Spring Cleanings?

[KOTurkeyRanch]

Do you guys spring clean?
What all do you do?
What do you use?

Please share all information as possible! =]

 

[purpletree23]

I make sure the day is warm and sunny and breezy.

Lock the girls in the run with water and food.

Open all windows and doors.

Take everything out. Water and food holders and containers for grit and oystershell.

Clean out the litter and put aside for my compost heap. Make sure you wear a mask because you will be kicking up a lot of harmful dust.

Starting at the top of the coop I use a broom to sweep the ceiling and walls down and then sweep the floor. I let everything settle and start at the top again.

I use a steel brush to scrape the roost clean. I never let it get covered with poop even in the winter so that only takes a minute.

I use my pressure sprayer and make a batch of insecticide using Sevin liquid.

I spray the corners, the roosts, the floor and every nook and cranny I can find. Don't forget the laying boxes. I don't have to do mine because I use plastic milk crates and the mites/lice won't live on them.

Let dry again and air out WELL.

For peace of mind I sprinkle DE around the inside perimeter and under the nest boxes.

Add new litter.

Clean all food containers with a mild bleach solution. I let mine soak for 10 min minimum. I let them dry in the sun. Sun is my favorite disinfectant.

Refill food and water containers.

Replace nest boxes and fill with hay or straw.

Clean windows.

Hang up new 2010 chicken calender.

Have a 'beverage' while sitting in front of the clean coop admiring your work and wondering how much Advil you will have to take tonight.

Reluctantly let the chickens back in to make a mess.

Clean the coop again in the fall.

The next day or weekend rake the run and add that material to compost pile.

 

[biddyboo]

The post above should have a button as "Spring/Fall Cleaning 101." Well ordered, detailed, and even includes admiration of final product with beverage in hand! Thanks for a good list that will remind me of what to do, and hopefully keep me from forgetting an important detail. I'm saving this job for a warm March or April day in Missouri! ~G

 

[CityChook]

purpletree - *love* it!

When I spring clean:
Wait for a warm day. I usually do the coop in early May and late October.
Let the girls out to free range.
Open all windows/doors.
Shovel and sweep out all the shavings with the broom (of perceived death). Wheelbarrow them to the compost pile.
Remove roost and hose it off. It has been oiled, so poo doesn't really stick. Let dry in the sun.
Use said broom to sweep down the ceiling, rafters, windows, and floor and get as much dust OUT as possible.
Wash windows inside and out with vinegar/water and dry with a squeegee.
Wipe down baby monitor (I know, I know).
Spray walls and floor (both painted) with vinegar. Wash/rinse with rag washcloth with more water/vinegar. Let dry naturally.
Scrub out water and food bowls. Let dry in the sun.
Trade out winter heated water dish for summer ceramic water dish.
Change out ceramic heat bulb over the roost with an energy efficient light bulb.
Take down supplemental lamp/red bulb and supplemental lamp/white bulb along with the timers. Wipe down and pack away for the summer.
Refill coop and nests with fresh pine shavings. Dust with a light coating of DE using a flour sifter.
Wipe down and top off jars with food, scratch, oyster shells, DE.
Scrape any remaining poo from the ramp to the run.
Rake the sand in the coop. Remove debris (most poo is gone) and add it to the compost pile.
Spray the hinges/latches of the doors with WD40.
Replace carbiners (winter locks) with luggage (summer) locks. Hang key next to human door.
Check paint on trim to see if anything needs to be touched up. Retouch as necessary.
Check washers/screws/hardware wire on the run to make sure nothing needs to be fixed/replaced.
Apply a fresh coat of linseed oil on the coop siding. Let dry.
Trim up the hydrangeas/anenomes that surround the coop for fresh spring growth.
Enjoy a beverage in the grass with the girls in the shade of my big tree.
Try to convince the girls that clean coop doesn't equal death and therefore it's okay to enter. I swear, I think they prefer it dirty.

 

[patandchickens]

I don't generally do "spring" (specifically) cleaning, I just do it as much as needed whenever needed -- although this spring I do think I will take all the bedding out of the turkey pen -- but I did want to comment that what I use is:

-barn shovel
-manure fork
-broom
-scraper
-elbow grease
-a rag dipped in hot water to soften dried-on poo, if needed.

I really do not see the point in using disinfectants of any sort, unless there has been an actual *problem* in the coop.

JMHO, good luck, happy cleaning,

Pat

 

[nsanywhere]

I'm with Pat on this one, although I do a little more than usual for the spring and fall weather changes. i.e., switching waterers (I use plug in buckets in the winter), opening/closing the windows, etc.

I pull out the litter and change as needed, but less often in the winter since its often frozen a few inches down and too hard to do. I don't disinfect the coop unless there's a reason to, and there hasn't been a reason in 80 years.

But I really like the idea of spring cleaning, airing things out, fluffing up for the spring, making sure the fence is in good shape, etc. Oh, I enjoy a beverage after every tidy up!

 

[FortWorthChicks]

Wipe down baby monitor (I know, I know

I thought about getting one of those baby camera monitor setups myself.

glad Im not the only one!​