Tarp Tents and Garage Grunge

Bedding Trials and Composting Calamities Part 2 I used to clean out my chicken coop every week. EVERY WEEK! That was back in the day when I had 40 birds that free ranged and only the ever-morphing tarp tent add-ons gave them extra protect them from wind and rain (in about 2008).  I spent a lot of time tinkering with temporary housing that gave the birds a lot of freedom. Straw bale walls eventually gave way to a plastic and wood framing that kept the birds contained for about 2 weeks. Then they took over the garage for the rest of the winter - miserably the coldest in recent history. I used bag after bag of wood chips and stable fresh pellets. Combined with chicken poop and spilled water,then alternately frozen and baked, this combination of ingredients bonds to concrete like cement. The plastic and drop cloth monstrosity has been gone for several years. I bought this special tool for scrapping crud off concrete floors and hosed and soaked and scrubbed but there are some lumps that I suspect are now permanently installed. And then, I learned how to use a drill....and salvage things. Slowly I started replacing the tents and plastic mindset with more solid structures, outside the garage.