeping chickens. When my coop is dirty I clean it.

You have to do what is right for you.

Btw, you can see my dirty coop in my aviator pic. I had surgery this winter and was unable to clean the coop for 3 months. It was dirty but sometimes you got to do what you got to do.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I think Shanty said it real well. It depends on your unique situation. We all have different climates, our coops look different, we have different chicken densities in our coops and runs, we manage them differently, and even have different goals. The last time I went four years without cleaning out the bottom of my big walk-in coop with fairly low chicken density, but I put a droppings board under the roosts and clean that off every two to three weeks to put in my compost pile. I dump dirty water out of my waterers but the only time I clean them is with bleach when they start turning green.

I think your original question was more about the health benefits of keeping the coop clean. My opinion on that is "what are they used to"? If you keep the coop and run spotless, they are used to that and will be really vulnerable to disease or parasites if exposed. You need to keep it clean if you keep it clean.

If they are used to the coop and run not being real clean, they will have built up immunities and can do very well in that environment. I still think you should keep the coop and run as dry as reasonable. A wet run is not a healthy run. And avoid manure build-up. Sometimes when the weather sets in wet you just can’t do much about it with some runs, but do the best you can.

 

[graciesmum]

this is the chicken palace, (my shed converted), the gate is the gate to the chicken garden

the area in the shed where I keep all my chicken stuff

the inside, roosts on the right (unused) nest boxes to the left

my chicken garden, the shed is on the right at the bottom of the bank, as you can see my adolescent coop and run is in this area, and my rabbits

 

[graciesmum]

I don't think I have put myself across very well,i wanted to know different people's climates and how they do things, as in the difference in coop management due to climate, and also like you say the amount chickens in q coop, and sizes of coops, im just interested in other people's set ups and climate issues