Journal · September 22, 2026
How to Properly Clean a Chicken Coop: 10 Essential Steps for a Cleaner, Healthier Coop
If you own chickens, you already know they're a lot of fun. Cleaning their coop? Usually not the part anyone looks forward to.
At LuckyBird, we spend a lot of time thinking about how chicken coops are built, how they hold up over time, and what makes them easier to live with for both chickens and their owners. One thing we've learned is that even the best-built coop still needs regular care.
A good coop cleanout is more than dumping out some old bedding and adding a fresh bag of shavings. Done properly, it means removing accumulated waste, cleaning the areas where manure and moisture collect, paying attention to feeders and waterers, checking ventilation, and taking the opportunity to inspect the coop itself.
So whether you're planning to tackle the job yourself or would rather have LuckyBird handle the dirty work, here's what you should know.
Why Regular Chicken Coop Cleaning Matters
Chicken coops naturally collect manure, feathers, dust, spilled feed, moisture and bedding. Over time, that combination can create odors, attract flies and other pests, and make the coop less pleasant for both you and your flock.
Moisture is especially important to manage. A dry, well-ventilated coop is much easier to maintain than one where damp bedding and manure are allowed to accumulate.
Regular cleaning also gives you a chance to actually look at the coop. When everything is buried under bedding and dust, it's easy to miss a loose latch, automatic door issue, damaged hardware, poor ventilation, wood deterioration or a potential predator entry point.
In other words, cleaning isn't just about appearance. It's part of maintaining the entire coop.
What Happens If You Don't Clean Your Chicken Coop?
Putting off a cleanout for a few extra days isn't usually the issue. The problems come when buildup becomes the normal condition of the coop.
Excess manure and moisture can contribute to strong ammonia odors and poorer air quality. Damp, dirty bedding can encourage flies and other unwanted pests. Feed debris can attract rodents. Nesting boxes become dirty, eggs become harder to keep clean, and the entire coop can become much more difficult to maintain.
And there's another problem we see as coop builders: small maintenance issues can go unnoticed.
A sticking automatic door, loose hinge, damaged latch, deteriorating section of wood or weak point in predator protection is much easier to address when it's caught early.
That's one reason we believe a thorough coop cleaning should also include paying attention to the condition of the coop itself.
10 Essential Steps to Properly Clean a Chicken Coop
Want to do it yourself? Set aside some time, put on clothes you don't mind getting dirty, and follow these steps.
Safely move the chickens out of the work area.
Before cleaning begins, make sure your flock is safely secured away from the coop or section you're working in. Remove or secure anything that could interfere with cleaning.
Remove feeders, waterers and movable accessories.
Getting these items out of the way allows you to reach the areas underneath and behind them. This is also a good opportunity to clean and inspect the equipment itself.
Remove all old bedding and loose waste.
For a full cleanout, remove the bedding from the floor and nesting areas rather than simply covering dirty material with another layer.
At LuckyBird, our standard replacement bedding is kiln-dried pine shavings.
Scrape roosts, floors, nesting boxes and droppings areas.
This is where the real work usually begins. Dried manure can adhere surprisingly well to wood and other surfaces. Pay particular attention to roosting areas and anywhere waste tends to accumulate.
Remove dust, feathers and cobwebs.
Look beyond the floor. Dust and feathers accumulate on walls, ledges, ventilation areas, corners and hardware. A thorough cleanout should work from top to bottom.
Clean feeders and waterers.
Empty, wash and clean the equipment your birds use every day. Pay attention to buildup in seams, corners and other areas that are easy to overlook.
Clean and sanitize appropriate coop surfaces.
Once the bulk material has been removed, clean accessible surfaces and use an appropriate product according to its label directions.
For our LuckyBird Coop Care services, we emphasize eco-friendly, pet-safe disinfectants and sanitizers as part of our professional cleaning process.
Allow cleaned areas to dry appropriately.
Don't rush to bury damp surfaces underneath new bedding. Moisture management is an important part of maintaining a clean coop.
Inspect the coop before putting everything back together.
This is an often-overlooked step.
Check your latches, hinges, doors, ventilation, nesting areas, hardware and obvious predator vulnerabilities. If you have an automatic chicken door, make sure it is operating and closing correctly.
With LuckyBird's Standard and Deluxe Coop Care services, we include a comprehensive coop inspection. We also check and adjust the automatic door and adjust and lubricate accessible latches and hinges.
Add fresh bedding and reset the coop.
Once everything is clean and sufficiently dry, add fresh bedding, reinstall the feeders and waterers, and get the coop ready for your flock.
Then comes the final step nobody puts on the checklist: cleaning yourself up.
The DIY Part Nobody Talks About
None of these steps are particularly mysterious. That's why cleaning your own coop is absolutely doable.
But doing it properly takes time.
You need to move the birds, haul out bedding, scrape dried manure, clean nesting boxes, deal with dust and cobwebs, clean equipment, sanitize surfaces, wait for things to dry, inspect the structure, haul in new bedding, put everything back together and figure out what you're doing with the waste.
And the bigger the coop and run, the bigger the job.
There's also a difference between quickly making a coop look cleaner and methodically working through the areas where waste, moisture and wear actually accumulate.
That's exactly why we decided to launch LuckyBird Coop Care.
We'd Rather Do the Dirty Work for You
For years, LuckyBird has focused on building high-quality chicken coops for Colorado families. Coop Care is a natural extension of that.
Our thinking was pretty simple:
You trusted us to build it. Now let us take care of it.
And you don't need to own a LuckyBird coop to use the service.
LuckyBird Coop Care
We currently offer three levels of professional coop cleaning:
Coop Refresh — Starting at $99. Designed for routine cleaning and maintenance between deeper cleanouts.
Standard — Starting at $179. Our complete cleanout service, including full bedding removal, deeper cleaning and sanitation, fresh kiln-dried pine shavings and a comprehensive coop inspection.
Deluxe — Starting at $299. Our most comprehensive service, adding our BioSecure cleaning process, enhanced sanitation, detailed equipment cleaning and before-and-after documentation.
We also offer Monthly Coop Refresh, Monthly Standard and Seasonal Care plans for owners who would rather put coop maintenance on a schedule and stop worrying about when it's time to clean again.
During service, coop waste can be placed in your designated manure area, compost area or trash receptacle. If you'd rather not deal with it at all, off-site waste removal is available as an additional service.
Run cleaning, premium bedding, predator-security inspections, seasonal/winter preparation, and repair and upgrade services are also available.
Spend More Time Enjoying Your Chickens
If you enjoy cleaning your coop yourself, save this guide and use it as a checklist the next time you're due for a cleanout.
But if you've been staring out the window thinking, “I really need to clean that coop this weekend,” we can take care of it for you.
LuckyBird Coop Care combines professional cleaning with something a general cleaning company can't easily replicate: we understand chicken coops because we build them.
We'll clean it, inspect it, take care of the details, and leave you with a cleaner coop without sacrificing half of your Saturday.
Ready to get the dirty work off your list? Contact LuckyBird Coops at 720-630-0818 or request your Coop Care service through the LuckyBird website.
We clean every coop. Not just ours.