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How to Clean out the Chicken Coop in Winter

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Cleaning out the chicken coop is not on the top of my favorite farm chores list but figuring out how to clean out the chicken coop in the long, cold Montana winters has been a challenge!

I’m going to share some tips and tricks I’ve learned over the years on how to clean out the chicken coop in winter and how I make this chore a little more manageable.

How to clean out a chicken coop in winter tips and tricks for cold weather coop cleaning
Our mare, Willow, fancies herself “Queen” of the barnyard and supervised my cleaning of the chicken coops!

In the winter months, we practice the deep-litter method of chicken coop care. This means that by the end of winter there is A LOT to clean out of the chicken coop.

Luckily some of the chicken poop and bedding has started to compost thanks to the deep litter method so it’s not all fresh, stinky chicken poop!

Late winter the volume of chicken poop and bedding needing to be removed is a bit overwhelming, especially since we have three different coops for our separate breeding flocks.

I get asked about how we clean out the chicken coops by folks new to keeping chickens so decided to share about what we do to clean our coops. Especially the overwhelming chore of cleaning the coops at the end of winter!

When to Clean Out a Chicken Coop in Winter

Technically winter is not yet over in Montana for another month. The nights are still freezing, sometimes dipping down into the teens at night.

We occasionally have a day with temps above freezing and even “warm” for Montana standards when we hit 40 degrees F. That’s t-shirt weather for winter chores on our homestead!

Since we’ve been having some slightly warmer days, the chicken coop bedding/poop pile isn’t a giant frozen slab like it usually is during the coldest months of the year.

It also is starting to smell a little bit like ammonia in the coops due to the volume of chicken poop which is bad for chicken health. This definitely signals time to clean out the chicken coops!

The other issue we deal with on our homestead in winter is mice in the chicken coops. We had this great live mouse trap that we used in our big coop at our old homestead but since we moved I can’t find it.

It worked so well to catch the mice without worries of the chickens getting injured in a traditional snap mouse trap. I really miss that thing!

Since we don’t have the trap to use, the mouse population in our coops has grown a bit. Not only are they eating our chickens’ food, they are leaving mouse droppings all over the coops. This is gross and it’s unhealthy for the chickens.

Supplies Needed to Clean Out the Chicken Coop

Cleaning out the chicken coop is a dirty, dusty job. In the summertime, we try to clean our chicken coops at least one to two times per month to help keep the fly population down.

In the winter, our coops go anywhere from two to six months without being cleaned out depending on weather.

In the summertime, my kids are responsible for cleaning out the coops since it’s an easy chore for children to tackle. I always do the chicken coop cleaning at the end of winter due to the large volume of bedding and poop being removed.

The other big factor is the rodent droppings which can carry disease. I wear a face covering when I clean out the chicken coops after winter so I don’t breathe in the yucky dust.

The supplies we use to clean out the chicken coop are:

  1. A small long handled rake like this one. This works perfect to rake out the bedding and get into the nooks and crannies of the coop, especially the nest boxes. I used to use a kid size snow shovel but I’ve found that this long handled rake is much more user friendly and light weight.
  2. Bag of pine shavings, we buy these from the local feed store.
  3. Diatomaceous Earth (DE). We use this kind of food grade DE since we also use it for pests in the garden. We put the DE in this handy canister with a sprinkle top so it’s easy for the kids to evenly sprinkle the DE around the coop and nesting boxes.

Steps to Cleaning out the Chicken Coop in Winter

Usually when we clean out our chicken coops, we put the poop/bedding in our compost pile. Due to the rodent droppings in the coops in the winter, I didn’t want that in our compost pile since we use our compost in our gardens. Yuck!

  1. Decide where you are going to put the chicken poop/bedding. This week I raked it into all the big holes the chickens have dug up around their coop while dust bathing in the warmer months. I know they’ll create more holes for their needed dust bathing, but the amount of big holes was a safety hazard trying to walk to the coop!
  2. Rake the chicken poop/bedding out of the coops. Be sure to scrape out any slabs stuck to the bottom. Clean out the corners and nest boxes the best you can. Dispose of chicken coop bedding wherever works for you.
  3. Add fresh pine shavings to the chicken coop. I like to use my long handled rake and spread it around the coop so the floor is well covered.
  4. Sprinkle Diatomaceous Earth around the coop. We sprinkle it on the floor bedding, nest boxes and the roosting bars. We do this every time we put fresh pine shavings in the coop to help prevent mites invading our coops and chickens.
  5. Sit back, relax and watch your happy chickens enjoy their freshly cleaned coop!

The temperatures in Montana are still too cold right now to hose down the chicken coops and spray them with our homemade all purpose citrus vinegar cleaner.

When I cleaned the coops this week, there was still snow and ice on the ground since it got down to 16 degrees last night. Later this spring when it warms up would be the ideal time to hose out the coops so it will be warmer and the coops can dry out properly.

We’re hoping our chickens are happier after getting their coops cleaned out and will start laying more eggs soon.

One of our hens, Francisa, seemed so excited to have fresh bedding that she scooted into a nest box as I was filling them with fresh bedding.

I can’t wait to go check nest boxes the next couple days to see how many other happy chickens have returned to laying eggs after their winter break!

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Do you have any tips to share on how to clean a chicken coop in winter?

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