Ok, this is a job that everyone hates, me included. The trick was to steel my resolve to get it done because those poor chickens were suffering. The amonia smell was so strong my eyes were burning the entire time I was cleaning the coop and that was outdoors in the fresh air, with the coop door and the window wide open. The smell inside, once the coop floor thawed, was unbearable. There are two more coops to clean, oh joy.
In the first photo you can see the deep bedding as I forked it away, and in the back it was over two feet. Since the Muscovy ducks moved in, the floor was wet and soupy. The chicken droppings were dry in comparison and with enough vegetative matter, that is straw, hay and shavings, there was no smell. Only when the floor thawed and the thick bedding began to compost in earnest did the amonia come through. Had it just been the chickens, it is not nearly so back. Fortunately, the weather is warm this March and spring has arrived early for this neck of the woods, so the cleaning took place a month before usual.
In the last picture you can see the clean coop. There are rubber mats on the floor sprinkled with diatomaceous earth, which is supposed to keep mites and lice at bay. It is made of ground fossil shell and under a microscope looks like broken glass. For tiny creatures, it acts that way too, and slices their under bellies open, or so the theory goes. The nest boxes were turned and cleaned out completely as well. The girls were curious the moment they could get themselves into one and had to go in and out of several compartments to find their favourite.
One good thing about cleaning a coop is when it is finished. Now, only two more to go.
In the first photo you can see the deep bedding as I forked it away, and in the back it was over two feet. Since the Muscovy ducks moved in, the floor was wet and soupy. The chicken droppings were dry in comparison and with enough vegetative matter, that is straw, hay and shavings, there was no smell. Only when the floor thawed and the thick bedding began to compost in earnest did the amonia come through. Had it just been the chickens, it is not nearly so back. Fortunately, the weather is warm this March and spring has arrived early for this neck of the woods, so the cleaning took place a month before usual.
In the last picture you can see the clean coop. There are rubber mats on the floor sprinkled with diatomaceous earth, which is supposed to keep mites and lice at bay. It is made of ground fossil shell and under a microscope looks like broken glass. For tiny creatures, it acts that way too, and slices their under bellies open, or so the theory goes. The nest boxes were turned and cleaned out completely as well. The girls were curious the moment they could get themselves into one and had to go in and out of several compartments to find their favourite.
One good thing about cleaning a coop is when it is finished. Now, only two more to go.
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