Tell the truth - how clean is YOUR coop?

[KnitswithChickens]

Once a week. I clean out all the pine shavings and rake over the run taking out all the leftover scraps that the girls didn't eat. This is only becasue I want to keep my accomodating neighbors on my good side. I don't want them to complain about smells. It's no harder than cleaning out a rabbit hutch really. The coop isn't that big and I only have three chickens.

 

[Amethyste]

Mine is not as clean as I would like

Its our first coop and sadly its a bit hard to keep clean.

Live and learn! We made mistakes building it that were not apparant that we wil rectify when we make the new coop hopefully next year.

But anywho...I clean the dropping board at least every other day, add the odler bedding down over the dropping board <so I can rotate older stuff out> and then add a scoop of fresh brand new litter to the floor. I scra[pe the roosts and make sure they are clean <as possible anyway lol> I add Sweet PDZ to the bedding 1x a week, and sprinkle some over the dropping board. I also 4x a year sprinkle poultry dust as well.

I sadly have stained walls....I have cleaned them best I can but they are not easily accessible. I sweep out what cobwebs I can reach with the broom...and have DH hose down the top of the SunTuf to get the stuff that lands and grows there 2x a year. Once in spring and once when the rains kick in so that they ahve maximum light coming in for them.

I can say tho, its not dirty, and it doesnt smell bad...just a very mild chickeny smell. And the chooks seem happy

No sickness or complaints yet so I must not be doing a bad job then

 

[CityChook]

Quote:
Me too. Partially tho, I like it clean in there because I go in there too...

Well, lucky for me I only have 4 chickens and a 6x8 coop with painted walls and floor. I do deep litter and change it out in April and October. In the meantime, if they poo down the wall (which doesn't happen all that often), simple soap and water and a paper towel clean it up quickly. I don"t scoop poo but I do toss the shavings with a rake about every 2 weeks or so to keep it all dry in there. When I do a full clean (again, only in early spring and early fall), I empty all shavings, broom down the dust from the rafters/walls, wash walls and floor with dishsoapy water, rinse everything with a spray bottle of vinegar, wipe it all dry (unless it's warm enough to air dry, but it usually isn't) and refill with fresh shavings. Windows get vinegared and squeegy'ed and the roost is removed and hosed down in the yard. The whole job takes about 1 hour. Caulking and painting the walls/floor and oiling the roost were the BEST recommendations ever given to me.

oops, my OCD is showing...

 

[La Banan]

hmmm....scary, very scary! I use the deep doo doo method. Whoops I mean the deep litter method. Only not so much in the summer. I will clean it tomorrow or that was my plan -all I'll do is shovel out all the stuff that's there and get new stuff to put on top. I'll sprinkle some DE through it once in awhile. I sure don't get rid of cobwebs or scrape their roost. They are all happy and run around all day long all over my yard pooping everywhere and making the flowers grow. I don't put snack food in their coop or pen - I throw it off the balcony and they come running. They ate one of my sweet mama squash that grew over the fence so I might be a little bit mad at them. So, I guess I'm not very clean but neither are they. They always step in food dishes with their dirty old feet. Jeesh. Oh never mind - we're all OK!

 

[chickenannie]

Quote:
Love it! I'll bet your lawn is as lush and green as mine!
Here's a photo inside just one of my coops (the birds free-range all day, every day, so they only use this at night. I think it was built about a hundred years ago! :

 

[emvickrey]

They don't really care if it is spotless. Chickens are nasty anyway. The cleanest things are my hands when I finish tending to them. I go straight inside and wash my hands. Just the thought of rubbing my eye or picking a wild hair out of my mouth with my fingers just make me queezy. I heard there are those that actually make people change their shoes or put those shoe covers on their feet just to walk around where the chickens walk. Even if it's the yard.

To each his own but there is no way that I will go through all that mess just to tend to the chickens that will walk in their food dishes with their poopy feet. They poop where they sleep. They poop everywhere. What is so clean about that. There is no way I will clean up everyday after them. When it gets really hot I do what I can to keep the fly population down. I always hang one or two of those bags that stink to the high heavens and attract flies and they can't get out. I think it has yeast in it. I'll hang it from a tree or a post away from everywhere to attract them away from the coop and house.
I haven't been able to go out to the coop in a few days because of my bumm knee. DH has been doing it for me. And it has rained a few days. I bet it's a mess out there. I'll get some straw tomorrow.
We used old shingles one summer. It works real well eliminating odor and flies. Don't know why but it did. And it didn't hurt their feet. We would put the grass clippings in the coop on top of the shingles. It worked and it was free.

 

[Divodoll]

I see it mentioned often and have tried to find it by myself to avoid admitting ignorance but am hanging my head and asking - what it DLM?

 

[farmerjoe1896]

check this out this is our clean coop.

 

[bucky52]

i also have a small coop.i clean the poop board off evey morning.i have three hens and they only roost and lay there. .i do have shavings on the floor and i rarely find any poop on the floor.but they have acess to two covered runs.they don't hang out in the coop that much.

 

[Divodoll]

I see it mentioned often and have tried to find it by myself to avoid admitting ignorance but am hanging my head and asking - what it DLM?

Found it!