My coop is hard to clean. Impossible to clean well.

[acissej]

Here's my coop.

Here's my (65 pound) dog to give you a scale perspective.

So, it's easy (enough) to clean inside the coop area. The run is IMPOSSIBLE. The only doors are the ones you can see, on the front and on the top of the left run. How am I supposed to clean it out? I am NOT crawling in there on my hands and knees. It's not been too much of a problem so far, but I really worry about stink when summer comes. Do you clean out your runs? Or just let them be?

 

[kla37]

Try one of those kid sized "toy" gardening rakes! I use one to fluff up the bedding in my coop, and to gather eggs that someone keeps laying in the far corner.

 

[PapaChaz]

that looks very nice! have you thought about putting sand in the run areas? i've seen a lot of posts on here where people say the sand dries the poo out pretty quickly. and you can take an old garden rake and mount it on a pvc handle, it will be a little more flexible, and you can make the handle as long as you want it to be for reaching across.

 

[acissej]

Quote:
Actually yes, we do have sand in the run area! It's never dry now because of the season so that hasn't worked very well for us. Hopefully it'll work better in the summer. Thanks for the tip about the rake. Previously when I've tried to rake it it seems like nothing actually gets raked up (it just makes pretty little lines in the poo).

 

[PapaChaz]

Quote:
Actually yes, we do have sand in the run area! It's never dry now because of the season so that hasn't worked very well for us. Hopefully it'll work better in the summer. Thanks for the tip about the rake. Previously when I've tried to rake it it seems like nothing actually gets raked up (it just makes pretty little lines in the poo).

try turning the rake upside down so the points are up? maybe you could get a kitty box pooper scooper for your longer handle and scoop the poo?

 

[teach1rusl]

Yeah...short, covered runs can be a real pain. It looks really nice though!

It looks like you've put a lot of work into your coop, but I'd keep in the back of your mind that you might need to remodel just a bit at a later date. I could see a hinged door (well - roof really) - the entire back half of the run section on the left. You could frame a wire "door" - hinge it so that you it would lift in, toward the middle. That would open up a LOT of access space. Depending on how tall you are, you could even step up and over into that half of the run to better access the area.
Can't get a good look at the right run section, but maybe something similar there...????

 

[dragonjaze]

While that coop is ADORABLE, this is one reason I'm planning to make everything big enough for me to walk into.

still...super cute.

I'm wondering if you can modify the runs so the whole top lifts up?

 

[Bi0s]

darn that low got to be hard on the back if it was me i raise it up or fix it so the whole top flips up so you can get in there and clean it

 

[BrattishTaz]

This is why my run is feet tall.

Yours does look nicer though. What are you going to do if you have to get a sick/injured bird out of there?
You would need something like a kitty litter scoop (a really big one) to clean the sand. A metal dustpan with large holes drilled in it?

 

[WoodlandWoman]

You could use a kitty litter or reptile sand scoop to sift out the poop. Just tape it to a pole, long handle or long dowel. I think the biggest reason that raking it hasn't helped is because you are in the wet rainy season. I think it will work better in a dryer season. When it's dry, the poop will hold together more as a clump. A mesh type scoop would probably work better for you at the moment.

You could also tarp the top of the runs temporarily, if you think that would help dry them out. Or even alternate tarping just one side to clean it after it dries, if you want them to still get some sun. If your run isn't too crowded, sometimes the rain will wash away a lot of poo. You just have to go by how it smells, to decide if you need to be doing something differently.

If over the course of time, it gets to be too much of a hassle and you come to hate cleaning the run, you could always modify it. Just make a large framed top that's attached with hinges, that lifts up when you want to get in there. That's what I did for our tractor and it worked really well. You might never need that, but it's an option for later, if your back gives out.