How to Keep this Coop Clean - Is Deep Litter Bedding Possible?

[tori729]

My coop is 6x6 and about 1" deep. I'm using wood mulch chips in the bottom. The roosts are on the far side of the coop away from the door and the poop pretty much stays over there. I've been just mixing it around every few days to keep it from collecting together and I did add another load of mulch after a bit.
The pictures show I did add a lip where the door opens but that doesn't allow a ton of build up of mulch. Could I just keep stacking mulch up at the back every once in awhile or would it make more sense to get poop boards for the back half of the coop? What's the best way to keep this clean without having to clean it too regularly?

 

[RoyalChick]

A few thoughts from me - others with more experience will hopefully weigh in.
- What is the floor made of? Are you piling the bedding on bare dirt? Or is there a floor structure? Deep litter works best I believe on a dirt floor because bacteria and worms etc can come up and break down the poop bedding pile.
- I also think the bedding absorbs better if it has a bit of a mix of things. I use wood chips and shavings and leaves and shredded paper and in the most heavily pooped area I scatter those stall pellets.
- my set up is designed to overflow so that isn’t an issue. I pile stuff up under roosts and the chickens eventually work it out through the door and into the run. Sometimes (like once in a blue moon) I apply a rake to it. But mostly I just pile bedding on top.
Hope that helps.

 

[BackyardChickenFool]

Maybe add a door or something that you can just push everything out with a shop broom like this.

If you have a garden just throw it on there

 

[rosemarythyme]

- What is the floor made of? Are you piling the bedding on bare dirt? Or is there a floor structure? Deep litter works best I believe on a dirt floor because bacteria and worms etc can come up and break down the poop bedding pile.

x2 - your coop appears elevated. Deep litter works best on a dirt floor because you want moisture and microbes to break down the poop. Moisture is something you otherwise don't want inside a coop.

I assume what you're actually doing is deep bedding which is a different thing, dry vs wet. Deep bedding should stay fairly dry to be effective. Ratio of poop to litter will determine when you need to clean out. I don't have poop boards so I can't weigh in on if that's optimal for your set up.

Your lip is way too low to allow for accumulation of litter. You can try pushing all the litter to the back but the chickens will kick it around. I have a 1x4 across my door. I use bricks to hold it in place so during clean outs I just move it.

 

[21hens-incharge]

Switch to pine shavings. Rake/scrape them out once a week. Throw them in the garden/compost pile or trash and add fresh shavings.

The coop isn't designed for deep litter as there is a floor. It would be deep bedding but it's not designed for that either with low headroom.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Switch to pine shavings. Rake/scrape them out one a week. Throw them in the garden/compost pile or trash and add fresh shavings.

The coop isn't designed for deep litter as there is a floor. It would be deep bedding but it's not designed for that either with low headroom.

Oh I should've expanded the photos (I didn't realize the roof was right there, I assumed the coop was far taller). I agree, more frequent cleanouts are probably the best way to manage things as you don't have room for deep litter, deep bedding, nor poop boards.

Poop boards need enough clearance between floor and roosts to allow chickens to walk underneath (you don't have that), and more importantly, I don't think you as the keeper could fit inside in order to maintain the poop boards daily, unless being bent over halfway on top of soiled bedding is your thing.

 

[BecksNesting]

AubiChick Hemp solves everything! Just a once-a-year cleaning, that's it!

 

[tori729]

A few thoughts from me - others with more experience will hopefully weigh in.
- What is the floor made of? Are you piling the bedding on bare dirt? Or is there a floor structure? Deep litter works best I believe on a dirt floor because bacteria and worms etc can come up and break down the poop bedding pile.
- I also think the bedding absorbs better if it has a bit of a mix of things. I use wood chips and shavings and leaves and shredded paper and in the most heavily pooped area I scatter those stall pellets.
- my set up is designed to overflow so that isn’t an issue. I pile stuff up under roosts and the chickens eventually work it out through the door and into the run. Sometimes (like once in a blue moon) I apply a rake to it. But mostly I just pile bedding on top.
Hope that helps.

Yeah I even tried to figure out which one I meant before I posted - why I put both in the title lol!
The floor is wood with vinyl over it so yeah it would be deep BEDDING. SO hard for me to remember which is which!
Stall pellets = wood horse pellets right?
Good idea to mix different things. I have some pine shavings in the nest boxes so maybe I could add some of that, some paper shreds and some wood pellets (we buy them for our cat litter boxes)
Sounds like your set up is similar to mine. How high can it be stacked up and how often do you clean it completely?

Your lip is way too low to allow for accumulation of litter. You can try pushing all the litter to the back but the chickens will kick it around. I have a 1x4 across my door. I use bricks to hold it in place so during clean outs I just move it.

Yes to deep bedding NOT litter.
You just have a 1x4 board and bricks on either side? I could try something like that maybe. The other door has the nesting boxes though so I couldn't do that on that side.

Switch to pine shavings. Rake/scrape them out one a week. Throw them in the garden/compost pile or trash and add fresh shavings.

The coop isn't designed for deep litter as there is a floor. It would be deep bedding but it's not designed for that either with low headroom.

Why switch to pine shavings? We had a huge load of mulch delivered for free so that's why I'm using it. I would rather not rake/scrape everything out once a week. I would rather find a way to do deep bedding if possible. Or maybe shallow bedding - same method, just cleaning it every month or two instead?

 

[BecksNesting]

I'm serious, hemp bedding is the way to go for the coop. I put two bags in a year ago and will simply push it all out into my runs, then add new hemp bedding. All you have to do is simply stir it around every day or so and it dries out chicken matters to virtually pebbles. No need to have poop boards at all. Stays fresh smelling too!

We also used hickory branches for roosting poles, they have extremely smooth bark.

 

[rosemarythyme]

You just have a 1x4 board and bricks on either side? I could try something like that maybe. The other door has the nesting boxes though so I couldn't do that on that side.

I do that because the bricks are free and anything that doesn't have to be permanently installed is a win for me, because I'm not inclined to actually build things. The bricks don't all have to be at the ends, I have some in the middle too now.

I would rather not rake/scrape everything out once a week. I would rather find a way to do deep bedding if possible. Or maybe shallow bedding - same method, just cleaning it every month or two instead?

I think I remember your coop build now... you had a friend that did it? IIRC people did mention concerns about it being too short inside and because of that you don't really have the height to create the litter volume needed to do deep bedding.

You can try going a month or two between clean outs but you'll need to judge honestly for yourself if that works. If you start to see moisture build up inside or smell ammonia, then it needs to be cleaned out.