I am a very new, newbie! My chickens are 3 months old and are in a coop on the lawn that we move every few days. When we move it I hose the lawn down so all the poop gets down into the dirt and my kids aren't tramping through it. I'm just trying to get in a good routine of cleaning everything else and wondering how often do you clean the feeder/waterer and the nest boxes out. How do you clean them out? Soap and water or bleach? Any advice would be appreciated!! Amber four unidentified chickies
My coop is cement floor, I sweep it with a cement broom, then hose it out every monday. thats it . Outside in the yard I scatter wheat feed seed & use the leaf rake to rake the stuff up in a pile -( i leave the pile there for a few days , the birds seem to enjoy digging my work all to pieces) . after i rake the yard with the fresh scattered wheat . I turn the sprinkler on. the sprincler washer all the POO smell down & waters the wheat. in a few days I have a GREEN chicken yard the birds dig & really love the fresh sprouted wheat----the water really does stop the flies & smell! I use no shavings in the coop. D
I scatter wheat feed seed Is this the "official" name for what you are talking about? If I were to go to my local feed store, is this what I would ask for? Thanks - I wanted to check into this for my yard. Thanks!
Thank you very much!! I like your ideas! So would cleaning out the feeder/waterer with soap and water once a week be good? Should I do it more often than that and should I use a bleach solution? Thanks!! Amber four unidentified chicks
I bleach the waterers weekly-sometimes more often in the summer. Usually wash the feeders 1-2 times a year-sometimes more if one gets nasty. The nest boxes I clean out & add new shavings as needed. The coops I TRY to clean annually-I use a deep litter method.