How To Clean A Chicken Coop Fast
"A place for everything and everything in its place." — Unknown
Does this audio familiar? It is a quote that says that everything should have a identify to be stored and when not in use it should be returned to that place.
Are you lot a laic in this type of cleanliness? Well, if so, then this is going to be a expert read for y'all. If y'all have chickens, and so you'll be curious to know how to make clean their coop I'm sure.
Now, if this seems like common sense to you lot, great! However, keeping your birds' coop clean is of swell importance if you want a healthy flock and lots of eggs.
Here is how you clean your chickens' coop:
1. A Clean Place to Roost
My chickens similar to roost merely like virtually chickens. However, the thing to remember is that a sleeping chicken is a pooping chicken.
Information technology shouldn't come up every bit a huge surprise to anyone that roosting bars go really nasty. And with that, I'd like to introduce y'all to my cleaning tool of a choice: a garden hoe.
Yes, a garden hoe. It works wonders. I'm able to scrape everything clean and non accept to get nasty in the process. I practise this by simply running the garden hoe over the roosting bars repeatedly until I get all of the poop knocked loose and off of the roosting bar.
If necessary, you can spray the roosting bars down with a water hose. Depending upon how nasty they are, I will often take a sponge soaked in white vinegar and run them over the bars as well. This does help to sanitize and deter bugs.
2. A Make clean Place to Lay
Can yous think how peachy information technology feels to get into bed when yous've put clean sheets on it? I honey that feeling.
Well, so practise your chickens. In fact, if their nesting boxes aren't clean it can actually deter them from laying.
So if you want to up your egg production so be sure to clean your hens' nesting boxes regularly. When doing this, once more, I apply my trusty garden hoe. I only pull out all of the bedding and scoop it onto the footing.
The smashing thing about this is it doesn't take very long at all. Then, I place fresh material back inside their nesting boxes.
Now, you tin apply many dissimilar materials. I usually use shredded paper, hay, harbinger, or mulch. A lot of people use cedar pine shavings and that is fine. I don't because I like to utilise what I have on hand.
Subsequently this, you're ready to motility on to the next surface area of the coop.
3. A Clean Place to Walk
How gross is information technology when the within of your home has a muddied floor? Believe me, I sweep my floors every twenty-four hour period (sometimes multiple times a twenty-four hours) but with 3 boys I e'er seem to have clay in my house waiting to be swept again the next day.
It is kind of the same with your chicken coop. The departure is chickens poop everywhere.
How y'all make clean their flooring volition depend upon your method. I utilise the deep litter method. This is to add more than fabric to the coop floor so the waste can compost inside the coop.
So I'll come back a few times a year and scoop it all out equally great compost for my garden. If you use this method, then you lot'll need to let all of the waste product you've scooped from the roosting confined and nesting boxes remain on the flooring of the coop.
Adjacent, you'll go over the coop floor and level everything out. If there are bare spaces or particularly gross spaces, and then add some more litter to the flooring of the coop.
Again, I apply wood fries for this. My chickens dear it because they can scratch around, and I'thou happy because it makes my coop look and besides scent fresh.
However, if you have a concrete floor or any other type of floor in your coop and then you'll need to clean it.
Begin by gathering all old material or waste that is on the floor and scoop it out. You can nevertheless use the fabric in your compost bin and so you don't waste material annihilation.
So you'll need to either add more cloth back to the coop floor or if yous have a concrete (or other washable floors) then you'll need to hose the floor downward.
In one case your floors are clean, you lot're fix to move on to the final stages of coop maintenance.
4. Sprinkle Some Fairy Dust
I honey diatomaceous earth. The stuff works wonders on a lot of different things. It tin be used to keep fleas off of your dog. A lot of people in my area sprinkle it on their one thousand to kill ticks and other unwanted critters.
However, you tin can also apply information technology to assist go along mites out of your chicken coop and it is totally natural to kick. Which is why I sprinkle it in the nesting boxes and on the coop floor. This fashion when my chickens grit themselves, they are putting diatomaceous world all over them and deterring pests from climbing on them.
Also, I worm my chickens with diatomaceous earth a few times a twelvemonth. When you begin to run into poop on your eggs a lot, and so you know it is fourth dimension to worm them.
A lot of times when I am cleaning out their coop, I volition sprinkle diatomaceous globe inside their food as well. And then they eat it and naturally worm themselves.
As you tin tell, sprinkling diatomaceous world is something that has a lot of benefits, is very natural, and should be included when cleaning out your coop because information technology helps proceed everything and everyone maintained and salubrious.
five. A Clean Buffet
Have I mentioned that chickens poop everywhere? I thought so.
Well, they do! That is why it's important to keep their food and water abroad from nesting confined or nesting boxes because (yous guessed it!) they'll poop right in or on them.
So our feeder is hanging correct in the middle of the coop for this reason so they can't peradventure poop anywhere close to or on information technology.
Plus, their water organization is correct next to it. I'grand going to share a frugal tip about watering chickens. When nosotros first got chickens we invested in this fancy watering system because nosotros thought it would be the best for them.
Ummm…no. Chickens actually like to gulp water instead of having to peck to get information technology out.
After realizing this, we tossed the fancy watering system and put a bucket in its place. It is a smaller bucket and then the chickens can drinkable from it, but they are and so happy because they can hands stick their caput in it and guzzle water.
Now, if you take a smaller number of chickens you tin can probably go abroad with one of the smaller poultry waterers. We have plenty chickens that nosotros'd take to have multiple of those and to be honest, I'thousand frugal and don't really desire to make that investment when a bucket works just also.
Whatsoever you use to feed and h2o your chickens, you'll need to clean them. Accept them out of the coop and hose them downwards. That way whatever dirt can be hosed off and then let them to air dry out. This keeps everything clean and that way nothing gross can begin to abound within of them.
And ultimately, it is just ane more step to go on everyone healthy which is the ultimate goal.
Now, I will offer an added tip. When I put the food and water containers back inside the coop and refill them, I will sometimes add together some ACV and garlic to their water. It supports their allowed system, and I especially practice this during the wintertime months.
half-dozen. A Clean Identify to Run
If your chickens don't complimentary-range then they most probable accept a run or a chicken yard of some sort. My chickens are immune to complimentary-range in our fenced backyard during the fall considering they help make clean up our garden beds.
Still, the remainder of the yr they accept to be put up considering nosotros grow a lot of items in garden beds inside our fenced backyard. This means that they have a fenced-off chicken yard so they tin withal get out and peck in their own area.
Well, you tin't forget about these areas when cleaning. And so y'all'll demand to use a rake (or hoe) to level out the litter cloth that covers these spaces. Add some more material if needed as well.
Basically, you merely want to make clean up any mess that might exist lying effectually. Information technology isn't a hard task. Information technology just needs to be maintained so as not to become unsanitary.
Honestly, I don't have to scoop this area out but a few times a yr when I demand compost. All the same, if you lot don't practice the deep litter method, and then you'll need to empty it when cleaning for sanitation purposes.
7. Give Your Chickens a Mani/Pedi
When cleaning your craven coop, it is also a good time to check on the health of your birds. Illnesses occur in chickens from time to time. Being proactive can be the difference between life and death for your flock.
When cleaning out the coop, try to remember to bank check their feet for bumblefoot and look at the overall health of each bird. This style if one of them is breathing funny or has whatever other aberration, it shouldn't become on for a very long time without yous noticing information technology.
As you can tell, this pace is pretty like shooting fish in a barrel. Information technology shouldn't take you very long, simply it could be the difference between having a salubrious productive flock or a sickly flock.
8. Mend the Broken Places
Coops need repairs every now and and so. It is important to continue them well maintained for the safety of your flock.
When yous are cleaning, pay attention if there are any damaged areas. If so, then fix information technology. Virtually repairs to a chicken coop don't take more than a few minutes (unless it is something major.)
One of the nearly common repairs I run across in our coop is that the chicken wire is becoming loose and beginning to sag. A few whacks with a slap stapler and we are back in business organisation.
Just keep an centre out for any repairs that need to be fabricated and endeavor to make them every bit yous are cleaning the coop so you don't forget about them.
9. How Often I Make clean
Well, all of this advice is groovy and all just how oftentimes should you really practise these steps? For me, I clean my birds' coop in one case a week and do it in between cleanings every other mean solar day.
The reason is that my birds are super picky. I guess I've spoiled them. Nosotros have plenty of roosting space just for whatever reason, sure birds desire to sleep in nesting boxes.
And do you retrieve how I mentioned that a sleeping bird is a pooping bird? Well, you can imagine that my nesting boxes become pretty gross.
So I clean them out about daily. Then I practice my large overall cleaning every Mon morning. If I do it on a weekly footing (and move speedily) it doesn't take more than 15 minutes or and so from start to finish. Staying on tiptop of things really saves you time in the long run.
Well, these are my 9 tips on keeping a make clean chicken coop. I hope that you observe them helpful and that information technology will help you to maintain a healthy flock.
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Source: https://morningchores.com/cleaning-chicken-coop/
Posted by: marrashaden.blogspot.com
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