Why should you clean the chicken coop?
There are many reasons why you should maintain a clean chicken coop. In deep litter chicken coops, the floor is thickly layered with wood shavings or hay. This is where the chickens defecate too. When chickens are kept for too long among the accumulation of their own feces, they can become ill. Dirty coops also lead to the spread of diseases. So cleaning them out now and then promotes a healthy flock.
Chicken litter is highly polluted with ammonia which can be dangerous for chickens and farm laborers alike. Breathing in these gases can lead to many breathing problems and debilitating diseases. Cleaning the coop also keeps the chickens dry, as too much of waste can cause floor litter to become wet.
Cleaning the coop also ensures cleaner eggs and prevents the spread of bacteria called salmonella. And what’s more, clean coops also give your farm a good reputation! Nobody likes to buy eggs from a farm that looks unsightly and smells incorrigible!
How often should you clean your chicken coop?
It depends on how much cleanliness matters to you! The more often you clean, the better. But to be practical, it’s not a job you can do daily or weekly. Cleaning coops is a lot of work. But the minimum is to deep clean at least twice or thrice a year. It’s better if you can do it every month. But cleaning out too often can cost you since you have to replace the wood shavings, hay, or whatever you use as litter.
How to clean your coop
When you finally get down to cleaning your coop, be warned that it’s very time-consuming and a sweaty, hard job. But let me try and simplify how to do it easily as possible;
Step 1- Mask up
Yes this is an important step because dealing with ammonia is dangerous business. Disposable face masks may not be enough. Use a good chemical mask respiratory mask to protect your lungs. And make sure to wear high boots and strong gloves.
Step 2- Clear out
Chase out the chickens into the yard. Or provide another temporary place for them to stay. If you try to work with chickens around you, you might end up shoveling some of your chickens into the bin by accident. Make sure your chickens are secure somewhere away from the coop before you begin working.
Make sure you check the nests and collect all the eggs before you start. Then remove all movable items like the chicken feeders and drinkers out of the way. Also, take this opportunity to mend anything that has been damaged or broken in the coop.
Step 3- Start shoveling.
The biggest task at hand now is to shovel out the litter heaps. The best tool to do this would be a simple rake or shovel. Make sure you have a tractor or wheelbarrow close to you to pile in the dirt and take them away. Once the heavy work of removing every wood shaving and bird dropping is over, you must get your water hose and hose down the coop. This ensures an excellent deep cleaning result.
Step 4- Disinfect
Once you have cleared out everything in the coop, you must disinfect every surface to remove possible bacteria. It’s best to use homemade cleaners, like mixing white vinegar with water or orange peel and lemon, rather than use harsh chemicals. Industrial chemical cleaners mixing with ammonia fumes can be toxic to you and the chickens. Try using diatomaceous earth for the best results. While disinfecting the coop with the solution, make sure you also clean the utensils like feeders and water drinkers thoroughly and leave them out in the sun to dry.
Step 5- Clean bedding
Let the wet coop and the smell of vinegar air dry before you begin putting in new bedding. Once everything is dry, and the smell of disinfectant is faint enough, move everything back in. Layer the floor with new litter and stuff their nests. Lastly, bring in your chickens.
Also, remember to choose the best type of bedding to keep your chickens happy. Some types of shavings can be toxic for birds, so choose carefully and according to what is available. Please refer to this article for more information regarding the bedding of chickens.
If you are not already practicing this, keeping the feeders hanging in the middle is better. Because chicken poop everywhere, and if you’re not careful, they will poop on the water and food as well.
Cleaning out your chicken coop is important to ensure the health and well-being of both the chickens and farm workers. How often you have to clean the coop depends on how particular you are in cleanliness. But cleaning coops is hard work. Chickens love fresh bedding just like we like our bedsheets changed, so the more we clean for them, the happier they are.
Do grass-fed chickens exist? Read this article to find out!
