Official BYC Poll: How Often Do You Clean Your Coop?

[My Very First 6 Chickens]

I like your ball cap, sounds like my daily routine!

Sometimes, the order is reversed tho

 

[WingsysRoost]

My coop gets a good deep cleaning twice per year (spring and fall, roughly). I remove all of the old bedding and vacuum any dust or old cobwebs or anything else that might have collected. I scrub and sanitize the floor, walls, ceiling, and inside the nest boxes before adding new hemp bedding. Deep cleaning is also the time where any larger modifications to the coop are made, as well as inspecting for any potential issues and repairing anything not urgent. (Urgent issues, such as anything that will impact the integrity of the coop or create a safety risk, are repaired as soon as possible.) Eventually, the plan is to add sand under the roost bars to make it easier to scoop every day.

Between major cleanings, I will watch for any areas that need attention and clean those as needed, on top of regular maintenance such as scooping under the roost bars.

 

[BonnieBlue]

I clean poop daily in the early AM when i let them out to free range. I use this time to inspect everything for coop vulnerabilities, watering stations, feed stations and the chickens behavior. I love when I can count all the chickens from my window when I first wake up. At least I know everyone survived the night as I make my coffee

That sounds familiar. I am up early, and get up to open the coop before they get up. Then I stand at my kitchen window and can check on them, or check the camera I have in the run, to make sure everyone is there in the mornings. Usually with my first cup of coffee, so I can get caffienated to get my day on.

Love your cap!

 

[Soujrnr]

check the camera I have in the run

I have game cameras outside the coop, but I like this idea of having a camera in the run. I think I'm going to do that as well. I have some mini cameras that I'm going to put in the coop above the nesting boxes to see whose laying which eggs, but another one in the run would be great!!

 

[BonnieBlue]

I have game cameras outside the coop, but I like this idea of having a camera in the run. I think I'm going to do that as well. I have some mini cameras that I'm going to put in the coop above the nesting boxes to see whose laying which eggs, but another one in the run would be great!!

I really like having one in the run. I can check in on the girls from anywhere, as long as they are in the run, and because I don't have an automatic door, I can watch to make sure they are in for the in night before going outside to close the pop door.

I have not yet had a problem with predators, or anything getting in the run, but if I do, It will help me know what, and how, just by going back to the video.

 

[BiggDeal]

View attachment 2583103​

It's not a pleasant part of keeping chickens, but it's one we must all deal with regardless: poop. How often do you clean your coop out? Don't include pens in your answer, just your coop or coops. Do you find it easy or difficult to clean them out? What changes to your coop design or technique would you make to improve the process?

(Check out more Official BYC Polls HERE!)

New to this and ours are just going into their coop but I plan on doing poop boards and using sweet PDZ which will be cleaned each morning after letting them into run …. The run will be done as needed not sure how much will get out in run ? With 8 chickens? 16x8 and will also eventually have tunnels to run around yard and back into run area as well I’m guessing the run depending on how dirty it gets will be done weekly or more / less if needed I’m a clean freak so making sure it’s clean is key to me … we tried to design it with cleaning in mind … linoleum on floors poop boards under roosting area and we also put linoleum up the walls 3/4 way up to make it easy to deep clean when needed … I put a lil sat lime in and around exterior areas which we are doing now before moving birds outside. It’s a walk in shed style my husband is just finishing up run
Hoping it’s not to bad to clean if we keep up on it but my thoughts were to deep clean really good every couple months?

 

[BDutch]

The run will be done as needed not sure how much will get out in run ? With 8 chickens? 16x8 and will also eventually have tunnels to run around yard and back into run area as well I’m guessing the run depending on how dirty it gets will be done weekly or more / less if needed I’m a clean freak so making sure it’s clean is key to me … we tried to design it with cleaning in mind … linoleum on floors poop boards under roosting area and we also put linoleum up the walls 3/4 way up to make it easy to deep clean when needed … I put a lil sat lime in and around exterior areas which we are doing now before moving birds outside. It’s a walk in shed style my husband is just finishing up run
Hoping it’s not to bad to clean if we keep up on it but my thoughts were to deep clean really good every couple months?

There is a thread on cleaning/maintaining runs as wel:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...oop-from-the-run.1601556/page-8#post-27258042

 

[Shaste]

For small coops like mine that you can't walk into I found a great tool for picking poop out of shavings .. a pair of clamshell kitchen tongs! We have a big door that opens to the roosting bar area, and It takes just a minute to grab what was left the night before.

 

[Racsan]

Im new to this but thinking I will be on a 6 month clean out schedule, obviously more if needed. With my old setup that was only in use 9 months (12x12 tarped kennel) I just kept adding more straw, never actually cleaned it out. When I took it down I tossed clover seed over the area, now I have a actual building with a nice big sliding door for easy clean-out Im guessing at a every 6 month cleaning. There is a good sized outside run that the birds go out in from daytime to dusk.

 

[Coveykn]

View attachment 2583103​

It's not a pleasant part of keeping chickens, but it's one we must all deal with regardless: poop. How often do you clean your coop out? Don't include pens in your answer, just your coop or coops. Do you find it easy or difficult to clean them out? What changes to your coop design or technique would you make to improve the process?

(Check out more Official BYC Polls HERE!)

I clean my coops every two weeks. I put linoleum in my guinea coop, so it is easy clean up. Nothing sticks to the floor. The chicken coop has removable metal pans which is great. they are easy to pull out and clean. It only takes me about 30 mins to clean both. Both coops were bought at Tractor supply. They are small coops, so we are planning on building bigger ones to accommodate all our feathered friends in the Spring.