chicken house cleaning

[molliedogspabottom]

Hi and a Happy New Year,

I wanted advice on cleaning out the hen house,I have 13 girls and colin( the cockerel ).The house is approx.8ft x 3ft 6in with a nest box along one side. They have have four perches with boards underneath.

I scatter shavings on the boards under the perches and on the floor of the house, applying diatom powder to all the nooks and crannies.

Every morning I clean up any droppings on the perches or boards and on the floor. As the shavings get less on the boads with general chicken manoeuvres I add more.

How often should I clean the house out completely to avoid any nasties building up, once a week seems too often as I clean any droppings daily.

They have a good covering of shavings to help keep them warm at this time of year,if the shavings get wet near the pop hole I clear them away and I open the windows and big door when ever the weather is dry just to air the house.

I would also like to ask how often should the house be sprayed to kill the nasties, I am determined to keep the girls mite and lice free this year.

Any advice is wellcome, this is a great site for learning from others chicken keepers,

Thanks Heather

 

[Anonymous]

From what yout saying i feel you are doing well to keep the nasties away.

keep it up.

 

[karlooben]

so far so good your doing well , if you really want you can spray down the house with poultry shield once or every few weeks at this time of the year or more often if you like red mites are pretty much dormant at this time of year but you have to be carefull with this blast of warm weather as this can wake anything up . i for on cant wait for spring as then the housing will get a real clear out

 

[molliedogspabottom]

Hi ,
thanks for that info. I have a large container of poultry shield and next time I clean out the house I will give it a good spray from top to bottom.
The girls are looking great at the moment and they are loving this warm spell I now have eight out of thirteen laying but I dont think the others are far behind.

regards Heather

 

[karlooben]

it might be warmer but it could be dryer with it its pouring here