What makes a chicken coop easy to live with?

[Vnam72]

Picture the scene.

 

My neighbour looks out of their window at 6am one fine crisp morning. They peer into my garden and behold - a 6ft man, on his hands and knees, in a _cage_, quite literally in sh*t.

 

Was this a bondage session gone awry? Is he in the dog-house (or chicken-house) with the wife?

 

No. He's just trying to clean the run of his Eglu Go.

 

Seriously. Cleaning the coop, which is what they promote, is the easy part. But my 3-metre-long heavy run is fixed in place. The end is wedged into the coop, as is designed, so nothing can get into the run. The coop is sat on part of the run wire, as is designed, for the same reason.

 

So my question is - how the hell are you supposed to clean out the entire run without literally climbing in?

 

Note - for logistical reasons, I had to put the door on the side. So a rake can't get to either end.

[Cat tails]

 

Not?

But I feel your pain. The few times I had to be in there weren't fun.

 

I have the standard run and hardly ever clean mine. They are on earth and I either let the rain do it's work once in a while or get the garden hose. What type of stuff do you have them on?

[Princess Leia]

We also have the door on the side. I just remove the tent pegs which hold the skirt down, open the run door, get my feet inside the opening then pick the whole thing up by the mesh. It's heavy (with trays, etc removed) but manageable. Then just walk it to another location.

[jasperaliceuk]

Feel your pain too. I just don't know why they couldn't make it so that the run is easily detachable - you can do it fairly easily but it does entail taking of the sides and undoing a couple of screws and bolts. Would be so much easier to just lift it away.

[chooksRCute]

A real conundrum! I'm finding it easier if I just unfasten & lift the house off then rake it out...but a door at the back would be good

[Luvachicken]

If you buy some sturdy children's tools they should fit into the run easily enough.

I have a children's rake, a broom and spade for doing things in the cube run.

You obviously need to be on your hands and knees so a kneeling mat comes in handy too, also a middle sized Tub-trug and a dustpan and brush.

[Vnam72]

Glad it's not just me then. Seems a bit of a flaw, which didn't really get flagged as far as I see when reading about types of runs etc.

 

So, I could attempt to remove the whole run but the chickens would be loose, which is difficult in my garden. To be honest, for all the effort on unscrewing the coop and lifting the run I might as well have just got in and cleaned it.

 

My run was on grass (since destroyed), so now it's just soil and wood chippings. I thought it was imperative to rake it out at least once a month, didn't think leaving the rain to clean it was really an option...? I also sprinkle some Stan F.

 

Good shout on the children's tools, might have to look into that...

[Cat tails]

Mine were on "grass" for about 24 hours...

Finally I dug some paving slabs in the earth under the run. (temporarily placed the run on my patio)

Filled the whole thing back up with earth. I do stick a rake in once in a while, but more for show I think, because I rarely unearth anything worth raking out.

I have a clear cover for the cube which does fit the standard run of the Go Up nicely and keeps most of it dry. Since that I don't need any woodchips as it doesn't get soggy. I do use the hose to "wash" the earth in the run once in while.

 

If I need to access the back of the run, I just get out the poop drawer and roosting bit and stick my head in the top of the coop.