Coop maintenance, small coops

This summer we decided to finally get around to doing some coop maintenance on the goose coop. First it was hauled over to the driveway. (warning...don't try this at home! We did it with 2 people and a hand truck. Bad BAD idea! My back hurt for 3 days after!) 

Power washing and staining the coop

Once the Goose house was removed we raked up all the hay, scratch and DE that had somehow gotten underneath and put down a base of pebble gravel. Then the coop was power washed. Once it was spotless it was allowed to dry overnight before we stained it. One more night to dry and it was moved back into place. This time we lifted it with the tractor. Better idea, MUCH better idea! 

The geese were overjoyed to get their house back where it belongs since for two nights they've been sleeping in it while it was in the driveway. This was quite confusing to the little honkers! 

We do this kind of maintenance very rarely on these smaller coops because of the poultry that live in them. Geese are in this one, ducks in another....both are wet on the bottom but not very messy up top. They don't require internal power washing since the bedding is very thick (changed weekly) and they don't roost. 

Roosting birds tend to splatter poo everywhere, but that's a different post! We only power wash the outsides of coops when it's time to stain them. Stain should last a few years, so hopefully this one won't need done any time soon. I hope not....for my back's sake!

~L

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