Stop Cleaning Your Chicken Coop and THIS Will Happen 🐔 👑 

If you coat the combs with Vaseline on the hens before freezing weather they wont freeze. FYI

I use biochar to my deep litter. In the northeast I make it in my wood stove. It absorbs odor beautifully and is great for the garden.

Every fall and early spring I take that fantastic deep litter and spread in the garden to compost before planting. The bottom of my raised beds and anything I plant in buckets as well. The coup stays dry and the chickens grind the straw and wood shavings into a perfect consistency for compost.

I’ve been doing deep litter for about 8 months and it works great. The chickens seem to like it and has kept them warm in our milder SC Upstate winter weather. I sprinkle Saturday Lime once a month. Haven’t had any problems. Will be cleaning it out to add in new baby chicks.

When we were in the suburbs, we used the fall dry leaves in our coop. Free & easy. No taking leaves to city compost 🐓

Clumping cat litter is clay. I changed my cats over to wood pellets for litter. If you compost both types of litter together after a couple of years it's Perfect as starter grower. I found this out accidentally, but glad I did

My chickens love this deep litter method. It stayed warmer in their coop and they peck and scratch in it all day.. The spot under their roost needs shavings added every week.I do change it out two or three times a year because I use a whole bag of shavings each week. Love the composted end product in the garden. ❤️

We have very similar problems with our microclimate and 80" of rain our coops were trying to mold and warranted total clean out once a week. Ty for posting. I've been stressing out for fighting the moisture problem.

Deep litter with leaves. The leaves absorb there poop like nothing else can. Thanks for your videos.

I have four urban birds, using deep litter in 4X4 hen house, poop builds up under roost bars, every couple months I take that out with garden spade into five gallon bucket, stir it up and add a bit more pine shavings. Things are great after one year, this fall will get a good compost going with leaves and add all the litter and what I have removed (maybe just what I've removed from under roost). I think the hen house smells great like a wood shop with the door open to nice spring rain, earthy.

I currently live with my parents and keep chicken's on their property. I'm unemployed due to disability and, I still manage to keep chooks for my own mental wellbeing. I have silkies and 3 Wyandotte laddies. Since I have roosters, we usually let the girls hatch their babies, then I either sell or trade the girls, and give away roosters for free. Do I make money? Absolutely not! But they're low enough cost I can care for them with only my disability payments and the small amount I occasionally make for selling hens. Now I'm looking to move in with friends who are buying, and they're looking for homes on decent sized land, just so I can have my chooks and expand my flock into something that maybe can start paying for itself. Breaking even (in sales, but also savings on buying eggs and meat) is the goal. I'm so excited for the journey.

Thank you for this topic. I live in MN and I clean out and put down 6” of new shavings in the fall. Besides its value as compost, it helps keep my coop a bit warmer in severe Winter temps.

im in lower MICHIGAN and use deep liter method thru winter AND we've perfected pretty much for odor. I added HERBS to boxes that helped alot. Im so thankful. we also had. a couple of Rooster that had frost bite, but have healed, thankfully.

We LOVE the deep litter method! We use it in our coop! We use a mix of hemp and pine shavings and chopped straw! This system works really well for our little flock! :D ( not so little lol)

I have adapted a sort of deep litter method. I have my chicken coop under a tree in my yard. The floor is a pallet, lifted up off the ground. When I gather eggs, I just push all the poop down to the ground. They are free ranged, so they get to go under there and benefit from the worm farm that they're managing.

Come one, people! There are so many free or near free options. I live on ten acres with many fruit trees, so I have a chipper that I need for the trees anyway. It creates great wood chips. If I didn't have a chipper, I could use a planer set on a deep setting that will create excellent chips. If I didn't have that, I could simply use grass clippings which make great bedding.

Your personality and voice are delightful and cheer me up. Im happy to of found your channel.

I live right on Puget Sound so I know what you mean about the moisture. The ground water level is also very high, so mud forms even if we don't have rain! I built my chicken coop and covered run on a raised gravel and mesh platform 2 feet high, then the actual structure is on concrete block foundation with a layer of plastic on the gravel beneath the floors in the coop, , just like you'd do beneath a house. The floors are 3/4" plywood coated both sides with epoxy to prevent rot. They are insulated underneath, too, as an extra moisture barrier. I cover the floors with at least 8" of pine shavings to start with and use the deep litter method in both coop and run. The run has a metal roof and 1/2' hardware mesh on all sides, down across the ground between the gravel and the litter, and up the other sides, so there is continuous protection agains burrowing rats and predators. The outside of the wooden structure has 1" heavy gauge wire to protect against larger, stronger predators. The base of the run is built with 2"x12" lumber to contain the deep litter I use in the run. The roof has a large overhang to keep rain and blowing snow out. I also have plastic panels that I put up when we get severe weather so the girls get a windbreak too. The run has lights and water heaters. The coop has a Sweeter Heater on one wall that can be turned on if it's really bitter. The coop has louvered vents to provide ventilation but keep out drafts. This is key in preventing frostbite as chickens themselves create a lot of moisture. There must be a way for that moisture to escape! They have a door that leads out to their fenced pasture that is covered with bird netting to keep hawks and wild birds out. This fencing and netting is moved around whenever the chickens have eaten the grass and started to get it muddy. Try building on a raised gravel platform - it really works! Look up building animal dry pads - they're used on farms to keep livestock from turning corrals and barnyards into quagmires. Keeping chickens - and any livestock - dry in our climate is a challenge, but it can be done.

First off I love your videos! I know what works for one may not work for another. I tried the deep litter method and didnt like it at all. I turned the straw etc. Personally I think there was too much bacteria that grows. I tried the deep litter with my chickens and my goats. One of my momma goats ended up with mastitis then turned to gangreneous mastitis in a matter of 3 days. I was working aggressively with a vet but we couldnt save her. I truly she would be alive if I would have kept doing what I was and clean the barn once a week and pick up piles of doo doo daily. Time consuming but to me it was cleaner. And my rooster still got frostbite using the deep litter method. But I know it works for a lot of people. This is my experience. Again I love your videos I was just sharing my story.

I do the deep litter method. Just watched your TED talk. I use the chopped straw, as my girl like that, and they do like to spread it around for me. I get fog here in NC, too. Looks pretty cool at times.

36.00 dollars for a bag of shavings. Bahaha tractor supply $6.50

I like your new coop, but really loved the old one too. Loved the way you had it set up, and the windows just set it off, though I know it probably was colder in winter because of it. Too sentimental I guess 😆

This answers sooo many questions!!! I had chickens a few years ago that smelled so awful and we had to clean the coop all the time and it was annoying. This year we got a new batch and they love to kick the bedding and there is absolutely no smell!! Lazy chickens vs crazy chickens 😂 also will try the clay if it becomes a problem cause we live in super humid Tennessee. Thank you so much for the video!!

I rub Original Formula Bag Balm into chapped/wounded combs and feet. The Balm is great to protect and nurture tissues. I don't put Balm on their cha-chas because it kills off bacteria like a mofo, which nurtures yeast. Hell, I use Original Bag Balm on my own wounds and dry skin--that's how I know about the cha-cha thing, haha.

i am in Florida,, i know about humidity... i rigged up a fan to keep the air moving during the day and that air flow keeps the mosquitoes at bay... The coop i have is open air with the hardware cloth as part of the walls.

Thank you for educating us on how to raise chickens! You are adorable and fun!

Another great video, thanks for sharing👍 I live in Germany and here we also add cut grass or leaves. Especially in the winter the cut grass from the summer will heat up the coop whilst it rots. I also add a thin layer of garden soil. Makes it more interesting for the girls to find insects 😁

I use Vet Rx on their combs and waddles during the winter time for frostbite. For the coop I bough a garden sprayer and use lemon, oregano and rosemary essential oils in the mixer and spray some on the bedding before throwing a small (about 2") layer of new bedding on the floor. I do this about every 2 weeks. I clean the coops out twice a year.

I’m way impressed with the Zeolite. When I forget to use it I can tell. I’ve figured out using Hemp combined with Hay/straw is best for us. Hay alone just smells too much. I mix in pine fines too into their enclosed run. I’m curious as to why you don’t use the diatomaceous earth as well. Wouldn’t that help prevent mites? I dont have a separate dust bath though, i have one part of the run that’s very sandy that I add DE too, along with lavender buds, calendula, rosemary and they use that entire sandy corner. Hope you and the girls are getting through winter well.

Hello! I’m a new subscriber to your channel based on a Guildbrook Farm recommendation. I’m excited to be here and look forward to seeing your other videos as “we” (my family) dive further into raising our first 6 chickens. Here in PA it’s still a little chilly outside so we haven’t moved our hens out yet. I’ll soon be binge watching your videos. Thank you for sharing your knowledge!

I just started this with my small mixed flock. So far so good a few weeks in. Smells good, less to no flies, not having to clean as often. My flock loves bundling down in the deep parts too to sleep.

when you cleaning your coop, put your old compost into a 5 gallons bucket and do some Bokashi! You will create Humus! This is excellent for plants, trees...

Love your channel! We are new to chickens and live in a cold climate, which stresses me out. We are dry here so I am going to not do the clay this winter and see how it goes but definitely the deep litter. I was thinking I needed to clean out the coop in the spring but once a year even better!!

Barn lime aka gypsum aka ag lime also work great like clay.

Oh man I love this idea of not having to clean the chicken coop more than once a year. We did something that this won't work for us but we have to change it so this is good to know. Thank you so very much!!

This is excellent 👍. You just changed the way I bed my coop from now on. Hero of the day just cut coop scoop chores down by 99% 😍

in a home farmer's stead nothing will ever be perfect, but you learn something new every day. I grew up in a farming family and even I learn something new every day myself after 50 years

I love the deep litter method. I only clean under the roosts maybe every few months.The products I use are straw/hay & wood shavings as well,that I scoop out mounds when needed? I actually don’t use any diatomaceous earth either as I haven’t needed it? We live in a pretty brutal weather area, Connecticut but luckily with a small heater for the very cold days we manage to escape any frostbite & two small vents at the top 🔝 of the coop for ventilation? Luckily my hubby built my “ Che’ Cheque Chicken Coop” in several stages. Coop-inside run- outside run- enclosed yard. It’s like a mini house? I’d love to see pics of all the other glorious coops. Your new coop is so much larger & easier to clean I’d imagine? Thank you for all of your wonderful advice & tidbits as they’ve tuned out to be super useful. Bock a@ U Later🐔

We are in New England and heat our coop in the cold months

I have a question that I really need answered please. I've been very concerned about worms/parasites & have been watching many videos about it but no one ever addresses the issue of using composted chicken litter where your flock has had worms. Can you still use the litter in your garden & on your vegetables if you have battled parasites?? I sure would appreciate you addressing this for me. Thank you. I love watching you.

Hi miss president thanks for your video, from Malta

What an amazing chicken house. Best I’ve ever seen. Terrific vid too. I’m going to do this 😊

Slather a bit of Vaseline on F-bite prone areas before a cold spell . to prevent frost bite , I live in Maine l never use additional heat works for me . Obviously get proper kind of birds for your area. My hen house hasn't smelled at all since I stopped buying liter and started using the leaves (nature's shavings) we rake in the fall . Press down ,a bit, while raking to incorporate some of the local top soil (bacteria) this is key , and it's free heat due to composting action . You should save & add ALL your egg shells to the composting manure when you use this. I use DE twice a year, 1 tablespoon per bird added &mixed to the feeder for deworming needed or not . 💩 covered eggs and 💩 building up at vent area , are signs that this is needed and it WILL remedy the problem.

👍 I don’t get any droppings in my coop. I have a catch system underneath the roosts and use Zeolite under the roosts. That and I have a 6 x 12 area covered in pine shavings as well. Haven’t seen any droppings in a year. I clean the catch system 2 times or so a month.

I'll give you a little recommendation live in the mountains of Tennessee we don't get heavy snowfall but we do get some bitter winners some time to time wanna get rid of the moisture in the chicken co-op and your co-op has power get dehumidifier it pull all moisture out the air in the coop with that said now u will have dry cold air c deal with but they make heaters for coops I have chickens I have 25

Hi,I live in the Adirondack mountains of upstate N.Y....... severe cold, no matter what kind of coop you have here, every single comb rooster, that has lived through the winter has no points left on their combs.... it's just how it is here. I breed buckeyes, WYANDOTTES. I also have Dutch ,SERAMA SEBRIGHT, Belgian bantams. For ammonia, which is hardly an issue I use SWEET PDZ. I'm a retired zoo keeper we used it everywhere. For birds, just mix in well.... GREAT VIDEO.... THANKS...

I not only shovel sweep and scrape the mess every day. I also take my 16 gallon shop vac to the cracks and seams of my 16 X 8 chicken hotel. I also mop the floor with hot soapy water and leave the exhaust fans running to dry it up completely. This is done while my flock is out pecking around. They love a squeaky clean coop.

Points for the xfiles hoodie and the chicken named Scully. I’m a massive xfiles fan 😍

We get the fog like you do, but we dont get as much snow and cold as you did this year. But, I think I'll look into the clay and see about adding it. I do deep litter, but I usually use the pine pellets that break down into sawdust. But, the whole coop just gets so incredibly dusty. Maybe I'll switch to shavings. Its just about time to do a major clean out of the coop and make some upgrades anyway.

I toss scratch with mealworms in the coop when the bedding needs to be turned. I make sure to sprinkle it all over so they get it all. They're really thorough and are happy to scratch for treats. Best part is I don't have to turn it myself. 🤔

Once a year? Sounds incredible. Must be awesome for the garden.

So,you think old and new shavings are gold.... mmmm... excellent piece, we're going to try this thanks.

Thank you for making 💞

I have linoleum on the floor Cleans really easy

I take it out every few weeks so I can compost it quicker with water and sun. Lot easier this deep mulch tho.

My coop seemed fine. It was extra large & seemed like I didn’t need to worry too much about cleaning it. Then my coop cat got histoplasmosis & I could get it too from the mold spores in the coop floor. Idk how to clean it now without getting sick. It’s way better to clean it often than have a fatal disease (my cat has the fungal disease bad creating lumps, blindness & fluid in his breathing).

I kept chickens for over 20 yrs. I always did deep litter and it generated enough heat that I never heated per se. However, I always had heat lamps(2) suspended under the shelves the birds roosted on. There were ladder pieces that the birds actually roosted on. I had the ladders elevated on bricks so they were never on any manure. The manure got scraped onto the floor daily and was mixed in with a manure fork. Even though our temps dropped to -30 degrees we never had frost bite. The heat lamps generated just enough heat that the birds benefited. Also I kept my waterers on top of overturned heated large size dog water bowls. They were plugged into thermo cube plugs that only turned if the ambient temperature went to 35 degrees or maybe 32 degrees. It meant that the water never froze and the power was only on at low temps.

I mix cat litter in mine, it contains domacious earth, absorbs moisture and prevents smell

Got my first chickens a few weeks ago. Built a raised coop for 7 birds. Going to be trying this method.

Like always your a breath of fresh AIR.

"Skully" 😂

“Welcome to chickenlandia” my favorite part of the day

I love you so much you have saved me so much as a first time chicken owner you also live where I graduated from high school so much attachment you have done for me I can’t even explain how much I truly love you ,you are awesome

Can you do this with an open coop. I just have the run Which is partially covered with tarp like material and fully covered with chicken wire. I put a coop and a roost in it😏. They have plenty of space. I have four hens in it. I have five assorted Batam peeps (10 weeks old) that are separate that I bought from tractor supply.

Your enthusiasm is inspiring. I shall add you to my treasure box. 💕

I have just started this method I use a garden hoe to turn mine and then rake it over it's going well so far I actually started it after watching another of your videos so thank you for introducing me to this stress free way of keeping the coop clean and fresh ❤🐓

Thank you! This is just great info. We have just bought an acreage and I intend to have chickens. I was wondering how that would work. So good.

Pine shavings at tractor supply are good and less expensive than pet pine flakes

New to chickens. We have 3 that just started laying and 3 6wk old babies. Our coop and run is no where near as nice as yours. We rent. Landlord allowed us to get chickens, byt we can't put up anything big or "permanent." Add in the land is rocky and on a slope since we're in the mountains... Anyway, they have a pretty large outside run area and a small closed in coop. Part of the outside run area is covered with shade netting to give them extra shade and protection. It keeps sun, leaves, and other bird dropping off the covered area, but rain can still get through. Whew! All that to ask, this deep litter method, is it just for coops, or can it be used in the covered run area as well? No grass grows there anyway because of rocks and trees. They have another area that gets plenty of sun, fewer rocks and trees, so the grass grows there for them.

Thank you for this! I am starting my chickens journey just now and live in Florida where humidity is a big issue.

All I can say is LOL, and thank for your time, and I didn't even look at the video yet, just read the Time and two seconds of video. I will watch it now. Enjoy Life and have a Bless day, from Bridgeport Connecticut

I would love to use the deep litter method in our new coop… our current coop is falling apart a little bit🐓

Your chickens are so beautiful!

Try knitting little hats for the chickens.

Hey have your heard a song by Bree Sharp? It's called David Duchovny. 😄

When you where talking about Scully, I was only listening while doing something else, and I thought “I wonder if she named after Scully from xfiles!” One of my absolute fave shows btw, then I started watching and saw your sweater 😉🥰

Your hair looks really cute like that

I'm absolutely going to try this. Do feathers also compost down? It's shedding time right now and I'm having to clear out feathers every darn day. My biggest concern would be the feathers harboring lice, mites etc. Mareks disease is also a big issue where I currently live. The past year almost every keeper with a decent sized flock lost birds to Mareks.

Love your Hoodie 🙂

made me laugh when you squatted with the weird X-Files music .. almost expected to see a egg left there 😄 🤣 nice t-shirt

U can just sprinkle garden lime to kill the smell

I miss living in the PNW because of how different the weather can be just 20m drive. I loved living in outskirts of Seattle metro then driving east just a few minutes into the Issaquah Alps and being in a PNW wonderland with the fog and snow. I'm in Texas now and it feels more like Australia or the Wild West... What a difference! It has it's appeal but I miss the PNW heaps..

Just have to say that I have watched a couple of your videos and your smile and your attitude are very charming and the information has been great even though I don't even have chickens but have been thinking about getting a few since my grand daughter has been harassing me non stop. I love animals 2 dogs, 1 cat, two birds and a lizard., but I am retired and I thought I might move and I feel like I am just laying down more roots by getting them. Still, I am drawn to information and your channel has been most enjoyable and informational. Thank you!

Am I crazy? What in the world is "organic shavings"? Aren't all shavings essentially organic? Or am I missing something?

Hi I just now discovered your channel.. And I love the chickens🐤🐥🐣❤💯✅

Could you add some soaked seeds to the bedding to get the chickens to scratch away at the bedding.

Big Hi from Central Europe.... 👍 You are so funny 😊 and The Best "mama chicken" 👍

if you plant fast growing deciduous trees, you will have free litter in the fall lasting all winter :)

I’ve got one more question… if you are cleaning the compost out once a year is this a safe fertilizer for a garden ? Has anyone else done this?

My chickens live in a non heated coop in -30 weather. Their combs freeze every year, heal up normal every spring. Don’t sweat it. Get cold hardy birds and don’t worry. Good ventilation is the key. Open the windows for the winter.

No frost bite in Florida. 🙂

I literally carry my flach inside to our heated pole barn when it's bitter cold here in Michigan 🤣

Mulched fall leaves work great for this

Interesting, I didnt know about adding clay to it. Id just add more pine shavings on top but if I skipped like 2-3 days that ammonia be smacking me in the face!

Clay works but you can also use food grade DE too

what kind of chicken is the brown speckeled hen that the feathers are all sticking up?

I have to clean my coop almost ever three days because when I put the shavings in the coop they normally flatten it out fast and in the same time the coop is getting WET so I of to change it as often and the coop is not leaking or anything maybe it's over crodwed😭😭😭HELP SOMEONE PLEASE

What are your thoughts on coffee bedding? It is all over and it is just so confusing :( :( I rescue chickens and I love them they have have change my life 100% thanks to them and educating myself I been VEGAN for years :) :) I am so grateful and thankful I found you :) :)

new subscriber, love your simple ways to say things

I was doing this till one of my chickens died in there and their was blood all over 💔 😔 so having to clean it out