Spring Cleaning: 11 Steps to a Clean Chicken Coop

by Melissa Caughey of Tilly's Nest

As the weather warms up, the coop begins to call out.  Along with spring cleaning around the house and yard, our chicken coop also receives a good deep cleaning a few times per year, especially come spring.  Just like raising children, there are many different ways to care for chickens, including how folks clean their coop.  Today, I thought that I would share how we clean the coop at our place.

Stored in a bucket, cleaning supplies are at the ready.

1.  Pick a warm sunny spring day. Not only will this make the experience more pleasant, sunlight acts as a natural disinfectant.  The sun's ultraviolet light kills many pathogens.  In addition, the sun and pleasant weather helps the coop to dry out much more quickly than an overcast gloomy day.

2.  Remove the chickens.  Be sure that the coop is vacant of chickens.  We like to stick them out into the run or let them free-range while we get down to cleaning.

3. Open the windows.  It gets the air circulating.  Fresh air is important as well as good ventilation on cleaning day.  It also helps to dry the coop after a thorough scrub.

Freshly herb dusted nesting box and a clean linoleum floor.

4. Empty the entire coop.  Be sure to sweep out the entire coop of soiled bedding and dust.  I would recommend wearing a mask during this entire coop cleaning process for your health and safety. Use a dust pan and small brush to get into all the nooks and crannies.  Do not overlook the nesting boxes.  If they are removable, bring them outside for cleaning.  The same thing goes for the roosts; if you can remove them take them out too.

5. Clear the cobwebs.  Be sure to look up and get all of those cobwebs in the rafters too. Take them down with a broom.  If they are large in numbers, a shop vac works very nicely too.

6. Scrub everything down.  There are many products on the market that are safe to use with chickens.  I like to use a bucket of warm water, a splash of bleach, and a few drops of Dish Detergent.  I like Dawn Detergent.  Vinegar, specially formulated products for coop cleaning and pet safe orange cleaners work well too. With a scrub brush, clean the inside walls and floor of the coop.  Be sure to scrub down the nesting boxes and roosts too and let them dry in the sunshine.  Do not forget to do the windows; more natural light is a good thing for hens and the egg laying process.

7.  Let it dry.  Allow the coop to air out and dry completely before proceeding to the next step.  It is very important. Moisture and a damp coop can lead to sick chickens.  This may even take a couple of hours depending on how thorough of a cleaning you needed to complete.

8. Consider installing a linoleum floor. If you do not have one already, think about adding a linoleum floor to your coop.  Most flooring stores have great remnants for small dollars and they make coop cleaning very easy.  Plus the linoleum flooring helps to extend the life of the coop floor.

9. Consider using natural pest control. Personally, I am a huge believer in prevention.  Knowing that mites and poultry lice can co-reside in the coop next to the chickens, I try to be proactive in decreasing their numbers in the coop.  Wearing a mask, I like to dust the coop floor and nesting boxes with food grade diatomaceous earth.  Finally, I add a mixture of dried herbs and flowers to the nesting boxes to further help prevent pests. This mixture is commercially available on the internet. 

10.  Add fresh bedding.  Finally, the coop and nesting boxes are ready for a fresh layer of bedding.  I am always more generous in the nesting boxes with the bedding than anywhere else.

11.  Open up the coop to the chickens.  As you open up the pop door, your chickens will be giddy with excitement to explore their clean coop.  I always find on coop cleaning day that most of the girls will lay an egg. I think this is their way of telling me that having a clean coop made them very happy.

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Sunshine, our Buff Orpington, inspects the clean coop.

Photo Credit:  Tilly's Nest

Coop Cleaning