# Coop cleaning



## Maryellen (Jan 21, 2015)

So yesterday i dug out the entire left side of dirt/hay/cedar from the pen area. Took two hours. Today i dug out the entire right side.... Another two hours... 
Then raked new dirt and and added 360 lbs of sand and 50 lbs of PDZ. Raked it all out . Need another 360 lbs more of sand will pick up this week and another 100 lbs of PDZ.. So for now its half done. Hens approve and started dust bathing right away.. They saw me working in the pen and had to come in from outside in the yard to investigate...










































And the initial work


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

You probably uncovered a bunch of treats for them.

I used to buy sand by the ton. Its amazing how much sand you need to cover an area until you reach the depth you want.


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## Maryellen (Jan 21, 2015)

One worm lol is all that i found.... Yep need a lot more sand...


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## Maryellen (Jan 21, 2015)

We are getting 5 more bags of sand and 5 bags of PDZ to finish it off this week. I also made two ladders that i added one in the coop and one in the pen so the silkies have ways to get up to roost


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Don't be surprised if the Silkies don't figure it out. Sometimes the most obvious things escape them. Some of mine used the roosts, others could care less. 

You shouldn't need that much PDZ. One bag should have been enough for the whole run. In a ten by ten area I use about a quarter of a bag. My 20 by 12 coop was only a single bag.


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## Maryellen (Jan 21, 2015)

I wont use all the PDZ only 2 bags,my tsc doesn't carry a lot so i buy 5 bags when they have it.
The silkies used the ladder last night and then slept in the nesting boxes again lol


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

For whatever reason the girls are just not all that in to roosting. The boys, some did, some didn't. A girl would roost if there was just her and the rooster but not always.

Or the feed store, or the co-op. Sometimes there wasn't any in town to be found when I'd go to pick a bag up.


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## Maryellen (Jan 21, 2015)

They tried recently to roost but were kicked off . When i got them they slept in the nesting boxes since September . I kept trying to get them to go on the roost but they didnt want to. So now that they want to the big birds wont let them( and there is plenty of room as i checked) the little bantams that came with them roosted from day one. If its just the bantams roosting the silkies will join them.


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