[iowrooster]

Hi

Just wondering what others do when it comes to mucking out.  Each week I thoroughly clean the girls out and put the old bedding in a compost bin.  As my girls are fairly clean and their coop is quite big, the bedding is often as clean as when I put it in. Do others ever put the old back in once the house has been cleaned/disinfected?
Cheers

Lee

[joyfull]

I thoroughly clean out once a fortnight in my shed - if it gets bad in the meantime I just go in and pooh pick. The little arks get pooh picked daily.

[GrannieAnnie]

I think the problem with re-using bedding even though it looks clean, is that you could be re-introducing mites or bacteria that you are cleaning to get rid of.  (Not that I'm saying you have mites!!)  So like Joy says, perhaps don't deep clean as often and poo pick in between?

[Flowerpower136]

I've got the same problem, lots of clean bedding going to compost.  So am thinking of go to fortnightly for cleaning out the coop, though will continue with daily poo patrol, and weekly cleanse and refil of the nest boxes.

[Kate and her Ducks]

Get ducks! Never a problem with what to do with clean bedding, there isn't any!

[iowrooster]

Hey thanks for the replies! We do pooh pick daily, every two weeks with the thorough clean sounds a good idea. Just a thought, does anyone use the rubber matting( used for horses) to put in a section of the coop?- obviously majority would still be hemcore . Just an idea to minimize the waste!!

[iowrooster]

Kate- would love ducks, maybe when move to a bigger house!

[maggiem]

Hi. I am now wondering if I am cleaning out more often than i need to. I poo pick twice a day and also change the newspaper in the perch drawers every morning but once a week i scrub everything and spray with poultry sheild. I also sprinkle Diatom on the nest box bedding and all over the sawdust on the floor. As i dont know anyone else who has chickens in my area can you tell me if what i'm doing is okay? thanks

[joyfull]

I clean my shed out fortnightly (although this time it went longer) and then first puff fresh diatom into all the cracks and joints and then follow with my hemcore. I don't poultry shield every clean (twice a year only for me - although if I do see any redmite then I will use it then - touch wood not had them). When one of my girls was rearing chicks she had something crawling (lice/mites not sure but they bit me!!) so the girls got put into a pillowcase (with their heads sticking out) and inside this pillowcase there was mite/louse powder. this enabled me to rub it all into their feathers.
Like you I put diatom in their nest boxes so when they go in to lay they are also protected. Changing the newspapers daily is a good idea so therefore you should have very little mess anywhere else to clean. As you live somewhere far sunnier and warmer than me (lucky you  ) only you can decide if you wish to clean more often. Joyxx

[beulah59]

love the pillow case idea! 

[joyfull]

Not my own original idea - got it off here but can't remember who first posted it but it does work 

[Roll Roll]

Kate- would love ducks, maybe when move to a bigger house!

You dont need a big house or garden for that matter to keep ducks. Most people on here who keep ducks live in a "normal" semi like us. They don't take any more room up than chickens.