Must have supplies for clean coop

[OlympicChick]

I have deep litter in my run and in my coop. I keep as little as possible in the coop in order to keep cleaning simple. I will hose down the walls every so often and turn over the soil/litter every so often. Whatever herbs I end up pruning in my yard I only throw into the coop, not the run (lavender, sage, thyme, oregano, rosemary, chives). I have two nest boxes in the coop which I use pine shavings in and clean out about once a month also. I use whatever I can get my hands on to create the deep litter: pine needles, maple leaves, pine cones, branches chopped up small, torn up paper and cardboard, used coffee grounds, leftover food (I don't use a separate compost bin).

 

[RomeoAlpha]

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

I don’t have poop boards yet, so want to add those. And I’ve heard a lot about sweet pdz-can you get that at tractor supply or Walmart?

 

[David61]

Tractor supply. I covered my poop board with vinyl flooring.
My roost is raised above my nest boxes on one end of the cover armored coop/run.

 

[3KillerBs]

For my in-town coop I had deep bedding in the coop and deep litter in the run. I never had any odor problems so with my new setup I'm not going to change what wasn't broken.

Except that I'll buy a scoop shovel to go with my pitchfork because, while the damp stuff in the run clumped well enough to handle with the pitchfork I had to use the square garden shovel for the dry, loose shavings in the coop, and it's both rather heavy compared to the lighter, plastic scoop and smaller then optimum for cleaning the larger facility I plan for.

I kept the food and water in the run, which kept the coop dry.

You'll also need a wheelbarrow or garden cart to haul the used bedding to your compost pile. Since I'm a rather small woman with arthritic wrists I have to have one that's light and easy-running.

 

[RomeoAlpha]

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.

I am hesitant to use DE, just from all the negatives I heard.
What’s the vinegar cleaning solution you use?

 

[RomeoAlpha]

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.
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Oh yeah that looks great! I like that idea, but the only thing I could think of is buying mulch, would that be the same?

 

[RomeoAlpha]

I have deep litter in my run and in my coop. I keep as little as possible in the coop in order to keep cleaning simple. I will hose down the walls every so often and turn over the soil/litter every so often. Whatever herbs I end up pruning in my yard I only throw into the coop, not the run (lavender, sage, thyme, oregano, rosemary, chives). I have two nest boxes in the coop which I use pine shavings in and clean out about once a month also. I use whatever I can get my hands on to create the deep litter: pine needles, maple leaves, pine cones, branches chopped up small, torn up paper and cardboard, used coffee grounds, leftover food (I don't use a separate compost bin).

Ah I see. When I throw herbs at them they never eat them, so I’m just like well hopefully that’ll make it smell better.
You know this may sound dumb but I never thought of cleaning the nesting boxes out more often. Right now I just have 2 hens and they only use one box, but I would only clean out like 2x a year, but it never looked soiled. It may be a good habit to clean it out once a month, and I’ll be adding more hens that are in the brooder.

 

[RomeoAlpha]

For my in-town coop I had deep bedding in the coop and deep litter in the run. I never had any odor problems so with my new setup I'm not going to change what wasn't broken.

Except that I'll buy a scoop shovel to go with my pitchfork because, while the damp stuff in the run clumped well enough to handle with the pitchfork I had to use the square garden shovel for the dry, loose shavings in the coop, and it's both rather heavy compared to the lighter, plastic scoop and smaller then optimum for cleaning the larger facility I plan for.

I kept the food and water in the run, which kept the coop dry.

You'll also need a wheelbarrow or garden cart to haul the used bedding to your compost pile. Since I'm a rather small woman with arthritic wrists I have to have one that's light and easy-running.

I kept thinking I was using the deep litter method I started with 6 bags of pine shavings (18x12ft) when I cleaned last but they scratch and I see dirt and now that it rained some areas are bare again. I feel like I’m constantly buying pine shavings, maybe I’m not putting in enough initially?

When I built my compost I made sure it was right next to the coop and sheep shed for when I clean.

 

[RomeoAlpha]

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.

The neighbor closest to me has chickens, back when I first started I asked to see her set up, that’s the only time I’ve been in there. I do appreciate saying that, Knowing that I will keep a strict practice to protect them. Thank you.

 

[RomeoAlpha]

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.
[/QUOTE]
Is there anything else you’d recommend to treat the infestation?