Today is Saturday, and it is time to clean out the chicken coop. I usually try to do a deep clean of the coop once a month. This clean out had been a little longer then that and it was definitely time. When I go to clean I first make sure that I have all of the items that I am going to need. We usually get the pine shavings from Walmart since they are $10.00. I also use big construction bags when I am cleaning out the pine shavings. I keep buckets underneath the roost so that cleaning out the poop is easier. We dump the buckets once a week to keep the smell down.
Once I know I have all of the materials that I need for the clean out, I start by pulling all of the items out of the coop. This makes a mess but for me it is way easier then trying to clean around everything. We luckily have a large run for our chickens so it doesn’t take much time. Our girls also don’t like to lay their eggs in the nesting boxes that we gave them, they poop in there and like to lay in the tree’s around the run. I dump everything that is in the nesting box onto the ground since I am shoveling it up anyway.
Then I go to town shoveling up the shavings and getting as much material out of the coop as possible. I will also take a mixture of 1:1 water and vinegar and wipe down the walls to try and get some of the residue off. DO NOT USE BLEACH! Bleach is toxic to your chickens. Once that is all emptied out I fill the boxes with pine shavings to make clean up easier and I put down new bedding in the coop. I then reposition all of the items that we had in the coop so that it is nice a cozy for the girls. We have changed out the roost multiple times, trying to find the best option for our girls. They currently really like the one that my husband and I built last year.
After all of the coop is cleaned out I make sure to clean their water dish and refill the water and food. We love having our chickens and the eggs that they provide for us. Always make sure that they are in a clean environment to reduce any illness or issues.
Thanks for checking out this weeks blog and I hope that this was helpful if you are new with chickens and needed an idea on how to clean out the coop.
Cheers!