Too clean equals bad? fact or fiction?

[Peppercorngal]

I don't like seeing poop piled up and I surely do not want the coop to stink. Though, the run can get a bit yuck this time of year due to the mud. I have fixed that in all but one coops with sand/pea gravel treatments and will fix the third here shortly.

That said, I am a big fan of poop trays and boards that get cleaned every few days or sooner if I have the time. The bedding is another story. I change that out a few times a year. Around quarterly. Well, with the chickens. Ducks get damn often because they are pigs...What I do with chickens is toss in some corn and let them turn up the bedding and if it seems fine I add a bit more. Has worked for me thus far.

I throw rice and/or bean straw in the run for the chickens when it's rainy. They both have seeds for them to scratch through (giving the chickens something to do) and find and it also helps keep the mud down to a reasonable level.

 

[oceansunset73]

I do spot clean ups in the coup daily. I just go around with a kitty litter scooper and pick up most of the poopies that I can see. Only takes 5 minutes to do, really quick and easy.

Once a month I empty the whole coop out and put in fresh new pine shavings.

Twice a year; Spring and Fall I will do an actual scrub down of the entire coup.

 

[Blooie]

This is my outdoor run after almost two years.

Good, clean compost, ready for the gardens. After 2 years the only thing that hasn't really broken down, except for what's left on the the very top layer in the photo below, are the pine shavings. I use dried leaves, (complete with little twigs and whatever else ends up being raked up) garden refuse, yard trimmings, weeds, some pine needles, a little chopped straw - just about anything I could get my hands on. Below, this shot is the hole I made when I pulled that clump. No poop, no odor, and my bedroom window is less than 20 feet from the coop. My neighbor's place is just across the fence less than 70 feet away from the coop/run. The only time she (or my own nose) complained about odors was before I went from "deep bedding" to "deep litter." Living in town on a corner lot, with the coop and run visible from two sides of the street as people walked, biked or drove by, I couldn't afford to have a smelly, unsightly mess in my yard. But ultimately, I think it's all a matter of our own personal comfort zones.

 

[Shadow920]

i have a 200 something year old coop that has layers upon layers of chicken history. occasionally i dig out excess dirt for the garden but for the most part my coop hasn't been cleaned pretty much ever. it isn't really possible to clean anyway. i've never lost a bird to environmental sicknesses. in fact i'm pretty sure my birds prefer it the way it is. i don't even change there water uless it gets too muddy, because i've discovered that if given the choice of a puddle or fresh city water they'll go for the puddle every time. i'll also rake leaves into the coop for the chickens to compost before shoveling it out for the garden.

 

[JMcGrath]

Definitely clean, do mine weekly with fresh shavings and nest boxes are checked everyday and cleaned immediately if needed. That said I don't use chemicals, wash feeders and waterers with hot water and dish cleaner and jet wash the coop twice a year when good drying conditions.

 

[Henrik Petersson]

In nature Jungle Fowl aren't confined to a coop and run but our chickens mostly are. It's an unnatural situation created for the keeping of domestic animals and such an environment isn't self cleaning as natural habitat usually is. Diseases, parasites, pests like mice and rats, and even chemicals like ammonia will accumulate in a coop if it's left to its own devices. So, yes, I think cleanliness and sanitation are important in a coop and run. But as with anything it can be taken to extremes and this is counterproductive.

Also: How would one go about making a chicken coop too clean? I mean, practically?

I mean, think about it. Chickens poop... Once every 2 hours? With 10 chickens, that would mean 20 pieces of poop in four hours. I doesn't matter if you made the coop sterile in the morning, come lunch-time it would be poopy and fumey again.

But that was an over-simplification. It doesn't stop with the poop. Chickens continually shed dander. Your once clean coop will soon be filled with little pieces of skin, feathers etc.

And I haven't even begun taking into account all the stuff chickens drag in from the outside. I take it that pretty much everyone here let their chickens roam in a yard or free range? (At least they should!) The chickens will bring in dirt, bacteria and assorted critters from nature. You know how chickens dust bathe? And how they afterwards shake off all the dust gathered in their feathers? Sometimes they don't do that shaking until after they've gone back inside. And even if they do, they will still drag around some dirt. The other night when I checked on my own flock after they hade gone to roost, I noticed a strong smell of soil in there, the residue after a heavy mass-dust-bathing session.

So, my two cents: Worrying about your coop being too clean is probably on the top 5-list of "things you don't need to worry about with chickens".

 

[aart]

Um, define "clean".

Exactly!

Clean nesting boxes are a definite yes.

Again, well, define 'dirty'.
If I find a broken egg in a nest, I change out bedding, but don't scrub with cleanser.

Also: How would one go about making a chicken coop too clean? I mean, practically?

Stripping it all down frequently and 'washing' with wet cleaners/sanitants /etc.

It's all about balance.
-I use poop boards under roosts with thin(<1/2") layer of sand/PDZ mix, sifted daily into bucket going to friends compost.
-Scrape big or wet poops off roost and ramps as needed.
-Pine shavings on coop floor, add some occasionally, totally changed out once or twice a year, old shavings added to run.
-Runs have semi-deep litter, never clean anything out, just add smaller dry materials.
-Nests are bedded with straw, add some occasionally, change out if needed(broken egg).
There is no odor, unless a fresh cecal has been dropped and when I open the bucket to add more poop.
That's how I 'clean', have not found any reason to clean 'deeper' in 4 years.

 

[BantyChooks]

Again, well, define 'dirty'.
If I find a broken egg in a nest, I change out bedding, but don't scrub with cleanser.

Fecal material, egg, or anything else visible but leaves/hay/pine shavings (and of course eggs ) in the nest box. I never bleach/otherwise remove germs from anything in the coop. Just plain ol' elbow grease and water at most.

 

[RodNTN]

We have a very large coop, and we clean it out every 2 weeks. But there is no rule that says I have to wait exactly two weeks. If it starts to smell, I clean it the day I start to smell something

 

[Faraday40]

I guess I'm more on the clean freak side. I liked the concept of deep litter but didn't think our neighbors would approve. I didn't have the guts to try it. I started out with large hardwood flakes - like horse bedding - and changed it once a week. It was fine when the weather was warm enough for a hose, but we switched over to sand after only a few months.

I love it! I sift it daily and like how things stay clean & dry. It only takes minutes and is even faster in winter when the poop is frozen and separates easily. It costs less overall and has very few flies compared to when we used the shavings. The poop is dumped into our compost tumbler and much is given away to neighbors. I don't know if the sand method would work on a large scale but it's great for me. Occasionally some poop will end up on walls or roosts. For that I like to wipe with apple cider vinegar. I also like ACV for cleaning feeders/wateres/etc.

It's not like I'm against cleaning supplies, I just don't want strong chemicals near my food. Instead I prefer daily maintenance and easy to clean ideas (like poop dropping trays under roosts, easy sweep out nest boxes, chicken nipples, etc. )

Dropping trays have sand for sifting

nest boxes open from side

When needed the board to hold back the nesting material can be removed for an easy sweep out.

I dislike hand santizer.... but we always wash hands after coming in from the coop & before eating.