Cleaning the Chicken Coop Enclosure

Cleaning the chicken coop is emphasized a lot for raising a happy, healthy flock of backyard chickens, but cleaning the chicken coop enclosure is just as important. No matter how big or small your chicken coop enclosure is, giving it a brief touch up every once in a while can go a long ways in keeping it usable and keeping your flock healthy. Chickens, if given the choice, will spend a majority of their day outside. That means the enclosure will get quite dirty and will need some cleaning! I enjoy cleaning the chicken coop enclosure, and I do it on a weekly basis. To make it manageable and easy I have learned a few helpful hacks for cleaning the chicken coop enclosure!

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Disclaimer: The following methods for cleaning the chicken coop enclosure are what work for me and fit my schedule. They are appropriate for the type of enclosure I have and for the area where I live. These are not mandatory methods for cleaning every chicken coop enclosure.

Why Clean the Enclosure?

Cleaning the chicken coop is important because that is where your chickens eat, sleep, and lay their eggs. It is also an enclosed space where ammonia fumes can easily build up. However, cleaning the enclosure is just as important as cleaning the chicken coop. Here are some reasons why you would want to clean your chicken coop enclosure:

• chickens will spend a majority of their day outside in their enclosure when provided with outdoor access to food and water
• it will help keep droppings from piling up
• prevents bacteria from multiplying and causing disease
• cuts down on smell and makes the enclosure look nicer

Make sure you check out Chicken Coop Cleaning Essentials for tips on cleaning the chicken coop. That way you can have a clean chicken coop and a clean enclosure! Clean environment equals healthy chickens!

When to Clean the Enclosure

When to clean the enclosure depends on your schedule, how many chickens you have, the size of your enclosure, and where your chickens spend most of their day (inside, outside, free-ranging). I clean my flock’s enclosure once a week and do periodic touch-ups on a monthly and yearly basis. Here is why I chose to clean the enclosure once a week:

• my chickens spend a majority of their day out in their enclosure
• my enclosure has a roof, thus the natural composting of manure takes longer and needs to be added by frequent stirrings
• I live in a wet, swampy area, if I let the droppings build up, the enclosure would turn into mud
• the litter in my enclosure is sand, which I need to periodically rake in order for it to drain properly and stay loose

Figuring out how frequently you need to clean your chicken coop enclosure may take some trial and error. Really, there is no error to this kind of testing, but you will soon figure out how frequent of a cleaning your coop chicken coop enclosure requires in order to stay neat and smell-free. Sometimes a weekly cleaning is needed, other times every other week is fine.

For enclosures that don’t have a cover or aren’t roofed, cleaning may be a little trickier. Encourage your chickens to regularly till up the ground to keep the dirt loose. You can do this by throwing them some handfuls of seeds or black soldier fly grubs every day. Keeping the soil loose will help dropping compost when they are exposed to the elements.

Note on Size:

Keep in mind that no matter how clean you keep the enclosure, if you have too many chickens in too small of a space, the space will get packed, dirty, and smelly faster. Having an adequate size enclosure for the number of chickens in your flock is essential for proper chicken management and coop cleaning!

In general, allow about 8 square feet of space per chicken in an outdoor enclosure.

How to Clean the Enclosure

How you clean your enclosure will depend on what the litter is in your enclosure, if your enclosure is covered or not, and how your enclosure is set up. For an example, here is how I clean my chicken coop enclosure that is covered and has sand/straw for the litter.

Weekly Cleaning Chore Routine:

1. Let the chickens out to free-range.
2. Remove treat dishes, movable perches, and anything else that might get in the way.
3. Scrape off roosts, pallets, logs, and the ramp leading to the chicken coop.
4. Clean up all the droppings on the floor of the enclosure using a small rake and a small, plastic shovel.
5. Fill in any holes or dips that the chickens created (my Svart Honas are notorious for digging holes in their enclosure!).
6. Sweep off roosts, platforms, pallets, ramp leading to coop, and the stone slabs in front of the enclosure door.

Monthly Cleaning Chores:

1. Rake the sand to loosen it up and prevent it from becoming compact (some high-traffic areas are compact despite my efforts to keep the litter loose).
2. Scrub the enclosure doors to remove dirt and other splatters.
3. Make sure there is loose litter for them to dust bath in.

Yearly Cleaning Chores:

1. Sweep and or vacuum down the cobwebs that form in the rafters of the enclosure’s roof.
2. Add more litter (construction sand) to replenish the level of the enclosure.

Winter Chores:

In the winter, I use a modified deep litter method in the chicken coop enclosure. My flock gets straw flakes to sort through during the winter. As I give them straw flakes throughout the cold months, the straw builds up and creates a nice deep litter for them. To clean the enclosure in the winter I simply rake all the straw into piles.

By raking the straw on a weekly basis, it keeps it from becoming matted and promotes the composting of the litter. I don’t worry about picking up the droppings because they will just compost with the straw.

The straw piles also provide some new entertainment for my flock because they can spread it all around again! When spring rolls around, I usually remove a majority of the straw but I still leave some in the enclosure to finish composting with any droppings. As the straw composts, it creates loose soil that adds to the top layer of litter in the enclosure.

Daily Maintenance

I also tidy up the chicken coop enclosure on a daily basis to make my weekly cleanings easier and quicker. The daily tidy-ups are pretty basic. I usually just scrub the treat bowl and pick up any scraps that got spread around the enclosure. Watermelon rinds and corn in the cob are always spread randomly about whenever my flock gets them as a snack.

In the past, if I know that my area will be getting a lot of rain soon (especially in the spring) I will place pallets or boards over low areas in the enclosure. However, I now have the enclosure littler built up enough that it is above the water level of the surrounding area and puddles don’t form any more.

Alternative Options

Cleaning the chicken coop enclosure may sound daunting or time consuming. Thankfully, I have been able to work out a routine that fits my schedule and is easy to get done efficiently. However, there are some ways you can keep the enclosure cleaner without having to clean it every week!

Here are some alternatives to think about so that you may not have to clean the enclosure as much or not at all!

• free-range- free-range chickens won’t spend time in their enclosure and the enclosure will stay cleaner for longer
• rotate enclosures– have several enclosures that are attached to the chicken coop so that you can rotate your flock through them. This allows one enclosure to recover and regrow while the chickens are in another enclosure.
• chicken tractor- using a chicken tractor allows you to move your chickens around the yard so that they don’t tear up one spot and droppings don’t build up

Types of Enclosures

Lastly, I want to just touch on some different types of enclosures that will effect how the enclosure is cleaned. My cleaning method will not work for every chicken coop enclosure. Consider how your enclosure is constructed to determine the best way to effectively and efficiently clean the enclosure.

Here are some factors to consider:

• Is the enclosure covered or not? Is it exposed to the elements like rain, snow, or sunshine?
• Where is the enclosure located? In a dry area? Wet, swampy area? Sunny area?
• What litter is used in the enclosure? Does it allow good drainage? Is it prone to becoming compact, soggy, or moldy?

In general, I encourage chicken raisers to have a covered enclosure attached to their flock’s coop. the covered enclosure allows your chickens access to the outdoors and fresh air all year round no matter the weather. Letting your chickens get outside on a daily basis does wonders for keeping them healthy and for keeping the coop clean!

The enclosure should also have loose, natural litter. Litter that your chickens can sort through and dust bathe in will naturally make the enclosure a fun and entertaining place to hand out.

Clean Coop, Clean Enclosure

Cleaning the chicken coop enclosure is important, just like cleaning the chicken coop. A clean enclosure will help prevent disease and make your chicken coop area look and smell cleaner! Having a well-maintained chicken coop enclosure allows your flock to spend time outside on a regular basis which is excellent for their health. Cleaning the enclosure doesn’t have to be time consuming either. You can create a schedule and routine that works best for you! Your chickens will thank you for a clean, roomy enclosure to spend their day in!

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by Alexa