Tell the truth - how clean is YOUR coop?

[Nana2KJS]

I was cleaning out my very tiny (4x6) coop and I got to thinking about all the much larger coops out there. Granted, this is my first time to clean/disinfect, but how DO you all do it?! If mine was any bigger I KNOW it wouldn't be as clean as I got it today.

Everything has been cleaned with H2O2 and ACV, new bedding and nesting material, new poop boards ... pretty easy when it's all tiny, right?

So ... tell the truth ... how much do you really do to clean your coop and get ready for winter? Not only am I curious, I wonder if I over did it, or if this is just something we do for the love of our hobby.

 

[PortageGirl]

Errrr, your coop is much cleaner than mine. I scrape the poo board, a couple times a week, I pick out the wet spots of the bedding weekly, I add new shavings, I make sure my hens are comfortable, but I do NOT go the the extremes other people do.

My coop doesn't smell, and it is dry and warm. ... eggs sure are tasty!!!

 

[ThePamperedPullet]

I just got our 8 breeding pens ready for winter. I raked them out (dirt floor pens) spread a bit of Sevin dust and raked that in. All done. Our large outdoor free range pen gets raked about every other day. Oh and I raked out the roosing house. Pretty simple. Takes me about 2 hours to do it all and it gets completely done every other week. We have 92 chickens. 8 breeding pens. 4 broody pens. A henhouse for laying and a roosting house. Plus the large free run pen.

 

[lauralou]

I read the title of this thread, and I was thinking, oh my coops are so very clean.

Then I saw your coop.

Mine aren't nearly that clean. I clean them every day. I'm one of THOSE people. But I don't actually scrub everything down until it shines. Nope. Never. I just pick up all of the poo. A piece of poo doesn't fall that I'm not there with a trowel and a coffee can...

 

[emvickrey]

I scrape the boards best I can and the shelf that they all decided to roost on, I keep pine shavings in the shelf as it is a bit deep. I use a stick to pull, scrape and what ever I need to do to get the spider webs out. I use a broom to dust off and clean webs off the wire. Then I use a leaf rake and rake up what ever I can from the floor as it is the ground anyway. I scoop it up in a scoop and dump it all in a wheelbarrow and take it to the woods and dump it in the holes and gullys. I take out their feeding dishes and wash them. I have never disinfected my coop and so far have never had a problem. No mites or sickness. I just had my birds PNIP tested thursday and all is well. They all got a good looking over too. Everyday I check them all out for any problems. The only problem I have at the moment is a roo hurt a leg when a roost fell while he was on it. No broken bones. Just sore.

In the winter I spread out a square bale of hay all over the floor and fill the shelf for extra protection against the cold for their feet. We cover the walls to keep out the cold and drafts. In the spring as soon as possible we clean out all the hay and uncover the coop to air out.

You have a nicer coop than mine and would be easier to "clean". Mine was made from old barn wood, tin, wire and scraps of wood. The only thing new is the chicken wire for the run and the T posts for it.

 

[chick818]

Quote:
What do you cover the walls with to keep it warmer?

 

[Nana2KJS]

Okay - I was pretty sure maybe I had overdone it. Probably won't happen again .... newbie neurotics, I guess. DH will say I should worry more about our house, not the chickens.

 

[koifarm]

You have to reach a happy medium between use and sterility. Our coop is four years old now, we clean it weekly, blow it out with a leaf blower, scrape down the perches and get as much poop off as possible. Twice a year, we get a hose, wash it thoroughly, disinfect with bleach and water, let dry, apply DTE and Sevin to all the cracks and put four or five inches of sawdust down with hay over that.
So far, knock on wood, we have never had a mite problem, ant problem, fly problem, cockroach problem or anything....and the hens seem happy....and so are we....
I might add that we painted the inside with three coats of white enamel when built it.

 

[ginbart]

I use part of my barn for my chickens. It has a dirt floor it's about 50' x 30'. I clean it every other week. I use a rake and snow shovel. I rake all the shavings to the door and pick them up with a snow shovel. I put them in the wheel barrow and down to the field I go. After about 6 trips I put my DE down on the dirt and cover it with fresh shavings then more DE. I clean out my nesting boxes every Saturday. I let my chickens free range most of the day so the pen doesn't get that bad.

 

[insiderart]

Right now, not very. I've been sick for days, poor chickies.