When we first researched keeping chickens, my only hesitation was the idea of having to clean a coop weekly. I used to have a parakeet, and I hated changing his newspaper tray, and I hated cleaning my hamster’s cage too. I was dreading having to clean a coop. I envisioned this, happening weekly (by the way, she was cleaning a coop inherited when she moved to the property for the first time). Then, I ran across something describing the deep litter method, and I knew I had found the solution.
We clean our chicken coop (specifically the hen-house) twice a year. And no more.
And the coop does not smell. In fact, when we participated in the Denver Botanic Gardens/Denver Urban Homesteading Chicken Coop tour, everyone remarked on how our coop did not smell. I didn’t clean it before the tour, because I wanted to show what the method off and let people see what it looked like to have chickens in real life.
What we learned was that we were, at that time, the only chicken keepers on the tour using this method. Every other owner had told the tourists that they cleaned their coops weekly. We were surprised by this and actually started making a joke of it, calling ourselves the lazy chicken owners on the tour. People laughed and that’s how I actually came to the name, the Lazy Homesteader. 
Here is how the method works in case you are like me; allergic to hard work involving poop.
Clean your coop one fall day and then put down a layer of dried leaves or pine shavings or some other kind of litter (not straw – it’ll stink to high heaven). Then you let the chickens poop on it. Then when it’s thoroughly covered over in poop…
Put down more shavings or leaves. I just throw it in – I don’t spread it nicely or anything. I’m not touching that crap. The chickens will dig through it and spread it around anyway.
Repeat until spring comes. Note that I mainly just put litter down right under the roosts. If it’s very rainy or snowy, we put their food and water inside the house (usually we keep them in the run) and we don’t want them to throw litter in the food and water.
Finally, on a nice day, when you feel like doing it, bring the wheel barrow over to the coop, scrape it all out, and dump the decomposed poop/leaves/shavings mixture into your compost bin. It’ll be mostly all composted anyway. Then clean out the coop and put down a fresh layer of shavings or leaves (if you have any more).
You are basically composting in the bottom of the hen-house. And as you learned a couple weeks ago, compost generates heat, perfect for helping your flock stay warm during the winter.
And I can totally handle cleaning only twice a year.
I use straw and it doesn’t smell…But then again I have lots of other stuff mixed in with it such as shredded newspaper, leaves, wood chips etc…I think it’s all in the blending.
I think straw alone doesn’t absorb enough moisture. The mix would probably take care of that. Leaves are my favorite to use since they are, 1) free, and 2) have a pleasant (to me) sweet smell as they compost.
That’s how we do it. We also bought some self-stick linoleum floor squares and covered the bottom of the coop. When we clean out, everything just slides out. Plus it’s easy to clean with hot water and clorox.
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We also do this method with mostly pine shaving (with some leaves mixed in). I think the chickens actually enjoy spreading around the bedding. And thanks for the link!
This is what we did with the chicks when they were inside. No odor despite being inside about, um, I guess about two months longer than they were supposed to be. We never changed it, too lazy! Since it worked so well inside, we gave them a thick start of bedding inside the coop and mulch in the run and so far looks and smells just fine.
Still fresh but we’ve discovered a problem–three of the girls have chosen one corner instead of a nest box for laying and they bury their eggs in the bedding. We have to dig them out every day!
Just wondering if you live in a cold climate…I like the idea of having the nesting boxes outside of the coop, but am not sure if I could make that fly in MN.
I just found your blog and LOVE it! 
Hi Claire, we’re in Colorado. It’s plenty cold, but we don’t get the ice you do.
We have kept as many as 12 hens this way for the past 14 years here on Dogwood Lane Farm. I clean the hen house once a year only with a bleach/water solution in late spring. Once dry we spread a thin layer of diatimaceous earth over the floor and perches then pine straw and leaves. Whenever I cut back my rosemary border or prune the lavender bushes I throw those in the hen house to repel bugs and keep things smelling sweet. I’ve never lost a bird to illness or had an mite problem.
Great idea with the rosemary/lavender – kind of like a chook pooh pot pourri. We grow a lot of garlic and I think I’ll start putting that in the mix too to keep bugs out. We’ve just started this for our 8 chooks in their new home and are building a base with grass hay as we don’t have any shavings/saw dust.
Go vegan, and it solves even more of the messy, smelly chicken problems.
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