How to Sterilize Your Chicken Coop

Chickens are moving into the city.

Urban chicken raising is one of the hottest growing trends in the country today. Every day, more and more people are building backyard coops and enjoying the benefits that chickens have to offer. Chickens provide nutritious eggs, companionship, lawn fertilization, and pest control. However, you need to keep your chickens healthy, and a clean environment is the best way to accomplish this.

Things You'll Need

• Hand broom
• Garden hose
• Bucket
• Scrubbing brushes
• Mild dish soap
• Animal-safe and environmentally friendly bleach

Instructions

1. Remove the bedding from the nesting boxes and roost. Compost it or dispose of it. Sweep any remaining detritus out of the coop.

2. Add some dish soap to a bucket of warm water and apply the soapy liquid to the interior walls and floor of the coop. Use the scrubbing brush to dislodge dried manure. Rinse down the walls with the garden hose.

3. Add bleach to a bucket of fresh water; apply it liberally to the walls and floors of the coop. Let it stand for 30 minutes, occasionally re-wetting the surfaces as necessary.

4. Rinse thoroughly with water from the garden hose. Make certain that no bleach remains. Allow the coop to dry completely before adding the nest and coop bedding.

Tips & Warnings

• Cover the interior of your coop with linoleum tiles or linoleum cut to fit. Its nonporous surface makes sterilization and clean-up a breeze.

References

• Chicken Coop Cleaning Tips
• Cleaning a Chicken Coop (Video)

Resources

• Easy to Clean Chicken Coops