The Poultry Keeper

bronskibeat · Joined: 09 Sep 2007 Posts: 1612 Location: Clawddnewydd

OMG!!!

we dont do that....... they get properly cleaned out every 2 or 3 months and the whole henhouse is powerwashed and disinfected. They get fresh bedding as and when required and the nest boxes are cleaned out more regularly, but ours are free range around the farm and so during summer months are rarely in until locked away for the night. Winter is more difficult but we just give them more straw on the floor.

Bhindi · Posted: Thu Nov 29, 2007 11:07 pm Post subject:

When I say I clean daily, its only poo picking and a very quick wipe down on the roost bars if it needs it.(and vaccum at moulting time) Embarassed

I wear rubber gloves, and just pick up and place into a dustpan which is then poured into a compostable sac, When thats full it gets carted of to the end of the garden, to idle away. I dont really do a full scale clean. In a year I change the hemcore beneath them probably 3 times! And that goes for the nest boxes too.

It looks like im doing things in reverse to everyone else Embarassed

debcat · Posted: Thu Nov 29, 2007 11:10 pm Post subject:

summer is easy, I don't shut them in at all as it hardly gets dark so they just don't go to bed
winter is a nightmare, daylight is so short and it's so muddy and wet that the houses get messed up as fast as you clean them out Confused

the ones that insist on roosting in the barn rafters get cleaned out 3 times ayear when I muck ut the goats deep litter - I do their nest boxes every week though

Magpie · Joined: 28 Aug 2007 Posts: 549 Location: Norfolk

The ones I keep in moveable coops tend to get the bedding topped up every week and mucked out/scraped/brushed/diatomed etc every couple of months.

The ones in the big shed get topped up when needed, I guess every 3 weeks or so. They get totally cleaned out every 3 months or so. I really go to town once a year and it all gets scrubbed down and painted inside and out - I have also been known to replace the perches then as well - it's easier than trying to get them really cleaned up, adn they are only cheap 2x2 timbers about 5' long so don't cost much (under £1 each). The runs for the shed get shovelled out at the same time - 4" of feathers, muck and woodchip go out to be replaced with 4" of clean woodchip Laughing

Tim

bronskibeat · Joined: 09 Sep 2007 Posts: 1612 Location: Clawddnewydd

phew, was beginning to think we were in trouble for being bad parents Rolling Eyes

Welsh Duck · Posted: Fri Nov 30, 2007 8:00 pm Post subject:

When I was young and a lot more enthusiastic I cleaned out my birds every week. Now It is about once a month. I have no hard and fast rule. If a shed becomes damp then its cleaned out straight away but if its dry then it lasts longer. The weather plays a massive part in it as bad weather means more cleaning out.

Its a bit like washing a car- I only clean it when its dirty.

This will sound silly but I often look inside a shed and ask myself " Now if I was a chicken would I be content with this" Embarassed

If the answer is no then I clean it out.

Spana · Joined: 30 Apr 2005 Posts: 2126 Location: North Cornwall

My main houses have dropping boards under the perches and i scrape these off every day without fail. I do a big cleanout , thats fresh straw on the floor and nest boxes and a scrub down about every couple of months unless im red miting when it seems like every day. Sad

But mine free range all day and only sleep and lay in the houses so they dont get too pooy. In this wet weather im getting muddy eggs Sad

I also like these dark evenings, they are all in by 4.30 so we can have dinner over before the Archers starts Laughing