Official BYC Poll: How Often Do You Clean Your Coop?

[3KillerBs]

Don't even ask what it's like in the 105F summer.

Sounds like an excellent reason to set up a system that only needs to be cleaned infrequently at a time when good weather can be expected.

 

[PDXJULES]

I shockingly enjoy cleaning out the coop. Typically once a week or every other week.

I make up funny songs to sing while scooping. And it goes fast. The Pullets usually join me to sing along, help re-arrange bedding, or supervise noisily.

 

[Pretty Birds]

I clean my coop as needed. It really depends on the season. In the late spring and summer the chickens spend most of their time outside, so I clean the coop every two weeks to a month. In the winter everything freezes, so I put a layer of shavings over the coop floor every week or so until there is a warm day to clean everything out. Once it starts to warm up but there is still snow outside I clean the coop about once a week since the chickens spend most of their time in the coop. The nesting boxes and underneath the roost are cleaned more frequently as needed.

 

[aart]

Poll should allow multiple answers,
because I(and probably others) clean different things at different rates.

What kind of bedding you use may depend on how you manage the manure.
This is about cleaning, but covers my big picture

-I use poop boards under roosts with thin(<1/2") layer of sand/PDZ mix, sifted daily(takes 5-10mins) into bucket going to friends compost.

-Scrape big or wet poops off roost and ramps as needed.

-Pine shavings on coop floor, add some occasionally, totally changed out once or twice a year, old shavings added to run.

-Nests are bedded with straw, add some occasionally, change out if needed(broken egg).

There is no odor, unless a fresh cecal has been dropped and when I open the bucket to add more poop.

That's how I keep it 'clean', have not found any reason to clean 'deeper' in 7 years.

 

[BDutch]

I clean the poop boards when its gets dirty or smelly and the weather is nice. If its a rainy period I might wait another week and just put an extra layer with shavings/leaves/grasses or mosses on top.

Because I have one side open in winter and even more in summer it rarely smells.

I rake the sand/lime floor every month/two months and make a new layer mixed with a little diatomaceous earth, every year or so?

The nestboxes get new hay about every two weeks and total cleaning about every 2 moths ( build up new sand, diatom earth, tabacco, shavings and hay ) .

 

[K0k0shka]

I clean my coop twice a year - once in the spring, and once in the fall. That includes everything - deep clean to take all the bedding out, wiping dust off of surfaces, etc. I don't have poop boards and don't do in-between cleanings. I do deep bedding (dry) with pine shavings and all I do between the biennial cleanings is to occasionally stir it up and sprinkle fresh shavings and PDZ on top when it starts looking poopy, maybe 5 times in half a year. It stays dry and doesn't smell. My roosts are far from the wall so there's no poop to be cleaned off the walls. For some reason my chickens have never perched on top of the besting box, so I haven't had to clean that. It's a very easy setup and I love it!

This is what it looks like soon after the fall deep clean:

This is what the floor looks like currently, about 6 months after the last cleaning. Not too bad. Some poop is visible, but it's all dry and doesn't smell, so I don't care.

 

[CPeters]

We installed poop trays under their perches so it catches all the poop! Just slide the trays out and empty in the compost. Hose them off once a week and done! We have 11 hens and a Roo, they come right out in the mornings and just go back in to lay. So not much gets on the floor of the coop Which reminds me! I gotta go collect eggs!!

 

[chickmamato7]

My coop is sand based, so I scoop the droppings every morning and collect them in a bucket which gets emptied once a week. Takes only a few minutes & there is never a smell. I use sand in the run, too, and scoop & rake it daily (multiple times on weekends). I prefer a small daily chore to a large, smelly one several times a year. Plus, my chickens feet stay clean (can't stand to see poopy feet and prefer not to step in it, either)!

 

[Artichoke Lover]

I clean the area under the roost every 2 weeks to a month. I clean out the rest of the beding about every two months.

 

[Tashua]

DEEP LITTER METHOD WITH HEMP , hardly no smell ever . . . SPRING CLEANING YEARLY