The things to worry about when cleaning the coop/run.

[Crazychickenlady7]

Even in the summer it's not good idea to introduce a bunch of moisture into the coop.
It can encourage mold growth and increase odors.

The inside of the coops is made of plastic.

 

[SoCal Chicken Mama]

We wear a half face respirator when cleaning the coop. It is important to protect the human lungs when stirring up all the dust.

I never thought of that!~ Thank you. I noticed when I finished cleaning today that I smelled like a dirty chicken. I did launder the clothes and take a shower, but I didn't think about a mask. I will add that to my routine.

 

[littlecoopnextdoor]

I never thought of that!~ Thank you. I noticed when I finished cleaning today that I smelled like a dirty chicken. I did launder the clothes and take a shower, but I didn't think about a mask. I will add that to my routine.

very good idea to protect your lungs. Also yes - I have learned the hard way to wear clothes that can be immediately washed so my neice doesn't tell me I smell like a chicken coop when I hug her (it really sticks to you hair too!)

 

[SoCal Chicken Mama]

Do you wear a scarf/hat? Maybe I need to add that to my chiocken hazmat suit!

 

[rosemarythyme]

My "hazmat" suit includes a shower cap (or this last time, I used an old t-shirt twisted over the top of my head), goggles, a mask, and then a full set of old clothing over my actual clothes - long sleeved shirt, pants, and socks, all tucked into one another. Thankfully hubby's clothes are the perfect size to wear over things for me.

When I'm done I peel it all off outside and throw it directly in the trash, all except the goggles, boots and gloves. It's so filthy, I can't imagine putting the clothes in the wash.

 

[SoCal Chicken Mama]

I never thought of that!~ Thank you. I noticed when I finished cleaning today that I smelled like a dirty chicken. I did launder the clothes and take a shower, but I didn't think about a mask. I will add that to my routine.

Well, I've given up on sand bedding and raking the poop out every morning. I see that whatever poop remnants are left will not decompose (or simply melt away) with just sand. But it's mostly because I wrecked my back carrying those @!*$!!! 50 lb. bags of course sand. (Long story, but there were contractors at the house blocking my access to house, garage, and wheel barrows). I love my 4 chicken store bought coop (mostly because it's cute, the whole metal floor slides out for cleaning, and the run underneath keeps them it deep shade all day in 100 degree weather. But now that my back is hurt, It's no fun getting on my knees to put the food and water in. I also give them a fresh cold water in the middle of the day when it's hot. I had a 6 ft. tall 87 sq. ft. run built around the approximately 3.5 ft x 7 ft. original coop/run, and I had chicks grass in there, but we tore it all up with the build, so I planted new, but I think they are eating up all the seeds. For now I've switched to natural landscape bark (Not the painted kind and not the cedar kind) for the under coop run, and what I rake out of there, ends up in the large run. It smells better than the sand, and it will help the poop decompose, along with the soil that was already there, until the grass comes in. So now I am looking for feedback about the Sweet PDZ products. I see than granular is preferred over powdered, and some people have suggested buying the stuff packaged for horses for chickens to save money. Is it the exact same thing? What about the stuff mixed with chopped hay? Is that practical to use in the big run? Will it hurt the grass, or prevent it from coming in? I do water the big run (for the tree that is in there and the grass seed) after the girls are "upstairs" in their bed, but it is pretty much bone dry by 10:00am. Whatever type of bedding is used, the poop and bedding mixture seems to be too much for the three bin compost system. I'm not seeing a lot of decomposing going on. Is the poop (all nitrogen)/bedding (all carbon) materials throwing my ratios out of wack? Or is it harmful to the worms and grubs who are doing most of the work? Or have they all just gone deep underground because of the extreme heat? Our compost used to cook pretty fast when it was just kitchen scraps and yard wast, and leaves for carbon. One bin is for dumping stuff in,. the middle one is just left to cook, and the last one is sifted and used in the garden, with any big stuff sifted out and thrown back in the other bins. Each bin is 3ftx3ft, and they are all next to each other, separated by chicken wire.