Must have supplies for clean coop

[countryladyNH]

I love it! I essentially do the same as you, but started using Grounds (coffee grounds) bedding because it’s lighter and more manageable for me, and I can compost it when I want to replace it. I’ve always been so proud that I can give my girls a good clean home. I even wash their curtains every few months! I don’t have a picture of the Grounds bedding but it smells like breakfast in there.

PS That fabric is just adorable!

 

[RebelEgger]

I know some people say DE is useless, but I'm one who swears by it. I've never had a mite issue, touch wood, and I've had chickens for years. I dust about once weekly around perches, corners and nest boxes and include it in my hens dust bath with some wood ash. I keep a clean coop and wipe down areas routinely with a cleaning vinegar solution, and only use the deep litter method in the winter, so that might contribute, but DE is something I wouldn't skip.

What vinegar mixture do you use? I assume diluted and not straight - don't want the coop to smell like a pickle factory. My flock isn't in their coop yet, but I'm trying to figure out what to keep it clean with before they get in there and start making messes!

 

[LateBirdFarms]

What vinegar mixture do you use? I assume diluted and not straight - don't want the coop to smell like a pickle factory. My flock isn't in their coop yet, but I'm trying to figure out what to keep it clean with before they get in there and start making messes!

I can't remember the exact ratio I use but I think it was 1 part Vinegar (white or cleaning) to 2 or 3 parts water (depending on if I'm using white or cleaning vinegar) and either a few drops of essential oils or lemon and/or orange juice with a bit of zest in the bottle to keep the pickle smell down. Be wary with the orange peel if your coop is white and you want to keep it that way, if you're too generous you may stain your paint. I use this after my ladies are done laying for the day so I can lock them in the run and leave the big doors open so everything can dry and air out.

 

[RebelEgger]

I can't remember the exact ratio I use but I think it was 1 part Vinegar (white or cleaning) to 2 or 3 parts water (depending on if I'm using white or cleaning vinegar) and either a few drops of essential oils or lemon and/or orange juice with a bit of zest in the bottle to keep the pickle smell down. Be wary with the orange peel if your coop is white and you want to keep it that way, if you're too generous you may stain your paint. I use this after my ladies are done laying for the day so I can lock them in the run and leave the big doors open so everything can dry and air out.

Awesome! Thank you so much!

 

[aart]

Some of y'all must really like to 'clean'!

 

[Sea Wolf]

I have 3 chickens and 18 in the brooder I'm about to add to the coop. I'm still new and learning a lot. What are the best supplies to keep a clean and pest free coop?

Let me know your best management practices.

If you have hatched chicks in a brooder, do not put them with adult birds. Chances are they will kill the chicks. In addition, chicks need to fed a completely different food for 5 to 6 months. I do not have any issues with pests per se. I think the biggest preventative is to keep things clean. I have never had any issue with mites but I do take the preventative of spraying the coop once a year, when I have it all cleaned out, with a permetherin spray in my garden sprayer. I spray every where inside, making sure to get in any and all cracks. After it dries, I put in new shavings and bedding in the nests. I also make up a 4 gallon batch of the same permetherin with a different concentration in a 5 gallon bucket. One by one, each bird gets completely dunked and sloshed around until completely wet head to toe. Then I just turn them loose to shake and dry off. The permetherin concentrate is sold anywhere they have horse supplies. The directions are on it to make your dilutions for spraying the yard/buildings as well as different livestock (including poultry). There is also a dilution to make up a spray for your pants and outer clothing to kill ticks if you are out in the brush and grass. Keep things clean and you shouldn't have an issue with flies, smell or parasites.

 

[aart]

If you have hatched chicks in a brooder, do not put them with adult birds. Chances are they will kill the chicks. In addition, chicks need to fed a completely different food for 5 to 6 months.

Nah, I've fed all my birds, from hatch to harvest, Flock Raiser with Oyster Shell in a separate feeder for the active layers.

Many of us integrate chicks young:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/integrating-new-birds-at-4-weeks-old.72603/

 

[Sea Wolf]

My birds have never touched oyster shell and they have been offered it frequently over the years. Mixed flock of several breeds of egg layers. Finally gave up and they get good layer pellets. Coop is also not big enough to have all manner of extra room for separate confinement. Not everyone has a huge walk in coop/barn.

 

[RomeoAlpha]

Definitely get poop boards. We made ours and covered them with remnant of sheet vinyl we got at local flooring store for under $10.

Beach Chickens Rock. I put a piece of hardi-board which is concrete infused, in the floor of the henhouse and 6 years later I shovel it clean, leaf blow DE all inside and keep it dry and it's like new. Perfect.

Ahhh interesting idea. I may have extra hardy board

 

[RomeoAlpha]

My coop set-up/situation: Very small fully enclosed city backyard with one outside hose bib.

As far as my must have supplies go:
Coop and Run:
Pointed shovel
Pitchfork
Wall mount nest box
Hanging feeder
Bags of pine needles and pine cones gathered in the Fall
Bags of maple leaves gathered in the Fall
Bags of spent coffee grounds picked up from coffee places
Store bought pine chips
Flock Fresh (to make everything pretty and nice smelling if company comes over, I just personally like it)
Metal can for chicken feed
Scoop for chicken feed (DIY or buy one)
Old Easter basket for egg collection
Garden hose dedicated to the chicken area
Plastic
Brooder:
Cat carrier
Some sort of electric heat plate (I use Premier 1)
Chick feeder (longer than you think, the teenagers will eat you out of house and home)
Chick waterer
Store bought bedding--Pine chips again
Chick grit
Chick food

If I edit this post in the future I will post that I updated this and link to this.

Do you do anything special to the coffee grinds before using?

I’ll have to look into Flock Fresh. Ideally id like it to smell pleasant