Quote:
Yum!
I'm mucking out the coop today.
It's not bad yet, but I was dumb to paint the walls off-white behind the roosting bars. Some of those girls sprayed the wall when they were eating from that molasses block! The coop smells of molasses more than chicken turds.
Does anyone do deep litter? I scoop the yuck from the wood shavings and replace them all every few weeks. Need a better method. I spend too much on shavings.
(edited for typos)
I use the deep litter method and it works well. With probably 50-60 birds I only go through two bales of shavings every other month. How large is the area and how many birds do you have in there? The best thing--you walk in and you only smell pine shavings. If you were blind-folded you wouldn't even know there were that many chickens in there.
Another suggestion would be to build a poop board or something under the roost and re-configure the roost so it's off the wall.
One that is angled poorly (scrap the wall every time I clean in there, but DH will be moving it a little this summer).
http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m53/Equibling/COOP/DSCN5016.jpg
Some that are better:
http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m53/Equibling/COOP/DSCN5023.jpg
http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m53/Equibling/COOP/EastPen1.jpg
Cover your run with clear plastic roofing if you can afford to do it--this will encourage them to spend more time outside even if it's pouring rain and less time pooping in their coop.
Mine are only inside to roost at night or lay eggs--unless it's pouring rain or really windy.
I use sand in the runs which helps keep them from tracking too much mud & water in....the shavings getting wet will make it smell bad in there in a hurry.
Lastly, I covered all of the ramps with stiff, nylon "boot brushing" mats. This helps wipe off their feet before they enter the coop and cuts down on the water & muck they track in. It was really easy....basically you just need a drill, some screws, a measuring tape, a perm. marker and a box cutter.
http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m53/Equibling/COOP/ToolsforRamp.jpg
A finished one:
http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m53/Equibling/COOP/COmpletedRamp.jpg
I bought the mats for $3.79 a piece at
Wal-Mart.
Installed (you can see it behind the roo):
http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m53/Equibling/Sumatras/DSCN4315.jpg
And a hen coming out:
http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m53/Equibling/Sumatras/sumatrahencleaning.jpg
It also helps keep from them tracking too many shavings out in to the run....
Thanks Heather!
I think my roost is a foot out from the wall, but my RIR and NH loved the molasses blocks, and I can always tell where those two have perched! The block is gone now, so not getting as many wall turds, but they still manage at times! The molasses stains too! I have other roosts in there as well, but they all fight for the high one, and then fight for the 3 "window seats)! Your Sussex is smarter though, after a few days of fighting, she decided to perch on the top step of a step stool on front of a big window. She will hang out in that window all day just watching everything going on (Nicerview than for the fought over windows that look into the run) I bought stuff to put in a poo board, but then I realised it will get in the way of opening the chicken doors which slide up and down in a frame under the roost, and the track it runs in is constantly getting jammed with molasses sticky shavings that I need to carve out of the track with a nail every night. How do you close your run doors, or do you leave them open?
My coop interior is divided in 3 (2 coops, one room that the nest boxes stick out into so I can gather eggs, and fill feeders without getting rained on or mobbed by chickens. The coop portion is 9' X 10' with 11 hens on one side and 14 chicks on the other. The shavings on the hen side are dark brown from all that molasses. There is an attached 10' X 24' covered run that has a door to divide it in two, but I have not ever closed the door. Those are gated to the yard, but they have not been free ranging much as it took too long for the snow to melt and my lawn is extemely mushy and muddy. The coverd run is wonderful! It is filled with 8" or more of playground woodchips. The eggs come out nice and clean. I just toss in some fresh veggies and breadscraps and such. I'm going to put perches in the runs today, I hung feeders in them yesterday to encourage them to spend more time in the run, rather than staying in the coop to eat.
I love the grassy stuff on the ramp. I am going to copy that!
