Can we talk about how I was cleaning my nesting boxes all wrong for 3 years?

I always scrubbed my nesting boxes with a bleach solution every week, thinking I was keeping things sanitary. Then last Saturday, my neighbor who has 30 hens told me bleach can actually weaken the wood and leave harmful residue that stresses the birds. She showed me how she just scrapes off droppings and uses a vinegar rinse instead. Has anyone else switched methods after doing it the harsh way for so long?

2 comments

2 Comments

elliotl241mo ago

My buddy out in the county went through the same thing with his quail pens. He was using that pine tar stuff thinking it was protecting the wood, turns out it was basically poisoning his birds over time. He switched to a simple lime wash and never looked back. Vinegar really does the trick for smell and it won't hurt anything if a hen pecks at the box. Bleach is just too harsh for something they're gonna sit in every day.

seanh911mo ago

Lime wash is cheap and works great, I use it on all my coops now.