Pro - Does anyone else's nest boxes get soaked in rain?

[Troy]

Morning omleteers

 

Can anyone advise me on what is needed equipment -wise to clean out the run and cube please?

I don't mean poultry supplies ie P. shield, diatom etc but shovels and things? Someone suggested a cat poop picker for the cube is this really needed???

Chickens will be on aubiose on concrete base.

 

Any advise will be greatly appreciated

Many thanks

Troy

[Egluntyne]

I used to just blast it all into the surrounding earth with a jet washer. It vanished like magic.

 

The hens did roam on the area outside the Eglu run, do it was little more than bare earth.

 

I sprinkled garden lime around occasionally to sweeten the ground.

[chili pepper]

I use the hose with a brush attachment, until hubby caught me....its the one he uses to clean the car

[Olly]

I just rake out the aubiose and replace it every so often. Some people do pick out poo every day, afraid I don't have the time for that!

 

The Cube/Eglu - I bought a wooden brush with a handle, it's meant for scrubbing flowerpots out with and it was about £2. I use that and a hosepipe and Ecover washing-up liquid. That's all I have ever used.

[Mutrix Farmers]

We use mild disinfectant to clean the run, then rinse thoroughly. OH uses the brush attachment that was given to him as part of a car cleaning set (he prefers to use a sponge on the car).

 

To poo-pick we use a childs long handled spade (Son has got over it now!). Any small bits we miss dry quickly in the sun and we just use a spring-time lawn rake occasionally to break it up into a finer dust.

 

[MaxBaz]

Any things that need to be removed/reached for etc in the cube I use one of those long litter pickers with the grippers on the end.

 

They solve a lot of bending down and stretching!

 

I use the jet spray attachment on the hose every week to clean the poo tray and the wooden ladder we built (girls don't like the cube ladder) then rinse quickly with boiling water and spray with Barrier Disinfectant and leave to dry out in the sun.

[Ain't Nobody Here]

I use Ecover washing up liquid to clean the eglu and roosting bars. Also sometimes spray pet disinfectant in the eglu too.

 

For the run, I use garden lime and have just started using Stalosan F (both for when I clean out the run, every couple of months).

 

I bought a dry food scoop (49p from Morrisons) for flicking poops off the patio or collecting humongous ones from the lawn .

[Troy]

Thank you all!

 

Full of great advise and always a mine of combined information!!

 

Troy

[superjules]

For cleaning out my run I use:

• broom
  garden sieve
  trowel
  tubtrug
  gardening gloves

[Troy]

Superjules

 

Another qs pls!!

Where do you get your sand from. I found play sand at homebase for £4.99. Going to need quite a few bags I would imagine and wondered if there is anywhere you go that is more reasonable.

 

Thank you for the list

Troy

[superjules]

Wilko's do 2 bags for £5 at the mo. I think there's 20 or 25kg in a bag. I've used 6 bags in my 2.5x3.5m run, so 1 bag is sufficient for 1.5msq-ish!!