Petrified poop

[Beaglegal]

My flock of chickens and ducks were included in the purchase of my house. Looking around inside the coop, many of the surfaces are covered in petrified poop. There is even an old wooden hay feeder that they have rooster on and pooped all over. What is the best way to clean and sanitize the coup that has that level of poop build up? Any tips appreciated.

 

[townchicks]

I'd wear a mask and take a paint scraper to it. Then sweep everything out. Not much else you can do with chickens living in it. Then you can put poop boards under the roosts, and remove the old hay feeder so they have to stick to the roosts. Maybe build a separate area for the ducks.

 

[Ridgerunner]

My flock of chickens and ducks were included in the purchase of my house. Looking around inside the coop, many of the surfaces are covered in petrified poop. There is even an old wooden hay feeder that they have rooster on and pooped all over. What is the best way to clean and sanitize the coup that has that level of poop build up? Any tips appreciated.

That's kind of the way chickens and other livestock have been kept for thousands of years. You don't want the poop to build up because that can stink and poop build-up can lead to diseases, so there are limits. It's been more recent where chickens are now considered pets and people that never grew up with chickens, horses, cows, or other livestock and keep pets like dogs in the house that people have become obsessed with cleanliness. To me that level of cleanliness is not natural but there are many people where a high degree of cleanliness is desired. Obviously the previous owners did not share that. Even if you consider them livestock there are limits. I don't know how bad what you have really is. I suspect I've seen worse growing up in a small farm area all those decades ago.

If it were me I'd check for mites and lice, maybe get a vet to check a fecal sample for worms. Check to see if you do have a problem. If you do, deal with it. As for cleaning I'd scrape the dried poop off, either a scraper or a wire brush. Wear a face mask, that dust is not good for you to breathe. You may want goggles. Take a bath afterwards. I don't know how conducive that area is to actually washing with soap and water. To me that would be unnecessary and may not be practical anyway. That may be a pretty large area.

I personally would not try to disinfect unless I was specifically treating something. As mentioned, they have already been exposed to anything present and, if they are healthy, their immune systems are strong enough to handle it. If you do use anything to disinfect it, air it out well before you allow the chickens or ducks back in. Maybe even set up a fan to clear it out. Poultry have sensitive breathing systems and can be affected at fairly low concentrations. You don't want to harm them by truing to help them, especially when they don't really need the help.

 

[townchicks]

Should I wipe it down with anything? I feel like the poop has probably soaked into the wood.

You can if it makes you feel better. There are animal safe disinfectants, but really, anything in that poop would be stuff the chickens have been exposed to already. It would be a good idea to check the chickens well for mites/lice, as it sounds like the previous owners were somewhat lacking in their husbandry practices. If you find signs, you will want to spray the birds and the coop with permethrin.

 

[chickens really]

what about a pressure washer?

That would soak everything and then take way too long to dry out..

 

[Ridgerunner]

My flock of chickens and ducks were included in the purchase of my house.

The way I read this, the chickens and ducks are already there.

 

[K0k0shka]

That's kind of the way chickens and other livestock have been kept for thousands of years.

It's been more recent where chickens are now considered pets and people that never grew up with chickens, horses, cows, or other livestock and keep pets like dogs in the house that people have become obsessed with cleanliness. To me that level of cleanliness is not natural but there are many people where a high degree of cleanliness is desired.

Piggybacking on this thread to say thank you for putting my mind at ease! I only found out about the existence of poop boards recently, through this forum, and honestly, the idea of scooping chicken poop every single day was hard to believe at first. Surely people didn't do this for the thousands of years chickens have been domesticated... I grew up on a farm too and that level of cleanliness would've been not only impractical, but would've been thought crazy, too. I understand why people want poop boards, especially when you come from scooping kitty litter (another modern pet invention), and I've noticed that they're advertised and recommended heavily on this forum, but I'm glad to see that there are other points of view as well.

 

[Chicken Heel]

In my 5 decades of keeping chickens, I have never once disinfected a chicken coop before adding new ones. I believe being exposed to potential pathogens actually makes the chickens healthier in the long run. I clean the litter out as necessary only when I get a whiff of ammonia and otherwise add straw as needed. My current Bantam coop is going on 1.5 years without changing the litter. The key is keeping their living quarters as dry as possible.

 

[chickens really]

Most things are gone unless mereks was in the flock?
Just scrap it down and spray with pertharin spray.
I wouldn't be too concerned though. Then add in pine shavings and begin putting in the Birds..

 

[Beaglegal]

You can if it makes you feel better. There are animal safe disinfectants, but really, anything in that poop would be stuff the chickens have been exposed to already. It would be a good idea to check the chickens well for mites/lice, as it sounds like the previous owners were somewhat lacking in their husbandry practices. If you find signs, you will want to spray the birds and the coop with permethrin.

What would be signs of mites? Seeing them on the bird? They are missing some feathers lately but I attributed that to moulting as it seemed to correspond to a drop in egg production.