I am at my whits end. I feel like my coop is constantly dirty! Sand doesnt work, pine pellets dont work ( they are in the indoor crate at the moment as they are still babies) and pine shavings never seem to stay clean. Am I doing something wrong!? I dont want them to get sick, but the other day before I changed their litter they started dusting in it. Is that really bad?
Keeping it clean
- Thread starter JakRat
- Start date
Sounds like they are cramped for space. They really should have a place to sleep, a place to nest, a place to run, and a place to bathe.
I think it's hard when they are babies. It's your "indoor crate" you're talking about, right- and not your actual coop? If that's the case, they are babies and they are a mess. You just have to clean it often and do what you can to make sure they have clean food and water. Even adding a layer of clean bedding (I used shavings) on top in between cleanings. I think, depending on how much space they have, you can clean one day, nothing the next (other than food & water of course), add a layer the next, nothing the next, then clean again... how often depends on how much space they have. The more cramped they are the more work it is for you to keep them clean. If they are too cramped, you may need a bigger brooder or another one so you can split them up so they have more room. That might make it easier on you to keep up with the cleaning.
Good luck!
I have some 7 wk old babies that are hen raised and then I have 2 little golden sex links that are almost 4 weeks old that I have been 'raising'. I can't believe how clean the mama hen kept her area...I had her in a large dog crate and she kept it so clean! She would move all the poop to one corner and I would clean it out...LOVED that she was so CLEAN with them. The 2 little ones? Different story...they are messy little devils.
One tip I CAN give you is to set your waterer (I have the plastic bottle ones with the red plastic bottoms) on either a saucer or even get a small board so that the water trough sets up higher than the shavings...sooooo much nicer. You wont be constantly scooping shavings out of the water and they dont poop in it easily either. I do that (the small boards) with all my waterers in the adult pens as well.
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- Thread starter
- #5
They are going into the coop this week. My last girls didn't like to roost much, didn't like the dust area we made for them, they just dusted where they felt like even if it was their own dust. Gross. Our coop is big for 6 girls! My DH thinks I'm nuts, he's like they are chickens and that's what they do.... sigh my life is a zoo!
he's like they are chickens and that's what they do
He's a smart man
He's a smart man
Quote:
He's a smart man
He is a smart man......
I think that we should add-- 'they're chickens after all' to end many sentences... Just try it sometime. :O)
He's a smart man
He is a smart man......
I think that we should add-- 'they're chickens after all' to end many sentences... Just try it sometime. :O)
If at all possible, could you add a small plastic tub filled with plain dirt for them to dirt-bathe? My chickens love this during the cold winter months.
- Thread starter
- #9
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