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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Hi, I’m new to hen keeping and really enjoying my ladies…I have 3 hens and my speckled hen laid within 2 hours of arriving. She consistently laid an egg everyday for 18 days but has now gone broody…Yesterday was the first day she didn’t lay and therefore is sitting in the house on no eggs! I’m happy to go without eggs from her for a while, but is it okay to allow her to remain broody as long as I ensure she leaves the house for an hour or so a day for water and food? I have read the comments regarding a wire cage etc…but quite happy to go without eggs from her for a few weeks…any advice would be really appreciated….p.s.Love this site!
Hi all. I just found this site and have enjoyed reading the tips and advice.
We got our 3 Light Sussex just over 6 weeks ago, and today had our first egg, we felt quite excited (how sad is that lol). They certainly are little characters and fun to have around.
They live in a ready made 3 bird house and run which is on slabs so easier to keep clean and hose down. I put about 3 inches of Aubiose hemp in the run and rake this over every day, plus I remove any obvious droppings or rubbish. On the floor of the raised house, I have tried a layer of newspaper, heavy duty bags (that the feed came in) and even cardboard on the floor, and then this was covered with a good layer of Aubiose, as was the nesting box. I have found that all these coverings last about a day before they tear it to shreds and drag it into the run and and generally spread it around. They also kick a lot of the Aubiose out and into the run. The house is cleaned thoroughly every 2 weeks including a disinfectant spray etc, and each day I remove the droppings that are visible.
The floor of the house is slatted timber (with a removable tray underneath for cleaning), which is why I put a covering down first to stop the Aubiose falling through the slats. I am now considering leaving the house area with only the slatted wood under the perch and putting bedding only in the nest box, this would make daily cleaning easier but would this be a bad idea and not good for the girls.
Thanks to all who have given so much useful advice in this forum.
Trev
Hello, I’ve just found you and am LOVING this site! Got 5 chickens and 2 ducks from some one moving house. Have had them about a month so far and I’m a real novice but trying hard. Have them living altogether because that’s how it was for them before they came to me,but “Lisa Right Eye Lopes” only has one eye after an altercation with a hen(I’m told)-and I’m very tempted to separate them-has anyone else had good? bad experiences that might help me? Thankyou.
Hi… Is it normal for a hen to moult after being broody?… One of my hens has been broody for almost 4 weeks and has just re-joined the rest of the hens, she has a very pale comb and has started loosing a lot of feathers this last 2 days…
Regards Paul.
The best way to get rid of red mite infestations in your home, might possibly be to try some concoction of a citrus spray…like orange and lemon and lime etc… which could probably be found at the hardware store. This has worked for us in the past…best of luck
Glad you’re thinking ‘no chemicals!’
Yes, try the Lavender and Garlic!
And clean out your fireplace ashes and dump them in a dry spot on the floor of their house… They will love it to fluff their feathers, and help to get rid of all the creepy-crawlies!
Texas Gal aka MuleMarm
Can red mite infest your home… I am itching all over after finding out that our chicken house has been infested really badly.. My husband has taken the roof off and jet washed the house in all of the nooks and crannies. He has put a clear corrugated roof on and we have ordered a new house for the girls… We were wondering if anyone has tried spraying the inside of the house with lavendar and garlic.. as I have read that the mites dont like this… we are going to try this ourselves…
please… any advice would be great.. I am itchy as i write…
chickens are FINE! with kids they wont bother them at all and wouldn’t hurt them definitely dont worry your head! You have to put wood shaving (dust extracted) in the coop and mix mite powder with them to keep them horrible blood suckers away! I have 4 hens like you too and i’m fighting the mites off at the moment it’s not easy thats why you should keep them away in the first place. You do only need to clean them out once a week and that is probably more than enough anyway but do clean regularly.Are you thinking about saving some battery hens if you are you have to feed them chick crumb but if you are getting free range hens then feed them layer pellets.both types of hen must always have clean water or within 1-2 hours they can die of thirst
hope this helps GD
P.S I would advise you to save some battery hens it is rewarding to see them in full health a couple of weeks – months later keep me updated please I’d like to know how you get on!
hello there people im a newbie to chicken keeping,been doing lots of research just bought a house its on the way but want to be ready for most situations im really worried about the mite problem what can i do first off to try and prevent? i only want 4 hens so cleaning once a week shoudnt be a problem,and also what do i have to put down in nest box run etc,basically can some one give me an idiots guide i would be eternally grateful,and are they ok with kids?
spose ill update, they continued to be slow for a month or so then rocketed!!! we had a slight slow week or so in now but out of 3 hens we get 3 a day, very happy with our girls they are obv quite happy although free ranging they have also decided on a second laying spot my wife found 7 eggs the other day lol