Something you wish had been invented in chicken keeping.

[Ninjasquirrel]

My favorite tool for cleaning out my coop is my hoe. I get to stand outside the coop (but I still wear my mask!) and pull all of the pine shavings and poop into a giant plastic tub that I set on my stairs in the coop doorway. I’d like to say it takes me 10 minutes to clean my coop, but it’s probably more like 6-8. It keeps the coop nice and clean, and my lungs a lot cleaner, too! And my shoes, too! I’m a gardener, so a hoe was the natural solution, after I spent a whole year sweating inside the coop to clean it. It smells a lot better outside, and the air is a lot cleaner and safer.

I love my giant squeegee. Its really helpful after spraying down in there. I can just let it air dry afterwards

 

[Rivendell Chick]

You *can* pay that much for very fancy models that look like a cat litter scoop mated with an old-fashioned cherry picker basket. I guess they're for cleaning horse stalls?

Someone in that store was trying to put one over on a newbie.

I forget what those are called - maybe a stall fork or bedding fork, but we have one left over from the days of horses on our farm. Have been meaning to try it as a way to sift dry poop from the large shavings I use in our coop. Shavings are good and dry after 2 months, would be nice to be able to sift the poop out to the compost pile and keep the shavings longer.

 

[aart]

Someone in that store was trying to put one over on a newbie.

Wonders......where this happened and exact product.

 

[rosemarythyme]

We use a power washer, and it is great! Our climate here in No. California is quite dry, our coop is well-ventilated, and we wash on sunny days. The wood dries out in no time. Every situation is different.

The last time my coop got damp (sprayed for mites) it still wasn't quite fully dry by end of the day, and I sprayed first thing in the morning on the warmest day I could find. So yes sounds like climate has a lot to do with it.

 

[NomadMik]

I would like the buy a large enclosed coop and put in AC. I am in Phoenix and we are pushing 120.

 

[Old mother hen]

I can in fact be trusted with sharp objects, but we don't want to buy one I guess, the snow shovel doesn't fit in the coop, it is 4×8 (the coop) and the shovel can only get a few scoops in before I need the broom.

I use a really small rake and an old shovel then put it into the wheelbarrow. Small shavings work better than the big ones

 

[MrsPeterTHooper]

Something that hasn't been invented...a nestbox that gently rolls the eggs right into a carton, in a secure-from-other-animals but easy-to-access-for-me space, preferably with space for some ice packs for the REALLY hot days. Asking too much?

 

[FluffyBottomBantams]

I wish there was some way to keep a hens back safe from overmating . Not her back as in the saddle area (we already use a mating saddle for that) but the back part of her wings that can’t be covered like that.

I also wish there was some way to stop hen pecking, I never catch anyone in the act of doing it but I’ve got a Mille fleur d’Uccle with almost no beard anymore and a rooster and his mother that don’t grow feathers in certain spots anymore because it’s been pecked so much.

 

[Stablecoop]

A cross between a coop roomba and an artificial turf vacuum! It would operate autonomously, sucking up all litter, bagging the manure and spitting back out the unsoiled bedding. It would have to be engineered to be a dust free process too!

 

[Chicalina]

I wish there was some way to keep a hens back safe from overmating . Not her back as in the saddle area (we already use a mating saddle for that) but the back part of her wings that can’t be covered like that.

Reduce the male to female ratio? Or separate them? Poor hens