Keeping Your Chicken Coop Clean

Keeping your coop clean is one of the most important tasks when it comes to caring for your chickens. But the type of coop you have can either make this a dreaded chore or an enjoyable experience. Chicken coops should be cleaned at least once a week to stay hygienic and keep your hens healthy. A clean coop keeps bacteria, parasites, and odors at bay, and creates a welcome environment for your flock to lay their eggs and roost for the night.

With smooth, plastic surfaces, the Eglu Pro Chicken Coop can be easily cleaned in just a few minutes!

Clean coop checklist

There are different “levels” of cleaning your coop:

• Daily quick cleans
• Weekly spot cleans
• Monthly scrubbing
• Seasonal cleaning and swaps

By keeping your coop on a cleaning schedule, you’ll ensure it’s performing at its best and keeping your flock healthy and comfortable.

Daily cleaning

Take a look inside your chickens’ coop daily to see if anything needs attention. Collect any eggs, and fluff displaced bedding inside the nesting area to make sure the next egg isn’t laid on a hard surface. You’ll also want to check to make sure there is no bedding or debris in the track of your automatic chicken coop door that would prevent it from closing for the night.

Weekly cleaning

Check your chicken’s coop daily for droppings that need to be removed, and to collect any eggs laid. Chicken coops with a removable droppings tray are quick and easy to clean. If you have a wooden chicken coop, you’ll need to scrape the droppings off of the roosting bars and floor to remove them. Spray down the droppings tray with a hose or pressure washer, and the roosting rack if needed. Refresh the bedding of the droppings area to complete the weekly cleaning.

Monthly cleaning

Once a month you’ll want to conduct a more thorough cleaning. The roosting rack and droppings tray will need to be sprayed with a pressure washer, or scrubbed with a sponge and unscented dish soap and rinsed with a water hose. If you have an Eglu chicken coop, spray the interior with a pressure washer or hose, and scrub any debris that doesn't lift away with the water. Replace the bedding of the nesting area, and refresh the substrate of the chicken run.

The Eglu Chicken Coops just need a good scrub and a wash down to keep them squeaky clean.

Seasonal cleaning

Seasonal cleaning is similar to monthly cleaning, where you will deep-clean the coop. But to prepare for the coming season, you’ll need to make some modifications during your cleaning routine.

Winter

To prepare for cold weather, switch the droppings tray and nesting area bedding to straw for more insulation, and swap out solid chicken run covers with clear covers, and add an extreme weather chicken coop jacket if your area experiences bitter cold or heavy snowfall. Provide a layer of straw or pine pellets in the run to help absorb melting snow and prevent muddy conditions.

Spring

In true-spring cleaning fashion, you’ll want to deep clean the coop by taking out all of the removable components and scrubbing them by hand with unscented dish soap. Inspect all components of the coop and run to make sure they weathered the winter, and clean any chicken perches in the run. Rake out the run and refresh the substrate, and add screw pegs around the anti-dig skirting to fortify against spring storms.

Summer

During this deep clean, swap the bedding of the droppings tray back to shavings, pine pellets, or recycled paper. The nesting box can remain straw if desired, or wood fiber nesting pads or shavings can be used instead. Swap the clear chicken run covers for solid covers to provide shade in the summer sun, and hang Caddi chicken treat holders to offer frozen treats in.

Fall

The bedding of the droppings tray and nesting area doesn’t have to change during this season, but you’ll want to make sure to refresh the run substrate — especially if your area received heavy rainfall over the summer. Combi-covers for chicken runs are perfect for fall, as they offer both protection from the lingering heat of the summer, and the last rays of warmth as fall approaches winter. Once fall is well underway, make piles of leaves in the run for your flock to play in, and make sure their dust bathing area is topped off in preparation for your chickens molting as the days grow shorter.

Mobile chicken coops

If you have a mobile chicken coop, your cleaning routine may look a bit different — particularly when it comes to the run. All of the cleaning methods remain the same, but instead of changing the run substrate, the constant movement of the coop around your yard will keep the ground beneath your flock fresh. A Freestanding chicken perch is perfect to move along with your flock, giving them a place to rest while you clean their coop or to get off of the muddy or frozen ground.

Omlet and your flock

We design chicken coops that are easy to clean, and chicken runs that make routine care fast and fun so that you can get back to spending time with your flock. Cleaning the chicken coop doesn’t have to be a dreaded chore — with our chicken products, you and your family can experience caring for your chickens on a whole new level, and in turn, reach new heights in your relationship with your hens.