Monday 19 May 2014

Spray

I thought I'd make hay while the sun shines.  Or rather,  deep clean the other coops on the allotment, and my Cube at home.

I try and do this four times a year (in addition to weekly poo cleaning and routine montly cleaning/poweder disinfecting/Diatomming) The deep clean involves removing everything, and then doing a full dose of Poultry Shield.  When it's all dry, everything gets Diatommed.

I did the large shed a couple of weeks ago, but I hadn't done the other coops on the allotment.  I've been waiting for good weather, so everything can get dry quickly.

 A couple of years ago I invested in a large pressure sprayer, and that has been great. The only downsides are that the nozzle clogs ( because I use water from a water butt), and it has to be refilled several times.  I've got round the clogging by carrying spare nozzles, so I can switch them and carry on.

I had thought about getting a knapsack type sprayer, but they seemed a lot of money.  (Especially as I was using a hand sprayer - the sort for misting plants - at the time I first looked)..  However, with a number of coops to do in one go, I decided to look again.   I bought one, and it arrived in time.

I had to tighten everything up before using it, but it worked like a dream. I wasn't sure how much water to put in. It holds 16 litres, but I knew that would be too much (from the calculatin of how much Poultry Shield would be required).  In the end, I put in 12 litres.  

It was great. A bit awkward to get on, on my own - fortunately DH was around.  Once on, it was very straightforward.  I didn't need to refill it, it didn't clog, and the job was done very quickly.

It tool about 2 hours at the allotment to do everything (including putting everything back afterwards).   When I got home, I started on the Cube.   I pressure washed it first, then I pressure washed the panels of the walk in run. Then I pressure washed the algae off the rain cover.  Then I pressure washed the mezzanine level.   After that, spraying with poultry shield only took a few minutes.

Thank goodness that's done.

I'll have to do the broody cube later. But that can wait - as long as it's ready before the chicks start to use it.


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