Poultry Talk Ontario (pto.ca)

I have heard some folks do not clean under the roosts in the hen house until March or April.... probably because all the droppings freeze.
How does everyone here deal with winter cleaning? if at all?
Our hens are in the barn, in an enclosed run with an attached hen house that has nesting boxes and roosting rods.
Thanks.

We put in deep shavings and clean on a nice day every couple of months. Many will use boards under the roosts.

Killerbunny wrote: ↑

Wed Jan 17, 2018 7:35 pm

We put in deep shavings and clean on a nice day every couple of months. Many will use boards under the roosts.

Where the hens are in the barn, it is a dirt floor, and we have put down some straw for warmth. It is also a dirt floor in the hen house, and under the roosting rods. We put some straw on that floor but not under the roosts.
I have seen a video with someone who put a tarp under the roosts for easy scooping. I was thinking of doing that, but I would have to block off the space under the bottom roost. I would not want to kneel down and reach under the tarp for an egg if a hen laid one by the far wall.
I have done a good cleaning once so far, so I'll wait for another nice day. Plus I clean droppings out of the nesting boxes every morning.

Oh and I also clean the butt clumps off so we get nice clean eggs and the hen is more comfortable

I use boards that get scraped clean every morning and dumped in a bucket outside. If it's really cold I put shavings on the boards so nothing sticks to them. I use deep shavings on the floor but the chickens don't do a very good job of turning them so I stir the bedding up every couple days. If I find the humidity creeping up I shovel some shavings out into their run and I dump new dry ones down. Typically the moisture gets tracked in by my boots. I have a real pet peeves with dust in the coop. I'm not allergic but it does bother me (and my bantam rooster) so a couple times through the winter I haul my shop vac out and quickly do the walls and corners and any ledges.

KimChick wrote: ↑

Wed Jan 17, 2018 7:56 pm

I have seen a video with someone who put a tarp under the roosts for easy scooping. I was thinking of doing that, but I would have to block off the space under the bottom roost. I would not want to kneel down and reach under the tarp for an egg if a hen laid one by the far wall.

I have a board under my roosts, and for the occasional egg that a hen lays in the corner where I can't easily reach, I use one of those ball launchers for dogs to retrieve it. I think @Ross uses one of those extender grabber things in his barn to retrieve eggs from hard to reach places. I don't know how big an area you have, but maybe one of these tools could work for you as well?

i spot clean when it's all frozen solid, and then on a nice thaw day do a big cleaning. and take out the worse of it and put in a new bag of dry shavings....
a reacher for eggs in the far corners is amazing! started using one when i had my surgery on my back, and while i'm mostly healed up now, it still comes in handy for the far corners. there's no shame in using one, and amazon carries them cheap too....

we get a lot of dust too so i sweep everything down (walls, wire, doors etc) in the fall before winter, and then again in the thaws....and then a big cleaning in the spring with all the windows and doors open to blow the dust right outside.

In the turkey coop we put down hay and just lift it out occasionally.

We use bins under the roosts, which keeps rest of the floor bedding cleaner.
The bins are usually good all winter, emptied in Nov/Dec, they are usually good until spring.
This year there are more birds then usual, so may have to do some mid winter "reduction" as they are starting to look a bit full.
This is our last version of "no work" coop cleaning.

Jaye wrote: ↑

Thu Jan 18, 2018 3:13 am

KimChick wrote: ↑

Wed Jan 17, 2018 7:56 pm

I have seen a video with someone who put a tarp under the roosts for easy scooping. I was thinking of doing that, but I would have to block off the space under the bottom roost. I would not want to kneel down and reach under the tarp for an egg if a hen laid one by the far wall.

I have a board under my roosts, and for the occasional egg that a hen lays in the corner where I can't easily reach, I use one of those ball launchers for dogs to retrieve it. I think @Ross uses one of those extender grabber things in his barn to retrieve eggs from hard to reach places. I don't know how big an area you have, but maybe one of these tools could work for you as well?

I use a hand rake to roll it toward me. I'll stick with what I have; it's only about 1.5 months more. If I think about it, I'll take a couple of pics of the enclosure and hen house that DH built in the barn for wintering the hens.... after I clean it.