Must have supplies for clean coop

[RomeoAlpha]

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.

 

[rosemarythyme]

I really don't "clean" my coop. My goal is to keep it dry and get as much poop out as possible. I scoop poop under the roost each morning, and clean out twice a year, and that's clean enough for me and clean enough for the chickens.

Pest are something you just have to routinely check for. Like red mites can be found on roost bars at night when they come to feed.

 

[David61]

Leaf rake, yard rake, snow Shovel, pine Flakes, sweet pdz stable fresh, poop boards.

 

[RomeoAlpha]

I really don't "clean" my coop. My goal is to keep it dry and get as much poop out as possible. I scoop poop under the roost each morning, and clean out twice a year, and that's clean enough for me and clean enough for the chickens.

Pest are something you just have to routinely check for. Like red mites can be found on roost bars at night when they come to feed.

That’s the goal I’m going for. So covering the run to keep it dry may be best?
Oh ok, I didn’t know to look for the red mites at night. I guess I should look up what they look like. I just got and sprayed Elector PSP.

 

[rosemarythyme]

That’s the goal I’m going for. So covering the run to keep it dry may be best?
Oh ok, I didn’t know to look for the red mites at night. I guess I should look up what they look like. I just got and sprayed Elector PSP.

My run is uncovered (well, netting, no roof). I use deep litter. Basically it manages itself at this point and composts down the poop (though I do scoop up big surface poops just so we don't step on them). Good drainage, which is key for me, and absorbs bad odors.

My coop has deep bedding with wood chips. Stays bone dry, and the used chips just end up as part of the run after clean outs. My clean out takes me like 10 minutes to empty it out, and another 20 to load chips back in. Not bad for twice a year!

Did you have mites? Pretreating for mites doesn't work as it doesn't kill eggs, you need to treat active infestations. Elector PSP supposedly works very well though, if you do have an infestation.

 

[LateBirdFarms]

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 routinelywith 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.

 

[RomeoAlpha]

My run is uncovered (well, netting, no roof). I use deep litter. Basically it manages itself at this point and composts down the poop (though I do scoop up big surface poops just so we don't step on them). Good drainage, which is key for me, and absorbs bad odors.

My coop has deep bedding with wood chips. Stays bone dry, and the used chips just end up as part of the run after clean outs. My clean out takes me like 10 minutes to empty it out, and another 20 to load chips back in. Not bad for twice a year!

Did you have mites? Pretreating for mites doesn't work as it doesn't kill eggs, you need to treat active infestations. Elector PSP supposedly works very well though, if you do have an infestation.

Oh ok, interesting. What kind of wood chips do you use?
I don’t think I kept it dry enough for them.
So I’ve been treating for SLM as my rooster has a very bad case, and treating the hens as well. Just checked them for mites in the feathers and saw something moving so sprayed them.
I didn’t know a lot of these things existed so now having to treat unfortunately, however I ant to turn it around and prevent and keep clean.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Oh ok, interesting. What kind of wood chips do you use?
I don’t think I kept it dry enough for them.

My chips are a mix of woods from my property, so some fir, hemlock, cedar, pine. The tree company cuts them very chunky, and then we left them to age to reduce the possibility of harmful aspergillus growth.

We get a lot of rain but our soil naturally has good drainage. The wood chips let the rain water through and acts as a drier mat for the chickens to walk on. I used to have a huge mud and odor problem in the chicken run, but the deep litter has now stabilized the soil completely and it's easy even for people to walk on after heavy rainfall.

These chicks are safely walking on the run litter after a night of heavy rain - no puddles in the run at all.

 

[OlympicChick]

Also, if you have any acquaintances that have chickens, do not enter their coops and then return to go in your coop with the same shoes and cloths and vice versa, don't let other chicken owners into your coop. This is called biosecurity. You don't want to bring mites back into the coop once you get rid of them.

 

[David61]

I use pine flake shaving in the nest boxes and covered coop/run. I change the nest bedding once a month. Its mostly clean pine Flakes. I spray the boxes for mites and put new Flakes in. I use the leaf rake to move the lose Flakes to one end. Then the yard rake to level the heavy stuff from their digging. The old lose stuff goes to the high traffic end by the door. Under the poop boards it stays cleaner and they like to sit there. So used nest box and new Flakes go there. About every other month or so it will rain hard and wet the Flakes to much. That's the snow Shovel job. The outside netted run has deep litter wood chips, oak leaves, grass clippings, dirt. A good friend has a tree service. I get wood chips free. 10 year old chip are mostly dirt and buggy.