What is your coop maintenance routine?

[holycrapliz]

Ours is not that, lol. We have a converted walk-in shed which makes cleaning a breeze. The walls and ceiling are painted. There is a poop deck up top. I used sand and PDZ for awhile on the poop deck, but after trying what felt like every type of sand imaginable in our area, I decided that it was simply too dusty. We had a camera set up in the coop and the dust was horrible. I now use a mix of fir/pine/DE, 4" deep, and we get very little dust on the cams. I switch out the poop deck bedding, oh, once every other week? Maybe 3 weeks? I kind of scoop some of the poop/shavings with the litter scooper every so often when I collect eggs if I feel like it. It is sporadic. I also turn the shavings a bit with the scooper as I do this.

The floor of the chicken coop is cheap pine shavings. Its about 6-10" deep. I will change it once, right before the heavy rains start, and again in the spring. While they do have an enclosed run for instances where we are not home, they are mostly free range. The run does not have a solid roof. They do not spend time in the coop unless they're sleeping, laying, or if it is raining. Because of this and the poop deck, the pine shavings down below stay relatively clean. Their egg boxes are dish pans that I put straw in. When the straw starts to show signs of getting old, I just dump the straw into the compost pile, hose down the dish pans, and then put them back in with fresh straw. It is so infrequent that I don't even know how often I do that. I've had chickens for 4 years and have never had a problem with any lice/mites/flies/pests. I check them almost daily just because I spend a lot of time outside and they like to harass me for garden treats.

Their food container has been washed.... once. Maybe? It has always been covered. It gets brought into the house every evening and taken out every morning. It is surprisingly clean? Though I will admit that I've purchased new food containers severallllllll times over the years. I can't help but try new chicken products when I stumble on them, lol. Their water is emptied and refreshed daily. It is the only thing I have ever bleached. At the first sign of any mildew, it gets bleached and washed. I usually do that once a week, two at most. I like fresh water. So do chickens. Never skimp on that

 

[Foxinthehenhouse]

I use the deep clean method with pine chips, once a week I put on a rubber glove and pick up poop under roost. Takes a couple of minutes, usually the hens have been in and completely turned over the bedding so then I don’t need to pickup poop. I switch out spreading DTE and Second Saturday lime also. No bugs at all. Then hang some herbs and put some in nesting boxes. I have a nipple feeder with I clean out weekly. ( it hangs in the shade in my run). It probably takes me ten minutes. I have twenty chickens and all are happy and healthy! Great egg production! Chickens should be a joy not a labor!

 

[Chickenclaude]

I have never cleaned like that. My coop doesn’t smell either. I use pine bedding that’s pretty deep and remains dry. The 5 gal water bucket hangs w droppers...I fill every 4-5 days. I do add ACV to the water monthly. The nesting boxes are clean w bedding and so are the eggs. I sweep out in spring and bef winter. I will sweep out only if it gets stinky.
You are working too hard...enjoy them more

 

[Charlenesmom]

My routine takes about 10 minutes a day to clean out the run and the coop. I have a sand/dirt floor in the run and I only use sand in the coop, shavings in the nest boxes. Sand/dirt is a breeze to clean I use a long handled metal cat litter scoop.
The droppings are sifted out quickly and the sand remains clean and dry. I found shaving too hard to use, the droppings stick to them and make it impossible to get them out. I personally don’t like the deep litter method which some people use. My coop is clean as the droppings land on the sand only under the roost bars and I have ample clean out doors so reaching them is easy. I will pick up any new droppings that I see on the floor area of the run as the day goes on if I see them. I don’t have any trouble with flies as I don’t have droppings piling up.
Sand is clean, it filters, and I can add more as needed. It stays dry, so no moisture build up to worry about. Once a month or so I wipe down the walls inside to coop to remove drips on the walls. I purposely painted the walls inside my coop to make it easier to clean, wiping and cleaning a painted surface is easier than trying to wipe a plain plywood surface.
when the weather is hot I clean the waterers thoroughly with just a tablespoon or so of bleach to kill the algae then flush out good with the hose. In winter I use a heated waterer and the water stays clean in between my having to add more.
once a week or so it takes a bit longer if I have to add food to the feeders, fresh cabbage in the hangers, etc but overall only about 10 minutes a day, and when I have extra time I do a few other “chicken chores”. I am not a slave to my girls but they are well cared for, spoiled even, and it doesn’t take me much time.
As I mentioned, I only have shavings in the nest boxes, they never soil in them, so I don’t have to clean them, I only add more when it gets kicked out and they need more.
Enjoy your girls and make your “cleaning” time an opportunity to get to know them and hang with them. I love hanging out with mine, though I don’t always have the time, but on those days we always find much to chat about...lol

 

[RRM]

Very little upkeep in our setup. Sand in both the coop and the run. Coop gets the poop sifted out with a kitty litter scoop every other day, takes maybe 10 minutes to do that. The run gets the poop sifted maybe once a week and raked.
Our chickens are let out around 6:30 each morning and they free range (4-1/2 acres available to them) all day. They come back to the run to eat about sundown then go straight to the coop to roost, so our run stays pretty clean due to lack of use. The only time they really use the run is when we’re gone or if the weather is really crappy.
Feeders are 5 gallon buckets with pvc elbows and waterer’s are 5 gallon buckets with horizontal nipples so refills are only once a week.

 

[nancylee679]

What is everyone's daily/weekly/monthly/yearly routines for coop maintenance?

I am a new chicken mom (my girls are 17 weeks) and was told that chickens are "easy keepers". I am actually finding that not to be the case so much compared to our goats who are definitely easy keepers. I hear that mite/lice prevention is a huge part of having chickens and that sweeping the coop and run out twice a week, which is my current level of maintenance, isn't enough.

I spoke with a woman recently who told me her routine is to clean out water bowls with soap and water twice a day, wear only designated coop shoes that she cleans daily, AND cleaning the entire coop out with bleach DAILY!!! Her oldest chicken is 15 year old! But who can actually commit to that sort of routine (and for 15 years?!!!.. plus I thought bleach in the coop was a no-no).

I'm thinking I need to up my prevention ante.. but I also don't have several hours a day to spend on my 5 girls. What do you all do? I'm thinking I may do a deep clean once a week with soapy water and neem oil, spraying down all the crevices and the roost every week, at least just for the summer months. I know we do have mice in our coop since they live in the barn and there's no way to keep them out of our barn. These girls are turning into a handful and I don't even like eggs all that much!

I have 6 chickens in a backyard coop with an attached run. I have a vinyl tile floor in my coop which is raised about 18 inches over a wood deck. The hens go into the coop to lay their eggs and to roost at night. Otherwise they are in the run which no longer has no vegetation just dirt. I let them into the yard for about 2 hrs every evening and sometimes all day. I am trying to keep a part of my lawn for me. I use a combo of play sand and cat litter in the coop and scoop it daily. Takes about 5 minutes. I change the bedding (pine shavings) in the nesting boxes about every 2-3 months as needed. I’ve done two deep cleans in the 2 years I’ve had chickens. The entire side of my coop opens to allow me to clean, so I’d say planning your coop is probably the best way to have carefree chickens.

 

[nancylee679]

My routine takes about 10 minutes a day to clean out the run and the coop. I have a sand/dirt floor in the run and I only use sand in the coop, shavings in the nest boxes. Sand/dirt is a breeze to clean I use a long handled metal cat litter scoop.
The droppings are sifted out quickly and the sand remains clean and dry. I found shaving too hard to use, the droppings stick to them and make it impossible to get them out. I personally don’t like the deep litter method which some people use. My coop is clean as the droppings land on the sand only under the roost bars and I have ample clean out doors so reaching them is easy. I will pick up any new droppings that I see on the floor area of the run as the day goes on if I see them. I don’t have any trouble with flies as I don’t have droppings piling up.
Sand is clean, it filters, and I can add more as needed. It stays dry, so no moisture build up to worry about. Once a month or so I wipe down the walls inside to coop to remove drips on the walls. I purposely painted the walls inside my coop to make it easier to clean, wiping and cleaning a painted surface is easier than trying to wipe a plain plywood surface.
when the weather is hot I clean the waterers thoroughly with just a tablespoon or so of bleach to kill the algae then flush out good with the hose. In winter I use a heated waterer and the water stays clean in between my having to add more.
once a week or so it takes a bit longer if I have to add food to the feeders, fresh cabbage in the hangers, etc but overall only about 10 minutes a day, and when I have extra time I do a few other “chicken chores”. I am not a slave to my girls but they are well cared for, spoiled even, and it doesn’t take me much time.
As I mentioned, I only have shavings in the nest boxes, they never soil in them, so I don’t have to clean them, I only add more when it gets kicked out and they need more.
Enjoy your girls and make your “cleaning” time an opportunity to get to know them and hang with them. I love hanging out with mine, though I don’t always have the time, but on those days we always find much to chat about...lolView attachment 2271562View attachment 2271551View attachment 2271552View attachment 2271553View attachment 2271554View attachment 2271555View attachment 2271556View attachment 2271557View attachment 2271558View attachment 2271560View attachment 2271561View attachment 2271562View attachment 2271563

 

[nancylee679]

I love your coop. My routine is similar but your coop is so much nicer.

 

[priscillaJ]

What is everyone's daily/weekly/monthly/yearly routines for coop maintenance?

I am a new chicken mom (my girls are 17 weeks) and was told that chickens are "easy keepers". I am actually finding that not to be the case so much compared to our goats who are definitely easy keepers. I hear that mite/lice prevention is a huge part of having chickens and that sweeping the coop and run out twice a week, which is my current level of maintenance, isn't enough.

I spoke with a woman recently who told me her routine is to clean out water bowls with soap and water twice a day, wear only designated coop shoes that she cleans daily, AND cleaning the entire coop out with bleach DAILY!!! Her oldest chicken is 15 year old! But who can actually commit to that sort of routine (and for 15 years?!!!.. plus I thought bleach in the coop was a no-no).

I'm thinking I need to up my prevention ante.. but I also don't have several hours a day to spend on my 5 girls. What do you all do? I'm thinking I may do a deep clean once a week with soapy water and neem oil, spraying down all the crevices and the roost every week, at least just for the summer months. I know we do have mice in our coop since they live in the barn and there's no way to keep them out of our barn. These girls are turning into a handful and I don't even like eggs all that much!

Ha Ha! Chickens easy keepers? (See the health/disease forum!) Don't think so but they are fun. One thing I did was to buy under the bed storage plastic tote things on wheels. They are from Walmart and I place them under the roosting bars. Depending on how you have the roosting set up, it may work for you. I fill those with mini-flake pine shavings. I can pull them out and scoop the poop off the top mostly and roll them back. Also, the poop seems to hit the wall of the coop so I had some vinyl wallpaper leftovers and I taped it half way up the wall and it drapes down into the plastic totes. The rest of the coop has some deep pine shavings and so far seems to stay pretty poop free, and it's a nice soft landing off the roosting bars. Works for me and I don't want to have to work any harder than I have to at it.

 

[priscillaJ]

Nice coop! Do you live south? I am in the midwest-Missouri, so I have a different set up. It's off the ground just a bit and it's about 10x10. How many inches of sand? Is there a recommendation? And, in winter does it keep humidity down? Guess it depends on keeping the droppings cleaned up. I did splurge and staple some screen on the inside of my windows. I'm not sure why except to try and discourage wasps.