New to the coop!

[lhutch78]

Chicken owner for approx 4 days. We aquired 6 hens & 2 roosters from an old family friend. I currently only have 2 of the hens (dominickers) laying each day. The gentleman told me the others were still young and had not started.




My dad had built my girls a playhouse




a few years back & they were not interested in playing in it so we converted to a coop & got us some chickens. We kept them in the coop for a day & now they are free ranging during the day in a fenced pasture.



Everthing seems to be going WONDERFUL! EXCEPT..........We started with hay but we are having awful problems with flies even though we have raked & scooped & scraped the poo out. I see other pics that look so clean. Are the flies normal because I live in south georgia or is there better suggesstion?

What are some suggesstions for this type coop with a wooden floor? sand? sawdust? fly control? HELP!

 

[rikithemonk]

Im surprised you have a problem. I have seven hens and zero roos and no real fly issues. Mosquitoes out the butt but no fly issues. Look over your set up really good and toss on your thinking cap. There may be something your missing. (you have to be missing something) What r u using for bedding? I use common farm hay in my 10 X 10 run. Rake it out every two weeks. add a thin layer of new with a thick layer in the coop due to the poo and pee. Coops a 4X4 cube.

Riki

 

[mickey328]

We use cut straw for bedding in the coop. I sprinkle Sweet PDZ in with it and it keeps everything so dry there's almost zero smell and no flies at all in the coop. The run is a different story...it's covered with flies all the time...sure wish those girls would catch and eat 'em! Dry is the key...if the droppings dry, there's no odor and the flies generally aren't interested.

From the photos it looks like you might be using pine needles? I would venture to say that you also need a LOT more bedding...at least 2 to 3 inches of it. That will let the poo sift thru and dry out.

 

[lhutch78]

We are using hay also. In FLA your climate should be similar to ours. Flies are horrible. Maybe just our area and all the rain & hot temps.

 

[lhutch78]

We are using hay. Obviously we need more. This is our 1st time & have no clue how to set up other than online research & varying opinions. lol This may sound really silly, but what are you calling a run?

 

[Luziadovalongo]

I have a 8x8 coop with a wooden floor. I use pine shavings that come compressed in a plastic bag intended for horse bedding. I spread it out and stir it around with a pitch fork every other day or so. I sprinkle with diatomaceous earth every so often. Everything stays dry and smell and fly free. I personally think you would be better off not using hay. It does not absorb any moisture and becomes wet and stinky very rapidly. It is also hard to clean out. With shavings I just use a scoop shovel every 3 months or so and then put in a new bag. A bag is not very expensive, under $10 where I am.

 

[Luziadovalongo]

Here's a pic of the inside of the coop I took yesterday. The shavings have been down since the first of June.I just open the door at the back and scoop the shavings out.. I don't do the deep litter method because I don't want anything decomposing on top of my wooden floor.

 

[lhutch78]

Thank you sooo much. We are going to try that!

 

[Nicole01]

Straw is too difficult to handle. We use pine shavings for the coop. Much easier to clean. I clean my coop and run daily too. I use sand in the run.

 

[Lolachick07]

I use sand in both my coop and run because it appeals to me more, and in my opinion, is easiest to clean