Yucky henhouse - needs super cleanup

[old biddy]

My henhouse has housed hundreds of chickens over the past 10 years. It currently holds about 25 birds. It has a sloped roof that is 8' at the highest end. It has a feed room in the center and on each end of the building are two separate roosting areas which are each 4' X 8'. The roosts straddle 2 x 4's that are nailed to the sides of the coop which has allowed them to settle in for the night squished up against the wall and which means they poo all over the walls. I really need to redesign the roosts but first I really need to clean up all that old dried up poo and freshen up the walls. I thought about brushing with bleach and water but don't really want to get the coop that wet. It has been dry in there for 10 years and I don't want to mess that up now. I thought about scraping it down and spraying with vinegar and alcohol and then painting the walls and/or covering the inside walls with another layer of plywood - but that would be pricey and a lot of work for me (a 74 year old lady who is not that good a carpenter). Not sure how to tackle this job. Any other suggestions?

 

[Mosey2003]

Wear a respirator! I would probably scrape the bigger bits off and then use a wire brush. Then broom the dust off and spray with bleach water.

 

[NNYchick]

Like Mosey2003 said make sure you were a mask. The best thing I found to scrape poo is a paint scraper, I do this every couple of days though so its not a lot of build up. Maybe see if you can find some teenagers looking for money, give them a paint scraper and a face mask after a shovel to clean the floor.

 

[aart]

It has been dry in there for 10 years and I don't want to mess that up now.

Good thinking!!

I'd just scrape off as much as you can.....
...tho if you want to paint, not sure it'd stick well without major cleaning/prep.

Where are you located?
'Lamont' doesn't give me a state.

 

[Mosey2003]

I think whitewash is kind of meant for this type of situation, do you want to mix some of that up?

 

[old biddy]

Good thinking!!

I'd just scrape off as much as you can.....
...tho if you want to paint, not sure it'd stick well without major cleaning/prep.

Where are you located?
'Lamont' doesn't give me a state.

I'm in Lamont, Florida in the north central "big bend area" of the panhandle, about 35 miles southeast of Tallahassee.

 

[old biddy]

I think whitewash is kind of meant for this type of situation, do you want to mix some of that up?

Thanks, Mosey2003. I'll look into that.

 

[old biddy]

Like Mosey2003 said make sure you were a mask. The best thing I found to scrape poo is a paint scraper, I do this every couple of days though so its not a lot of build up. Maybe see if you can find some teenagers looking for money, give them a paint scraper and a face mask after a shovel to clean the floor.

Good idea! Thanks NNYchick!

 

[old biddy]

Wear a respirator! I would probably scrape the bigger bits off and then use a wire brush. Then broom the dust off and spray with bleach water.

Good idea. Thanks for the advice!

 

[Folly's place]

My wooden coop won't handle water spraying either, so we just shovel it out, and scrape off the 'big hunks'! Pretty, not so much, but okay for a home flock. I may get around to spraying it on the inside with stain, or whitewash, one of these days.
Mary