Nervous about the smell coop again this summer.

[rosemarythyme]

That's what I'm considering. I like the deep bedding though

Without deep litter how often should I clean it? And I imagine it would be expensive

I deep litter the run, but deep bedding the coop. Not expensive as most of the material is free, because the majority of it is the same wood chips that go into my run.

Instead of poop boards I have a "poop area" under the roost that currently has hemp bedding (which is expensive, but 1 bag will last me a few years) for easy scooping.

I sift out poop under the roost daily. Otherwise I clean the coop twice a year. Your cleaning frequency will vary depending on coop size, number of birds, material used.

Can I just shove the bedding into my run if I need to clean it out or do I need to put it at the edge of my property.

As long as you aren't dealing with pest issues like mites, no reason to not reuse it as run material.

 

[David61]

deep litter woodchip composting in my open/uncovered run but my covered coop/run gets the old nestbox pine shaving and 1/2 a new bail added to every month. It gets mucked out every other month or so before the nestbox bedding get change. It is also when i spray everything with 13.3% permethrin.
Poop board gets raked clean every 3 or 4 days. I use PZD on the poop boards, a light sprinkle of PZD all around ever other month when its hot. Never a fly , mite, flea or a smell with my 10 ladys.
I have to add bio mass (wood chips ,leaves) to the outside run two or three times a year. You will know when.

 

[21hens-incharge]

Several people in my neighborhood have started keeping chickens too. I have been asked why mine don't stink.
Turns out they are feeding Dumor. I feed Purina. Maybe it is the brand of feed added to the other things like bread and such making stinky poop.

My coop management to reduce costs of bedding...
Clean under roosts (no poop board) once a week.
Move all shavings that weren't under the roosts to under the roosts. Dump nest box shavings under the roosts.
Add fresh shavings to now empty floor and nests.

No stink no flies.

 

[Jamesthesilkie]

Here are super simple poop boards with sand and nesting boxes. My coop is very open.View attachment 2472934

Fans at the top on a board and chained so they dont fall.View attachment 2472936

I'm kinda laughing you added in those fan pics, girl I promise it is secure . Well I think. I will double check tomorrow.

Also I love those roosts boards. I am so excited to do this project for my chickens

 

[Krazikatlady64]

I'm kinda laughing you added in those fan pics, girl I promise it is secure . Well I think. I will double check tomorrow.

Also I love those roosts boards. I am so excited to do this project for my chickens

No my point was to move the fan up. Others have said you have great ventilation, so no worries there.

 

[ChicNmom]

When my husband built our coop I requested a slide out poop board. It was a little expensive but I had him glue some laminate onto the board so any poopy moisture would not soak into the wood. It is a breeze to clean. I slide it out and use a car ice/snow brush to rake it off into a large tote to haul away.

The deep litter method has never worked for me. Even with using Coop Clean composting powder. The only time it piles up is if it freezes solid in winter.

 

[David61]

When my husband built our coop I requested a slide out poop board. It was a little expensive but I had him glue some laminate onto the board so any poopy moisture would not soak into the wood. It is a breeze to clean. I slide it out and use a car ice/snow brush to rake it off into a large tote to haul away.

The deep litter method has never worked for me. Even with using Coop Clean composting powder. The only time it piles up is if it freezes solid in winter.

I used vinyl/ linoleum floorng on my 3x6 plywood poop board. about $0.79-$0.59 a foot on clearance at lowes/home depot. that's cheep.

 

[pnwoldie]

I tried lots of things over the years. What works for me (15 hens right now with a dirt floor) is about four inches of coarse sand underneath the roosts, and every morning scoop the poop with a long-handled cat litter scoop into a pan, empty that into a 5-gallon bucket, then every few days take that to the compost.

A Bernzomatic fueled by a camp-gas-size propane takes care of the feathers if someone gets molty, and helps to sanitize the sand and kill pest eggs. Also a handful of pdz occasionally.

It’s quite pleasant in there, sometimes I hang out waiting for them to finish roosting so I can close up the coop, and look at twitter on my phone

 

[CochinLady61]

I see alot of upper ventilation, but not any lower just above your bedding. Add ventilation down below to get drafting through the whole coop.

My coops have several sets of 2 1/2" holes cut in a row covered with screen plates like you use in your attic soffits. Add them about every 4' all along the coop bottom just above your bedding level.

I also have roof line venting very similar to yours.

Hope that helps.

 

[Susan Dye]

I have a small coop, not a walk-in, with a raised wood floor. Since I started using construction sand and PDZ, I've had no problems with smell or flies. The sand, in 60 lb bags from Lowes and the PDZ from the horse supply section of Tractor Supply are both reasonably priced. But, I must admit, I was buying the PDZ from the chicken supply section of TS and it was much more expensive, so I used it sparingly. Not anymore. The flies and smell was pretty bad when I cleaned every morning and I had lots of fly traps hanging around. Using PDZ more liberally really cut back on the flies and smell. I'm in Va, so my summers are similar to yours. Do check out the tread on the pros and cons of using sand.