What's your coop cleaning routine?

[SophieLain127]

I'm going to attempt to hatch my own chicks and I'm still filling out paperwork for my permits. Just wondering what your cleaning routines are for the month?

 

[DarkWolf]

Since you're just starting out I'd recommend against trying to hatch your own and just picking up chicks at your local Co-op when they come in. I saw on your page that you were set on Golden Comets.. Red Sex-Link hens are WONDERFUL birds in my opinion and have by far been the BEST egg producer that we've got on hand.

Our others do not lay eggs nearly as large and often have meat spots in them, which needless to say makes them unappetizing for omelets. Good thing I've got more sex links than others.

I also saw that you've got quite a few hoops to jump through to fall under the guidelines set by the city. That, is not a fun thing.. We're in the county here so we have no regulations beyond keeping them well cared for.

At any rate, me personally, I do not clean the coop for 6 months. Twice a year we clean it out and move the shavings into the garden. Currently we've got a nice 12" deep layer of shavings ready to go out that I've got to get done soon.

This, needless to say will not fit what their expectations are.

 

[DarkWolf]

By the way.. As to composting chicken waste.. Please see the following official document released by Columbus about composting.

http://refuse.ci.columbus.oh.us/pdfs/compostingforwebreadi.pdf

It says several times that composting chicken waste is a great idea..

 

[SophieLain127]

Yes even though they say it is a great idea. The health department advices against it so for paper work purposes I must state what I intend to do with it.

 

[Davaroo]

What's your coop cleaning routine?
Sweep out the dust and cobwebs, then move the coop to the next spot.

 

[Kansaseq]

Shovel out all shavings once a month, or when it needs it, (put shavings on garden, or muddy pathways), put down some Stall Dry or De, put new shavings in.

 

[RockwaterFarm]

My coop is split half bedding half concrete. I clean all the manure, ud and water off the concrete everyday. I also mix the bedding together everyday to keep it frsh. As i need more bedding i add it. Once a year I clean the whoel thing out. I take all the bedding out, vacuum it, wash it with bleach and replace it with new bedding. My bedding is 4 inches deep. The only reason i clean the concrete everyday is because my ducks make a MESS! I used to clean the concrete once a week without the ducks. I compost all the old bedding. I also clean the hay out of the nest boxes once a month. That also goes into the compost pile. With my smaller coop, it is covered with hay. I add hay on top of the old hay until it gets too tall, usually a month, then throw that to compost. Hope you can get your chickens, sounds like a lot of rules to follow.

 

[95yj]

routine? when i notice it looks bad i clean it. but i live in the middle of no where. i wouldn't write that one down on a permit.

 

[scarter]

On the weekends I go out to the coop and add DE to the litter, if the shavings need spruced up I add a layer and add a layer to the nest boxes. Then I toss cracked corn on top so the chickens will stir it all up. That's it until May. Then when they all start going outside on a daily basis I scoop it all out and toss it in the composting pile. I don't add any shavings just bare floor until they start back to staying in the coop. That means permanent snow and below freezing temps together.

 

[JimWWhite]

We clean ours daily. Our coop is 8x4x4 and we use the deep litter method but with 19 Gold Comets we clean it daily. It only take about five minutes and I have several compost piles around my garden that I've got in various stages of rotting in. I spread one big pile over my entire garden back in October so we should be getting some fantastic results this year. Also the coop is in an 18x22 run which is an old carport I enclosed. We layed down about four inches of creek sand before we moved the flock in late last summer. After I clean the coop I take a sharp pointed hoe and 'plow' the sand to turn the poop in. I'm planning on removing an inch of so of the sand before we plant the garden and spread that out there too and then replenish what I take from the run. That will be a big boost to the clay soil we have here in the Carolinas.