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I was spraying my coop down every Saturday for a year before I figured out why my hens kept getting sick
For about 14 months I did the same thing every single weekend, hose down the whole coop, soak the roosts, spray the walls, felt like I was being such a good chicken owner. Then my barred rock, Nugget, got a respiratory thing twice in one spring and my neighbor Deb stopped by and asked why the coop smelled like a wet basement. She said the litter never actually dried out because I was adding moisture to a wooden coop that already holds it, and all that damp bedding was just brewing the bad stuff I was trying to wash away. I pulled up the shavings the next day and the bottom two inches were straight up matted and warm in a bad way. Switched to scooping the poop every morning and adding dry shavings on top, and I have not had a sick bird in 8 months. Now I only do a deep clean twice a year with a full dry out in between. Anyone else learn the hard way that wet is worse than dirty?
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jenniferh8313d ago
Honestly "wet is worse than dirty" should be printed on every beginner chicken book. I did almost the same thing my first year, hosing everything down because it looked cleaner, and my girls kept getting the sniffles. Took me forever to figure out the bedding was never drying and I was basically making a swamp in there. Now I scoop poop every morning, toss in dry shavings, and that's it. Deep clean twice a year, same as you. Dry beats pretty every time.
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