Chickens poop. A lot.

Chickens poop. A lot.

I am sorry for the harsh verbiage, but I was cleaning coops yesterday and was up to my eyeballs in...ummm... repurposed chicken feed, so to speak. Does that sound better?

Now, I don't mean to insult your intelligence, dear readers. I know that intellectually you understand the concept that chickens poop, and that they are...well...messy birds, but, unless you have raised them you may not know the depths to which this is true.

It doesn't matter how "Free range" your birds are, or how many acres they have available to roam. They're gonna poo in the coop. Always. IN THE COOP.

With fall weather swiftly making its arrival, I felt the need to get the barns and coops winterized and ready for the animals. I want them to be as comfortable as possible once they start spending more time inside during the fall and winter months. 

The chicken coops are always the most time-consuming part of the process. The sheep, horses, and llamas can be messy as well, but their messes are generally limited to the floor of the barns. Chickens, on the other hand, roost on their high perches, making messes on the floor, down the walls, on the perches, and have, on occasion, made a mess or two on me when I haphazardly walk beneath a perch in the wee hours of the morning.
Too much information?

I do not use any chemical cleaners in the coops, and I am always trying to find natural products for cleaning and disinfecting around the birds.

I have used vinegar with good success, but I wanted to share my favorite weapon in the coop - cleaning arsenal.

Hydrogen peroxide. 

Yup, the kind you get in the drug store for less than a buck. 

In the concentration sold in drug stores, it is completely safe.

It's cheap, it cleans, it disinfects, and best of all, it fizzes. 

This is a 'before' picture of the gross, dirty perch. The chicken in the background probably came inside to add to the mess.

A few sprays of Hydrogen Peroxide.

FIZZZZZZ!!!

Now, let's look at that again.

It makes my little OCD heart so happy. It's like you can see the germs dying.

After a couple of minutes, I take a putty knife and lightly brush the perch. The gunk just wipes off!

Look at that! It's a thing of beauty!

For those of you that are new to my blog, you should probably know, if you haven't already figured it out, I have issues. Or as my cousin would say, I don't have issues, I have a subscription. He underestimates me. I don't have a subscription, I own the magazine and the publishing company.

Now, go clean your chicken coop!