How To Keep A Clean Chicken Coop

naturallycleanchickencoop

Forget the shoes…

I have a bad habit of impulse buying chickens.

Our new chicks are coming in two weeks, and I am determined to be better educated and prepared this time around. We purchased our last flock of hens and brought them home without anything being ready. And while everything worked out fine in the end, this time, I want to avoid the stress and hurry of bringing home chickens and not being fully prepared.

For the last several weeks, I have been working on preparing our coop. I want to give our new chicks the best start possible.

In doing some research, I've found that it is highly recommended to sanitize and disinfect your chicken coop before bringing in a new flock, especially if they are chicks. Chicks are more susceptible to diseases or bugs that your old flock may have been carrying.

UPDATE: I have to say that I'm not as "disinfectant happy" as I used to be. If you've been dealing with a chicken disease or illness, then by all means, disinfect that coop! But for just every-day-run-of-the-mill dirt? I'm not so sure that you need to "disinfect." But, I'll leave that up to you.

Even if you don't get a new flock of birds this year, it's a good idea to thoroughly clean out your coop on occasion. I like to do a super deep clean each spring. It just makes me feel better, so I therefore assume it makes my chickens feel better. I have no idea if that's logical, but I'm sticking with it.

Unfortunately, many sources suggest using bleach as a disinfectant. The problem? I despise bleach. I don't like using it around our homestead, especially when it comes in contact with our animals.

So I was excited to discover that many people suggest using vinegar as a substitute for bleach.

Yup. Plain old white vinegar.

(If you want to get extra-fancy, you could try this DIY Orange Peel Vinegar for your coop.)

How to Clean a Chicken Coop

1. Shovel and scrape all of the manure, dirt, shavings, cobwebs, and feathers out.

It's important to be thorough in this step, since the vinegar won't won't exactly vaporize the actual particles of manure, etc. I found a square shovel to be incredibly handy in scraping the floor. Old, dried chicken manure can be like cement…

2. Take a hose to it.

Give the walls, floors, roosts, and nesting boxes a good spray down to remove the fine dust and soften any stuck-on manure or dirt.

3. Scrape & shovel again.

Do a final sweeping/scraping of any remaining, softened manure or dirt, then allow the water to drain, or sweep it out the door.

4. Elbow grease, baby.

Mix up equal parts white vinegar and water in a bucket OR just slosh straight vinegar onto your wet floor. I preferred the sloshing method personally. Take your broom or brush and give everything a vigorous scrubbing, making sure to distribute the vinegar solution as thoroughly as possible.

how to clean a chicken coop

5. One more rinse…

Perform a final rinse, then allow water to drain or sweep it out the door.

6. Air dry.

Open up the doors and windows and allow everything to dry and air out. Sunlight also acts as a disinfectant, plus, fresh air is always beneficial. I like to have plenty of ventilation in my coop anyway.

how to clean a chicken coop

7. Don't forget the extras.

While you have the hose hooked up, scrub any feeders and waterers and set them in the sun to dry.

8. Add fresh bedding…

And tell your chickens, "You're welcome!" And if you're really nice, add some fresh herbs to their nesting boxes, and mix up my favorite chicken coop spray recipe for a sweet-smelling coop.

If it's summer time and you're struggling with flies in your coop, I have an entire posts devoted to my best fly control strategies for the chicken coop.

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