How can you sterilize the coop & pen after disease?

[Boring Farm]

posted a topic a couple of weeks ago, "PLease Tell Us, What Would You Do?" Topic 385173. To re-cap, We have a small flock which became a hobby that both my wife and I share. We sell their organic free-range eggs from a roadside stand in front of our 10 acres and decided to buy another 22 Rhode Island Reds from a local farm whose website and Craigslist Ads read like a first class operation. However, after I bought them I found out the Sellers bought them from somewhere else and re-sold them to us as their own. They not only feather picked and cannibalized their eggs, within two days they had full on respiratory disease. Even though I quarantined them, my flock eventually became sick as well.

I recently found out that the antibiotics failed after an autopsy they have CRD, Chronic Respiratory Disease and mites so I need to destory the entire flock (which I've posted another question, "I have to destroy my entire flock. I need a very humane way." topic 392115 if anyone has a VERY humane way).

My question is; How can I sterilize the pen and treat the soil as not to infect any future layers? Mainly, I'm worried about the soil outside the coop which is 100 yards 300 yards. The droppings are a big concern as well as any mites. I usually use bleach on just about everything... equipment, feeders, concrete floor, nests etc. I'm going to build new nests which are made out of plywood because I believe it would be impossible to disinfect them. I usually power wash twice a year.

Please help...

 

[Blondie]

I had a similar situation as you a couple of years ago. I bought chickens off of craigslist and they had that respiratory disease that infected the rest of my flock, too.

BTW, we just used a .22 to cull our flock. A very unhappy situation.

Anyway, I disinfected the coop with a sprayer, broom & brush. The solution was approximately 5 gallons of water, a couple of cups of bleach and a couple of cups of vinegar. I read somewhere that the combination of bleach AND vinegar is a strong disinfectant. Spray down and scrub the walls, roosts nest boxes and everything else in there.

A few months later when I got new chicks from McMurray Hatchery, I was a little nervous, but it worked! My chickens didn't get sick!

Good luck.

 

[FireTigeris]

Myco lives outside in the environment for no more then 3 days.

However I always use a bleach solution and rince really well then let it air dry.

I also put as many things out in direct sunlight as possible to sterilize them.

 

[arch_cpj]

I think that you have a few options Im assuming the walls are woofed walls... I think Id mix me up a 20 percent solution of bleach and water and Id put it into a garden sprayer Id soak them walls till they stopped taking it let it air dry and do it again... Id pull all bedding out and burn it with the chickens and bury very very deep 8 foot or more... Id spray that floor the same way... I think then I may consider an old remedy you could seal that coop up really tight go to a garden store and Id buy me some sulfur put say 1/2 a cup in a tin pan on a brick put a torch to it and light it up seal up that coop and the yellow fumes kill many many bacteria... DO NOT BREATH THE FUMES!!!!... The nId open that coop up and air it out... Of course if itas a small coop and free standing Id burn it to the ground probably easier...

 

[Boring Farm]

Vinegar is a new one but I'm not surprised. It's come up a lot when researching household and cleaning solutions.

What are woofed walls? I have 3/8" plywood on the interior coated with exterior pain, on both sides. The coop is 2X4 construction, insulated and well vented from windows and other materials I've scavenged off an older house that was going to be destroyed. The dual-pane windows are only 2 years old. I'm putting up hardy-plank to match our house. It was originally corrugated sheet metal like you see on most any pole barn.

I clean out the straw and vacuum every month during the warmer weather and about 3 weeks during the winter. Will the bleach kill any mites or should I lightly coat the floor with seven?

About the microorganisms... are you saying I can also bleach the ground outside or that I don't have to worry about that after three days. I wish it would rain like hel.. well, uh... "heck." There are a lot of feathers that I'm trying to pick up from cutting the grass and thinking about putting down Capril, which is granular lime because I have read that's what a lot of owners do.

Thanks again for the advice.

 

[arch_cpj]

hmmmm Typo should say wooded walls... Anyway I would use the bleach on everything open it up and let the sun do its deal... As far as mites if you have no more chickens for a few weeks they will be gone... If you want to sprinkle some lawn insecticide grannuals around the outside of the coop good... As far as the floor Id use hydrated ag lime it will suck any hebe jeebies outta that wood and kill em sweep it up and add some more and let it sit you can then put your sawdust on top... The insulation worries me a bit and I think some type of fuming or replacement of the insulation is in order...

 

[BWKatz]

Just in case u didn't see it on ur other thread. Spray with bleach... the stronger the better. It will kill anything. I'd spray the coop & pen(ventilate well during & after spraying).

Several Mycoplasma spp have been isolated from avian hosts; M gallisepticum , M iowae , M meleagridis , and M synoviae are the most important. Mycoplasmas are fastidious bacteria, 0.3-0.8 µm in diameter; they lack a cell wall and require a rich growth medium containing serum. They do not survive for more than a few days outside the host and are vulnerable to common disinfectants. Each has distinctive epidemiologic and pathologic characteristics.

per Merck's Veterinary Manual.

This means don't worry about the grass. Sunlight will take care of it. I would spray the bedding before burying, although I would burn it. Even if u decide to use the denedar(sp) antibiotic I would do all this. Transmission is aerosol which means that every time a chick sneezed , germs went everywhere. I would do just like I do with human cold/flu. Chg linen/bedding often. Spray everything with light solution of bleach(1/4 c bleach per gallon water). If ur not chging bedding everyday then I would lightly spray it too while they're in pen.when u chg bedding spray the floor. Insulation is not a problem.germs need blood to grow and they would have died before getting in there. Merck's also has a procedure to dip eggs so that they don't transmit. I know it's a lot of work but u said ur chicks are like family. Good luck Healing prayers for ur chicks and prayers for strength for u whatever u decide. I am so sorry.

 

[Boring Farm]

THANKS!

The insulated walls didn't enter my mind so fumigation isn't a bad idea. I'll read up on the aerosol cans for fleas and such to see if it will kill anything of matter. Hopefully, it will also get rid of any spiders, flies and possibly force rodents out (if there are any).

Bleach and viniger is my new best friend. I researched the combination and it seems to be overkill... but anything worth doing is worth overdoing

On a side note, my wife is going to roll her eyes when she reads this. I bleach EVERYTHING of concern... especially when I'm cleaning countertops. She constantly ribs me about it.

Thanks again for your time and energy!
Michael

 

[arch_cpj]

my friend used to get these tabs that when exposed to water produced chlorine gas and it was used as a fumigation aerosol like I said earlier sulfur will work but it reaks

 

[crj]

Years back I worked for the USDA in a quarantine facility down in Florida.
After each batch of animals went through (about 90 days) we would go through what was called "c+d"
clean and disinfect. After the barn and equipment was washed we would spray every inch of floor and wall and fencing and all equipment that came in contact with animals with a mixture of water and fly ash. we used a Bean sprayer with 300 gallons of water and 3 bags 50# each of fly ash. That took care of everything.