Morning Maid Service

Maybe I am a little OCD when it comes to cleaning the chicken coop.  Possibly the coop gets cleaned more often than the house does.  :)  I find that cleaning the coop in the morning is kind of therapeutic.  I just feel good doing it.  And I have done a ton of research to learn tips and tricks for making the daily cleaning easy to do. 

When I had my first coop 16 years ago, cleaning was my LEAST favorite part.  I hated it!  I procrastinated having to do it!  With just a few easy steps you can enjoy cleaning your coop too!

For me, sand is really the key to it all.  Each morning when I visit the coop I take a good look at all the girls to make sure they are all doing well and then I grab my trusty cat litter scoop and metal pie server and get to work.  I scoop the floor area to pick up any droppings and scoop the poop board.  All of the droppings are deposited in the poop bucket.  I use a little rake to sweep through the sand.  It is a little like having a sand zen garden.  :) 

Ok, I don't make fancy designs in the sand.  (Yet)

The clean coop

And a little peek at the cleaning supplies in my coop.

My husband made me a small shelf to hold my wipes, ACV, and a roll of paper towels.  I also have hooks for my duster, hand broom, litter scoop, and metal pie server.  On the wall I have a board to hold my small rake, my pitchfork, and my broom.  A little note here...the pitchfork and rake are always placed in the coop with the tines down.  Chickens can be clumsy and have a way of flying into things.  By keeping the tines down I reduce the risk of anyone getting injured.  I still have some painting to do as you can see.  :)  Any volunteers to come help?

Once a week I empty the poop bucket back in our tree line.  At some point I hope to have a composting area but for now this works fine.  Once a week I also use the duster to dust off the feed cans and surfaces in the chicken coop.  Coops have a way of being very dusty. 

I am also pretty meticulous about keeping the run clean.  I have another litter scoop and pie server by the run that I use to pick up droppings.  The pie server really is great for the run area where there is still some grass.

  I read a post yesterday where someone said that it is "wrong" to keep chickens if you have to keep them in a run.  :(  While I would LOVE to be able to let my small flock free range it just isn't possible where I live.  And I think my girls might disagree with the poster.  I work very hard to be sure that they have a wonderful safe home.  How do you feel about keeping chickens in a run?