What do you use for coop cleaning?

[gachickeeper]

I was wondering what everyone uses to clean their coops? I have a wire brush I use to scrape tough poop off the wood roosts in my coop and sometimes a bucket with a little mild soap and water. I have an overhang on the nest boxes that the girls like to roost on sometimes and its really hard to keep clean. Any ideas would be appreciated.

 

[spook]

I have one girl that "roosts" on the top of the nest box due to her curled toes and yes, she leaves "pearls" on the top, what I do is pile shaving on it so that I can sweep just the pearls onto the floor and all clean. As for washing, I'll go in and use a mild bleach solution and use a garden hose to rinse. Then leave it empty until evening and place a few shavings around allowing it to dry another day. I also try to clean on a breezy day so as to keep the air moving. Good luck and sweet looking coop you have!

 

[cajunlizz]

Quote:
YES , get that shelf/Roost out from on top of the nesting boxes . MY roost area is totally on opposite side of the NESTING AREA . SO NO POOP in nest .

DH built a roosting area that looks like a large trillis and the poop dropping fall in BED of PINE SHAVINGS . NEVER anything stuck to the floor .

My WHOLE coop is covered with pine shavings , ALSO inside the nesting boxes . NO FLIES , NO oder and NO POOP stuck anywhere .

All I do is about every 3 months is sweep pine shavings out and re-apply new shavings to the coop . COOP is 8x12 .

 

[gachickeeper]

I think I'm going to take my saw and trim off the overhang so theres no where to roost above the boxes. I also have the problem off my rooster and one pullet who use a couple of the top nest boxes to sleep in, none of them are laying yet, I have eight nest boxes and seven hens so maybe they wont need the boxes they use for sleeping anyway but I would like for them to sleep on the roosts and not the boxes.

 

[pips&peeps]

I use shavings in my coops also. I bought a special shop vac just for my coops. I vacuum the dirt, dust and dander up when I clean.

I also spray down everything with a disinfectant every once in a while.

 

[sueg6255]

I use corn cob bedding in mine. It works great too. No poop sticking to the floor and then I use some DE and mix it in so to keep the mites etc down. Also the smell. On the outside runs I use a sawdust mixture I use in the stall for the horses. Mix in De and that keeps the smell down also. Just rake off the top when it gets back and put more down. Helps keep smell down also.

 

[cajunlizz]

pips&peeps :

I use shavings in my coops also. I bought a special shop vac just for my coops. I vacuum the dirt, dust and dander up when I clean.

I also spray down everything with a disinfectant every once in a while.

What DO you spray as disinfectant ? and the name ?​

 

[gachickeeper]

yes great question Cajun I was wondering about that as well. Where is a good place to get large quantities of D.E my feed store only sells very small bags of a preparation for plants.

 

[sunnydee]

I use shavings in my coop. I use a snow shovel and broom. I also use a putty knife to scrap all the roosts/window sills clean.

I also put DE down on the floor before putting new shavings down. I dont have nest boxes yet (girls are only 9 weeks old).

 

[cajunlizz]

Quote:
SUGGESTION : regardless if they are only 9 weeks old and not laying , go ahead and set up your area with the nesting boxes so they can get accustomed to seeing them and messing around them . ( preparing to lay ) ALSO drop 2 golf balls in each nesting box so they know that is where they are suppose to lay .

If you wait and they notice something different if their coop , it will delay them from laying and OR they may start laying in the shavings . YOU do not want them laying thru out the coop instead of the boxes . LOL


I have several different ages in my flock . Some that are laying , SOME that will be laying without the next week or 2 and some that are about 17 weeks old . SO , they learn from each other . LIKE follow the leader type thing . CUTE to watch the younger ones learning from the HENS .