How do I keep my chickens clean?
Posted by Fiona Nevile in Chickens | 200 comments
Chickens are not naturally clean creatures, unlike the story book ones. Do you remember them? Clean living hens, wearing spotted scarves and venturing out to the market with a basket hooked over a wing and a clutch of chicks close by.
Real life chickens will foul their chicken house and quite often foul the nesting box. The only chicken that I have known to actively ‘clean’ her house was Mrs Boss. When the guinea fowl keets hatched she pulled all the hay from her nest out of their house in the ark. The more clean hay and woodchips I added the more she pushed them into their run. After a couple of weeks, I admitted defeat. The keets slept under Mrs Boss’ wings, on bare boards. I could never understand why she did this.
If chickens are not cleaned out regularly their droppings can harbour and spread disease. Droppings in the nesting box can foul the eggs. Remove any droppings immediately from the nesting box when you see them.
There is also the question of chicken mites. In warmer weather, mites can breed like wildfire in a house that is not treated regularly. They lay their eggs in dark nooks and crannies in the house and are at their most active at night. They bite the chickens and these bites can become infected.
An imaginative Estate Agent might describe our hen house as,
“A Canadian style two storey lodge. Lower floor family room with traditional wooden slatted staircase leading to spacious communal bedroom for 8 plus with half mansard ceiling and door to cosy penthouse nesting box.”
It gets a good cleanout once a week. And a top to toe super valet and repair in the Spring and Autumn.
If you are canny, the weekly cleanout for an average sized house (ours is designed to accommodate 6-8 Maran hens) takes about twenty minutes, often it is completed in ten.
The trick to quick and easy cleaning is to store everything that you might need within a few feet of the chicken house. We keep our chicken consumables in two large barrels in the run. One holds the bedding the other contains sprays, powders, oyster shells, grit and everything that a chicken keeper might need. These storage bins are also popular with the flock as they have another vantage point on which to stand and observe the world.
Our chicken feed is stored in the boot of Danny’s car and in a large aluminium grain store in the garden. Along with the wild bird and Min Pin food.
Generally I pull on my chicken cleaning gloves at midday when the flock are out an about in the run. Initially I spray the inside of the house with a decent anti mite spray. I close the door to the house as I am not sure how safe the spray is for the flock (although it is marked suitable for an aviary with residents). While the spray wafts through the house I collect all the stuff that I need from the barrels. woodchips, fresh hay and mite powder.
The old woodchips, hay and droppings are swept into the chicken run dustpan and go into their bucket (this was sold to me as a nappy bucket and has a lid). This lid is handy as the bucket can sit happily inside the run until it is full.
Once all debris has been removed, I spread wood chips on the floor of the house. These are great as they absorb moisture and make the chicken cleaning process much easier. They are available in enormous chunky packs. and a pack lasts for months. I lay a layer of woodchips in the nesting box topped with a thickish layer of hay. My mum recommended hay for the nests as mites can breed easily in the hollow strands of straw. The hens fashion the hay into nests very quickly, even if they are off lay.
Once fresh chips and hay have been spread, I return to the barrels for oyster shells and grit. I used to put these in a nifty container in the run, now I cast them just before I open the gates to get out. The flock dives for these and before they have discovered that they are not deluxe grain mix I am the other side of the wire. Poultry need grit. Ours find this in the back wall of the run. If yours don’t have access to a wall don’t forget to provide them with grit, if you are feeding them seeds and corn as it essential for breaking down the husks in their gullets.
Chickens are fine on woodchips alone and I have seen many happy hen houses that just have newspaper spread on the floor. Once you find an effective way to keep your chickens clean that suits you, use it on a weekly basis. You and your chickens will bloom.
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WOOD ASH FOR MITES! (keep it dry!)
and WATCH OUT FOR THOSE CHEMICALS!
Your site is GREAT! I’m a “furriner” out in West Texas, who returned to the family farm to learn to live — self-sufficient — without money — like my folks did through the Great Depression and WW2 years. (Fiona and Danny, when you take that “dream trip,” come see me!)
But Ladies and Gentlemen, we avoid pesticides and all chemicals like the plague on our small stock farm! I’m just now detoxing from some serious daily use of bug sprays at my friend’s house where I worked 3 days a week. (Legs swelling, and general malaise. I’m ok now, tho.)That stuff is nasty — and is dangerous! Especially to children and old folks!
Native stone People house and Hen house built “to order” by my daddy in 1942. (Both keep Cool in hot summer with cross-draft breezes, and warm in winter.)
I keep about 30 layers and couple of roosters in about 30 ft X 20 ft chicken house — Still the ancient wooden roosts… metal nesting, coastal hay mostly for nests. Lock them in for the night against coyotes, raccoons, skunks, bobcats, etc. from their much larger yard. Snakes can be a problem, but one old bullsnake was dispatched while waiting to digest a young pullet, and could not crawl back out through the poultry wire.
I keep wood ash (from woodburning stoves) in a corner or two of the chicken house — mustn’t let it get wet! Those biddies LOVE to take a bath in the stuff, and I’ve always heard it will kill the mites. Mama never had a problem, and so far, I’ve not seen any.
Now that I’ve read your great suggestions, I’ll add some food grade DE to the mix!
Glad to find you nice folks…
Be blessed abundantly! MuleMarm
Hi Vicky, An Eglu is so worth saving for. It takes me no longer than 10 minutes to do a thorough clean, and I mean THOROUGH. I haven’t got a rn attached to mine as my clever hubby made a large covered aviary to put it in. Not only are my girls safe, they are dry as well. We have put corrugated plastic on the roof(opaque to keep some of the sun out) and we have panelled the sides with it, but have screwed it on so that when the weather is very warm it is easy to remove to create a nice air flow through the aviary. We have also fitted a light inside so that when I shut them away at night I can see everything and it will also act as a ‘day-light’ substitute during the short winter days.
Hope you mangae to get the little ‘critters’ under control – good luck
Trisha
Hi Vicky,
My coop is also made of wood. I had a mite problem. I noe scrub fortnightll with jeyes fluid and spray weekly with a solution of half vinegar and half dettol. Up to now the mites are under control. Good luck
Lesley
My coop is made of wood and seems to be the problem. lots and lots of crevices for mites to hide in. I dont think the manufacturers are aware of the needs of animals when making housing! I would like to buy an eglu, but they are sooooo expensive. I am going to spend tomorrow scrubbing, spraying, painting and dusting! someone has suggested white emulsion.
I have had chooks since march this year (have got 6 girls now) and so far – touch wood – have not had any mites. I clean out every week and put DE powder and louse powder down each time. My girls haven’t got any lice either – i guess that i have just been lucky so far. I clean out using Virkon disinfectant powder made into a liquid and spray and scrub my bars etc with this, and if the weather is nice I then ‘air-dry’ everything. Seems to be doing the trick. Mind you I have got an Eglu cube which makes it so much easier to keep everything clean.
Hi Trisha
Thanks for the advice, much appreciated.
Hi Vicky
I had the same when I started keeping chickens and discovered that they were breeding like wildfire in the perch holders and inside the ceramic eggs. So now regularly treat both of these and that seems to do the trick.
Hi
We have mites, im sitting here itching!!!!!!
I wash out regularly every week. Have sprayed with aviary spray (They came out of everywhere!) and now am trying diatom powder in coop and on chooks. I have been using red mite powder in the coop since getting my chooks but it didnt help to prevent getting them!! cant bear it. Everytime i go out to see them i have those horrid things running around on me!! The only thing not tried is a blow torch, I will try to get hold of one.
Vicky
Hello Jayne
Great that you found the site useful.
I have just discovered your site. I have a big problem with mites in my chichen house and the comments i have found on this site will be most useful. I will let you know how i get on. Many thanks
Hi Martine
Thanks for your suggestions, I will try worming them and get some poultry spice and see what happens. No I don’t think they are eating the feathers. Thanks again.