Coop clean out

[dawg53]

I did a full blown coop clean out today, it was the main coop. I normally do this type of clean out once every 6 months and it takes a several hours to complete. It doesnt help when you have 3 or 4 hens squawking at you because there's no nesting material in the nest boxes so they can lay their eggs lol.
Once I removed the pine shavings, I vacuumed everything inside the coop, then sprayed permethrin. I put a box fan inside it to dry it out quicker and then put shavings in the nest boxes for the hens to lay their eggs, which they did. The Brat Pack was happy and so was I. 
Tomorrow it's the Barred Rocks coop. It's smaller and wont take as long.

[seminolewind]

Lovely! Feels good when its done!

[boskelli1571]

I did my coops and finally finished them up last weekend. I have #3 to do now that 'Turtle' has died. I will Virkon the crap out of it and close it down for winter.
If we get a few fine days here, I would love to get the run finished around the boys' winter coop....cool and damp today - English weather

[dawg53]

I got the Barred Rocks coop done. It's hot again, low 90's and my clothes were soaked with sweat after cleaning the coop.

[seminolewind]

Yea, I was outside and my mouth was sweating after my eyeballs started sweating.

[artemis]

Doing my coop cleanout tomorrow afternoon, a major one even though earlier than desired, but because it will be harder to maneuver on snow and slush and possible ice come Thursday here.


I usually prefer to do it in the morning, but I have a car check up appointment then.


I've set up a tarp to screen the run from the winds and snow that typically come from the west. Unfortunately the thing flapping annoyed and disturbed most of the birds. (The chickens I had in the tractor that became meat birds... they didn't care about it but they also had a lot more time to get used to that tarp.) Took it down temporarily but will replace it tonight when they go to sleep, and will see if I have some roping that will help keep the thing from flapping.

Squirrels took down my wild bird feeder today... We'll figure that one out tomorrow.

[dawg53]

If your tarp has eyelets, you can run rope through the eyelets to tie the tarp down. I use small bungee cords attached to the eyelets, the other end of the bungee cord is attached to the chicken wire. It works well and is flexible in strong winds...bend, but dont break.

Squirrels can be a pain in the neck and destructive. They're good eating at the dinner table though! Mmmmmmm!

[artemis]

Yes, got more bungies, and the tarp now works fine, in place. Minimal flapping that they now got used to.


They didn't like their run the morning after the snow. Somewhere between a half to a full inch got inside, (there was a foot outside) they looked out the coop door and all but one said... "No way we like this white carpet, fire the interior decorator, please!"

Yes, squirrels are really delicious, I like them braised low and slow...

[dawg53]

I dont know how my birds would react to snow. It would be a sight to see if it snowed here lol.

[seminolewind]

We just got a few sprinklings.

[maryellen]

I shovelled 400 lbs of sand out of my coop into my run today and put 2 bags of shavings in the coop instead. Full coop clean out here today too

[dawg53]

Feb 17, 2019 15:32:39 GMT -5 maryellen said:

I shovelled 400 lbs of sand out of my coop into my run today and put 2 bags of shavings in the coop instead. Full coop clean out here today too

You had sand in the coop, was it used as litter?  400 pounds, how many wheelbarrowfuls is that?
I had to remove shavings from the Light Brahma's coop last week. The knuckleheads were eating the shavings. I never had that happen before. I bought a cheap clear shower curtain at Walmart and cut it in half lengthwise and put in their coop to catch droppings when they roost at night. It works perfectly.
In the mornings after the Brahma's are out in the pen, I fold the shower curtain in half with all the poop in it, reach down and fold it back at the bottom. It keeps the poop from falling out. Using both hands keeping the shower curtain folded, I put the folded bottom in a 5 gallon bucket and open up the bottom. I shake the shower curtain a few times and the poop drops into the bucket, easy peasy. I then put the shower curtain back in the coop, spread it out and wipe it down with an old rag using bleachwater, rinse the rag a few times, then dry the shower curtain with the rag. Done. It takes an extra few minutes to do this but it's better than the Brahmas choking or getting a blockage. I wear disposable gloves lol.

While I was at it, I removed the nest boxes out of their coop and extended their roost. I then built a platform in their pen and put two cat carriers on top of it for them to use as nest boxes. I put some hay in them as nesting material and one of them already laid a small egg in one of the cat carriers. The knuckleheads tried eating the hay but couldnt break it down to swallow lol. Brahmas are slow layers and dont usually start laying eggs until about 7 months old. They'll be 7 months old in a few weeks.
Here's some pics of the platform I built and cat carriers (nest boxes.)

[maryellen]

They used the sand for dusting so the coop was like a sandstorm i scooped what little poop there was into a bucket before i shovelled it . It was sand and shavings. .
I didnt use a barrel , i just shovelled it out the little coop door into the run.
My friends bantams used to eat the shavings too, she upped their protein and switched to a heavier bigger shaving from tractor supply.
Omg dawg you put my coop cleanout to shame

[maryellen]

Those cat nest boxes are a great idea for brahmas since they are bigger birds!

[dawg53]

The Brahma's wouldve fit into the nest boxes that I made for inside their coop, I made them abit larger than usual. The problem was not enough roost space even though the coop is 6' in length and about 3.5' in width. These 3 Brahma's are growing bigger than I thought they would lol. I was using large shavings too. They were eating shavings when I was feeding them 18% medicated chick starter. Now they're on 16% layer crumbles. They get a small treat of dried meal worms every other day as does the Brat Pack. One thing for sure, they're not eating shavings anymore lol.
I'm wanting to do a full blown coop cleanout soon in the Brat Pack's coop. I want to do it before it gets hot.
As far as the new cat nest boxes go, this is the first time EVER that I've had nest boxes outside and/or not attached to a coop! So far so good!
I forgot to add; this morning the shower curtain was a filthy mess, so much for hard turds and easy peasy....
I had to take the shower curtain out and hose it off in the yard. It's still better than them eating shavings.

[seminolewind]

Dawg you might want to try this, at the feed store ask a sales person for some alfalfa fines. They fall out of the hay bales and get swept away. They might like it .

Sounds like your shower curtain method is a lot of work. I wonder if it would work if you put a real thin layer of shavings under the roost and just cleaned it out daily, then replace with another thin layer of shavings.

I've always done my horse like this. I dump all the clean shavings against one wall, and as needed they get raked into the middle and the used shavings shift to the opposite wall and eventually get picked up. Same with chickens. I would clean out the area under the roost, and rake the cleaner shavings under the roost and put the fresh shavings at the end opposite the roost.

It won't work in my coop now because there's 5 different areas. And with the horse here, I was thinking and now will try piling up the clean shavings on the "dinner" wall, and as the shavings get dirty, the dirtiest get picked up and the rest move towards the "poop" wall and fresh shavings get raked towards the middle.

Otherwise I feel like I'm throwing out a lot of shavings that aren't used "enough", LOL. It's one thing with the chickens. My horse must go thru about 10 bags a month minimum. And there's always a wet spot in the middle that has to be removed as well.

[maryellen]

What a joy just now. Scooped the poop off the poop boards(only sand there) and 4 hens were inside scratching the shavings. No sand dust from the scratching lol i could breathe

[dawg53]

Karen, the Brahmas would go inside the coop during the day and eat shavings. So, I shut the door and problem solved. But, I had their nest boxes inside and when they are ready to lay eggs, they wouldnt be able to get inside the coop because the door was shut.
When I was removing shavings from their coop, some fell on the ground. They ran over and started eating them and I had to chase them away.

You're right about the shower curtain, it works but there's extra work involved. I like to keep daily routine chicken work at a minimum, no more than 10-15 minutes cleaning coops and picking up poop in pens. Of course full blown coop clean outs are longer.

In lieu of the shower curtain, I'm considering sand inside their coop. Their pen is sand and they're used to it and I think it might work. I know they'll go inside the coop and scratch around in it like they do in the pen, and it shouldnt be a problem.

[maryellen]

The sand with a kitty litter scooper is awesome. You can put the sand under their roost where you had the shower curtain( or put sand in the shower curtain so the poop just slides off into a bucket when you tilt the curtain. Then the poop wont stick to the curtain

[dawg53]

I bought four 50lb sacks of play sand at Lowe's and emptied 2 sacks inside the coop. The sand is wet and I put an oscillating fan in the coop to dry it. I just checked it and the sand is slowly drying. I put the shower curtain in the shed for now.
While I was at it, I placed new box fans under the coops in preparation for the hot summer. The first 3 pics are the Brahma coop with sand and box fan set up under the coop.