Cleaning the Chicken Coop

for those who care to know.....

First, put on your old clothes, boots, and a bandana around your neck. Throw a scoop shovel and hoe into the bucket of the John Deere and drive over to the coop. Open the door and let all the hens out, pick up the feeders, water buckets, feed sacks and throw them all outdoors. Remove any eggs from nests to a pail to take home later. Pull bandana up around your nose and mouth. Scrape out nests with the hoe and loosen manure and dirt out of all the corners. Grab the scoop shovel and get everything that's loose shoveled out and throw it into the tractor bucket. This is the REAL Shoveling-Out-the-House. Heave it in till the floor is as clean as possible. Sprinkle floor with fresh wood shavings and baking soda. Replace fresh hay in nests. Wash buckets and feeders with soap and water and refill with new feed. Wash windows. If you want to do a deep-cleaning, spray down the walls of the coop with bleach or ammonia in a hose-end sprayer. Allow to dry out before replacing bedding. Repeat three times a year or more according to your standard of cleanliness. Dump the tractor bucket and go home to take a hot shower.