[Hermit]

I clean mine out thoroughly once a week but I am registered to sell eggs and they can call any time for an inspection! It is entirely dependant on weather , amount of chooks etc. Just be sensible , every chook house is different.

[robert waddell]

WARNING    this post started as a mucking out comparison and has so for been an education
now i don't want anybody falling out or over      mucking out of any animal or bird can be a comparison of different ideas   when cows were tethered up in byres some mucked them out twice or three times a day one it was warm inside in winter and a little often was a good idea  others mucked out just once a day times moved on and cattle are housed loose in sheds and mucked out at best twice in the winter the deep bedding giving warmth to the animals  poultry some go the Little and often route deep litter housing is not mucked out till the poultry leave the shed then it is deep cleaned    our hens are cleaned out once a month
an education due to dizzycow and her words that she posted  i did like them
now if advice is asked and given by different people it is up to the one that has asked what line of advice to take if any  no question is stupid and no answer is stupid   maybe out of kilter but  maybe just right  the most recent falling out was over the colour of a dog  i don't take the cream puff so why do so many spit the dummie out
now if it was mucking out pigs that is one controversial subject and there housing the slurry will hit the fan
but anyway it is up to the individual what method how many days between mucking out what they bed them with what they do with it    will it end up somebody comes on asks advice and everybody crapping themselves so much they wont acknowledge that there is a plea for assistance i hope the asking continues and the advice continues even if it does not suit everbody    peace love and drink to everybody

[Dizzycow]

Punctuation, darling, punctuation.  Heh heh heh. Bite me. 

And quite right, perfect commentary. Just been reading the dog thread. I'm the first to take the cream puff, though, and I think that everyone should play nicely, Karma and all that guff. 

Peace, love, drink, and EXCELLENT sausages. Right, Roberto, I have customers for you. But they can't be arsed to go all the way over to the lovely spot in the arse-end-of-nowhere. We need to get something sorted out.

Feel the loveeeeee, pass the winneeeeee......

[plumseverywhere]

what is the cream puff?!

[dyedinthewool]

I must admit I clean out everyday (only two houses, 8 x 4 and 6 x 4 Sheds) I always turn their nest boxes out and shake up the straw. They have shavings under their perches so it's easy to pick up that poo (use thin rubber gloves)  pick up poo in the runs (wood chips) and grass areas I find it stops the grass from getting burnt from the poo. (I use a coal shovel with a plastic tinned garden rake to hook it onto the shovel)

The do get to run free range after lunch (I work some mornings) so there's not so much in their runs etc.

I reckon it takes about 20mins to do both sheds/pens.

But then i muck out my sheep sheds everyday as well...but i only have 13 sheep.

Each to their own way of working and the time they have to to do it in.  As long as the animals health is not jeopardised by cleaning out every day/week/month etc then  it's up to that person to decide how they want to do it.

 

[Dizzycow]

Huff!

EVERY DAY? Lucky chickens. Or pookies, as we rather embarrassingly call them. See, they're loved! If neglected from time to time. I need to get me some of them shavings, darn it.

[doganjo]

Huff.  Like some people on here do.

I'm with Womble.  So long as the hens are healthy and bodily clean, and beastie free, can't see any harm in letting mucking out slip for a bit if there are more pressing things to be done  I probably deep clean my henhouse every 2 to 3 weeks, with diatom and mitekill shooken and sprayed all about.  I also have a gravel run which is hosed down and sprayed with jeyes regularly and that has to be done after dark when the chickies have gone to bed, so that it's dry and safe for them in the morning.  Obviously that's easier to do in winter when it has a longer time to dissipate than in summer.  I also throw in extra bedding on a sort of deep litter basis if I find time pressing, although that does make it more difficult to clean out when I do get round to it.  Nobody's perfect.

[Fleecewife]

I don't think Ian will take a huff at what was said - he's far too sensible    But what would be the point of answering a question such as his if we all politely ignored the elephant in the room?  The fact that his hen coop needed cleaning out is not shameful, it's just a fact, but it is relevant to the question he asked, because the scaley debris shown would perhaps not be noticeable in a freshly cleaned house, and if it is caused by a parasite leading to increased preening, a cleaner house might help.

I certainly hate to see people ganging up on others but in this instance I don't think anyone was ganging up on Ian - for me, I was simply trying to think through the possible causes.

[robert waddell]

that ties in perfect dizzy the shaving supplier is in the arse end of nowhere as well you would get 10-15 in the back of the disco   will pm you on the sausage side of things    your couping the blood Marys i am on the fosters leave the brandy and vodka for another day
you are lucky i mastered the spell check have not progressed to :punctuation

[Dizzycow]

Oh Robert, I feel another trip to the arse-end-of nowhere coming on.....! Shavings sound good, though. The hay gets stuck in the bloody pully-outy-base thing.

Bugger the punctuation. What's the odd full stop amongst mates? Loving your spell-checking action, though!

Fosters? Really? I'll bring you a bottle of my sloe gin when I next trek into the back of beyond.

Seriously now, the sausages....... No wonder Lillian has all those awards hanging from the wall. She's a demon sausaggggieeerrre. MMMMM. 

[Dizzycow]

Doganjo, Charlie T owns the sire of our cocker spaniel pup. He (Charlie, not the dog) was at school with my sister, He's fantastic with the dogs, and a great guy. Anyone looking for help with their dogs would be well advised to go to him. He took my in law's sprocker while they were on hols, and turned her from an unruly pup to being well on her way being a good gun dog. We'll be breeding from our bitch in a couple of years, and as it stands have all the pups bagsed already, however I may be posting an advert on this at some stage for any pups not sold....!

[Gorse-Lea]

Phew

I thought I was bad for not doing it once a week. Longest mine have gone is 12 days, but I am very fussy and need it spotless before putting in fresh bedding. As long as they're healthy and happy,that's the main thing!!

[Rosemary]

what is the cream puff?!

Taking the cream puff - taking the huff. Does that help? Spitting oot the dummie?

[Dizzycow]

Now, confusingly, in West Fife, there's an expression, which is ' in ma puff'. Not to be confused with 'in a puff'. Tricky business.

12 days? My chickens should be so lucky. Report me to the SSPCA immediately.

[robert waddell]

well in central Scotland a poke is a bag        in northern ireland a poke is an ice cream         in Geordie land it is sex      just imagine the confusion in bridge of Allen when the Geordie's came up to renew the water pipes going into the bakers and being asked if they wanted a poke to go with there pie