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

[JLB]

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It's not a pleasant part of keeping chickens, but it's one we must all deal with regardless: poop. How often do you clean your coop out? Don't include pens in your answer, just your coop or coops. Do you find it easy or difficult to clean them out? What changes to your coop design or technique would you make to improve the process?

(Check out more Official BYC Polls HERE!)

We have 4 standard sized hens. I clean our raised 81 cubic foot henhouse every day. The floor is half wire grate (under the perches), the other half is wood. Most of the dried out poop falls through the wire to buckets below, which we empty every few weeks into the compost pile. During winter when the poop doesn't dry out as quickly, I put newspaper under the perches to catch it. Poop and paper go into the compost bin. A cat litter scoop and a whisk broom and dust pan are tools I keep handy.

 

[JLB]

View attachment 2583103​

It's not a pleasant part of keeping chickens, but it's one we must all deal with regardless: poop. How often do you clean your coop out? Don't include pens in your answer, just your coop or coops. Do you find it easy or difficult to clean them out? What changes to your coop design or technique would you make to improve the process?

(Check out more Official BYC Polls HERE!)

I clean our 80 cubic foot coop (we have 4 hens )daily. The floor is half wire grate under the perches. Dry poop falls through to containers underneath. During winter when poop dries out slower I put newspaper under perches and dispose of paper and poop into compost bucket. Cat litter scoop, dust pan and whisk broom are tools I keep nearby.

 

[ChickEngineer]

I have boot trays under the perches, scrape them off into a bucket each morning. There are actually two trays. Change the shavings in the coop twice a year.

 

[Dhkoenig]

We use the deep litter method in Boise Idaho where it's very dry. We clean out the entire Coop 4 times per year. When the weather is warmer and we clean out the coop completely I also use diameter tacious Earth sprinkled in under the pine shavings. Keeps the bugs down. I clean off the upper roosting board every few days in the warmer weather and about once a week or so in the cold weather. We have an adjustable sunroom that we have set up in the winter it gives the chickens extra room and that has just the garden soil underneath. All of our chickens are extremely healthy, great eggs! You can see our Coop design at my blog little Homestead in Boise

Whoa you need to tell me more about the adjustable sun room! That sounds so cool! Well....warm!

 

[LeNeveu2]

never. I just move it. The bottom is open and it's on wheels.

 

[Hens house]

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It's not a pleasant part of keeping chickens, but it's one we must all deal with regardless: poop. How often do you clean your coop out? Don't include pens in your answer, just your coop or coops. Do you find it easy or difficult to clean them out? What changes to your coop design or technique would you make to improve the process?

(Check out more Official BYC Polls HERE!)

every 4-5 days: 6 golden comets. coop 54 x 48 x 46 high (2 roosts) 4 nest boxes with 4 foot x 3 foot hammock under as poop catcher. 160 sq foot pen. no free range.

 

[Cyra]

There are only three laying hens. They have an omlet coop with a 9 foot open floor run. They generally poop in the run, rarely in the coop. I change the straw in the coop when it needs it, and hose out the plastic coop floor if necessary, maybe once a year. Right now, the girls are rototilling and weeding my soon to be raised garden beds for me, they’re awesome workers! (They fertilize the area, for free.)

 

[dirkandlorie]

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)!

This ^ x2

 

[RebeccaRN]

This ^ x2

I have sand in my coop too. I poop scoop every day and everything stays clean. Takes 5min or less.

 

[Cristina23]

Never. 3 hens in a 96 sq ft covered open air coop in South Florida. I use hay in the “winter” when the weather is drier and mulch in the summer when it rains a lot. I just add more as the material degrades/decomposes. The ladies do a great job turning everything over. Flies have not been an issue either. I hose everything down every couple of days or as needed to wash away dust or any poop that may have landed on a perch.