Cleaning out the coop

[baymule]

I do the same thing. It sure is easier than being OCD about chicken poop. So what if there are piles of poop, just throw something over it and it will all be ok!

 

[CrealCritter]

My coop has a cement floor. There was about 8" of deep bedding in there on top of the slab. We did run into a section that was frozen but it busted up easy enough with a pitch fork.

My first mistake as a newbie chicken guy was to put in a pipe with nipple waterers INSIDE the coop. Once I abandoned the inside nipple waterer for watering outside - things got a lot better. Ammonia smell is almost all gone now and humidity inside the coop is a lot better. It's taken almost 3 years to get the concrete slab dry... Chickens don't have cheeks and waste a lot of water when they try and drink from a over head nipple waterer. All that wet deep bedding was not a good combination at all.

I got the idea for inside nipple pipe waterer from BYC. Lots of positive talk about nipple waterers but no-one mentioned what a bad idea it is too have it inside the coop with deep bedding. Oh-well live and learn...

 

[CrealCritter]

I do the same thing. It sure is easier than being OCD about chicken poop. So what if there are piles of poop, just throw something over it and it will all be ok!

I was talking to my MIL & FIL tonight and told them changing out deep bedding is a once a year job. She was shocked... and told me my FIL changed out bedding once a week. I said well no wonder you guys don't want to raise chickens anymore. Once a week is OCD for sure, no way I could do that!!! Nor would I want to there's no logical sense in that. They sell barn lime and pitch forks for a reason

 

[Hinotori]

My great grandmother who had an egg route up to the late 70s only cleaned out her coops once a year. 3 coops separated by age. 100 new hens each year. Big old chicken yards for each coop.

 

[sumi]

My DS had the TV on some kids channel the other day and I walked in to find a cute program on keeping animals, that day it was chickens. While I pottered around the room I listened to what they were saying about keeping chickens. They told the kids to clean the coop DAILY and replace the bedding every time. I burst out laughing. Seriously? I cannot see that lasting longer than 2 or 3 days, max.

 

[CrealCritter]

My DS had the TV on some kids channel the other day and I walked in to find a cute program on keeping animals, that day it was chickens. While I pottered around the room I listened to what they were saying about keeping chickens. They told the kids to clean the coop DAILY and replace the bedding every time. I burst out laughing. Seriously? I cannot see that lasting longer than 2 or 3 days, max.

Everyday? That's nuts expecially for a kid. How much you wanna bet that TV show was produced by someone who never had any kids or raised a chicken in their life?

 

[sumi]

Everyday? That's nuts expecially for a kid. How much you wanna bet that TV show was produced by someone who never had any kids or raised a chicken in their life?

Exactly right! That's why I laughed when I heard it. They clearly have no experience in (probably) either!

 

[Dani4Hedgies]

WOW my flock of chickens, turkeys and ducks would be soo pissed if I changed them daily.

 

[sumi]

Mine would be very, very confused!

 

[CrealCritter]

WOW my flock of chickens, turkeys and ducks would be soo pissed if I changed them daily.

I was thinking the same thing... My layers would be upset and might not lay for days afterwards. I try and not do anything that's "invasive" to often.