[Silkysmooth]

Hi everyone,

I currently have 20 chickens in a large coop and was wondering if giving it a daily clean was actually really necessary? With quite a few birds it does get messy quite quick but was wondering if anybody had any advice on the frequency of cleaning and whether leaving it 3 days-a week before cleaning would be ok and do no harm to the chooks?

Many thanks

Andy

[carolbriar]

Hi Andy, I have 5 hens and I just pick out the droppings in the house every day.  I also pick them up in the fixed run every day to try and keep it as fresh as possible.  Some people have perches with newspaper etc underneath and they just remove the paper each day.  Mine don't perch so I can't do that.  I am sure there will be lots of others who can advise you.

[pigeonpie]

Hi,
We just pick out the pooh from the house every morning when we let them out, then clean them out properly as and when it needs it.  We tend to change all the sawdust every few weeks or so but it depends on how dirty and dusty it gets.  I guess part of it depends on how much room there is for them.  Ours free range round about an acre so I don't clean up after them (other than clearing the patio of pooh when guests are likely!) as there is enough space so they don't smell and there are no concentrations of muck.  If they're kept in a run I would suggest that you pick out the mess every day to reduce the chances of developing sour ground and the associated smells and risk of infection.

[nicky d]

Thanks to my hubby now blocking off the nest boxes at night, all 3 of my girlies are now roosting which im pleased about,  all i put on the coop floor is newspaper which i take out in the morning when i let them out.   Mine have their own run which is pretty big, i poo pick that every day, keeps it clean for them.   They also free range in my big garden.   I clean the coop out probably once a week, replacing with fresh bedding in the two nestboxes.    Nickyx

[sally10]

Hi,

Mine ( 6 ) are in a full sized shed with 2 nesting boxes and a perch with a dropping board underneath they are outside all day so mainly poo outside but I do get a bit on the floor but the main amounts are on the dropping board under the perch. I try to pick the poo up off the dropping board everyday so it doesn't start to smell and attract flies. I just sweep it up with a small dust pan and brush and chuck it in the compost bin or on another bit of the allotment.
I then tend to clean them out properly about once a week maybe a bit longer.
I like the idea of putting newspaper underneath the sawdust never thought of that, will definately start doing that from now on !!!

I have just bought some poultry shield so I think once every couple of weeks when i clean them out properly I am going to spray some on as a preventative measure.

Sarah

[Pretty Chick]

Hi 

We also have 20 chickens which (at night) are spread out into 3 hen houses. We do a thorough clean of each house once a week and spray them with poultry shield.

[VeggieVirgin]

I've got 16 chooks (had 17 until today, when the puppies killed one of the them ) who roost in a coop, and I clean it out every day - it only takes a few minutes at this time of year, because we have one of those automatic door opener thingies, which lets them out at first light, so they're not actually spending all the much time in the coop.