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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I am not going to tempt fate by saying the mite problem is behind us but fingers crossed.I think the quick end to them was when I sprayed my husbands hat with fly killer when he came in after tucking the girls in for the night covered.
I made a laying box for them in the daytime shelter for them to lay in[they were not to keen on it]banned them from the hen house and blasted it for a week.We can at last talk about other things other than mites.
We are now trying to address the problem Rosey and Lu-Lu have with dry brittle feathers we are led to believe this could be a different kind of M—.We are going to BATH them and use the kind of shampoo that would be used for head lice in children[no chemicals]
All the girls are now having as well as their conventional feed cat food mixed with layers pellets crushed garlic and cod liver oil to bind it together.They love it mind you they love all food.
We no longer use straw or wood chippings and bedding is no longer 4to6 inches deep and the bedding is changed weekly and BURNT.The henhouse is vacumed weekly also.Also petrolium jelly was used on the perch after it was sanded smooth.
The chicks have always appeared happy but they seem even happier now,they are lovely.
Hello Sylv
Thank you so much for these tips! Much appreciated.
Interesting that you are feeding cat food (much higher protien than dog food) but beware most pet food contains chicken derviatives. One of our Min Pins is highly allergic to chicken so I am really careful when selecting dog food. Within seconds the fifty different options are reduced to one or two.
What a great website, the comments here have been so useful.
We have had our ‘girls’ since December, and have been a great success with the children, who knew that chickens would enjoy playing on the trampoline, or going in a dolls pram??? but we have now had our first problem – MITES urrgh, but now i don”t feel quite so bad as a chook mother. We have an eglu so don’t think the mites are in there, do you think they are in the bark chippings which we put down in the run???
What a great website. I too am going to try the vinegar and dettol cure for mites as I have just found some in the cat litter trays that I use for nesting boxes.
This site is brilliant, i got my 3 hens 2 days ago. ive got an ark for them and its on concrete so im not bothering to take it all apart to put the piece of wood in that stops them getting out as hopfully being on the path things cant get in. Very interesting about the mites ive not heard about them ive been sweeping up any poo upstairs everyday when i checked them. I was planning on cleaning them full once a week so i will buy some dettol and a spray bottle and mix with vinegar to clean with. When i brought them from a farm he told me they just eat layers pellets which ive been giving them, but other people have said i should be giving them grit and corn…is this true? And do i mix it with the pellets or should i buy more feeders…only the feeder and water take up room as it is! Also should i put the feeder up in the house part or is it ok to keep in the run part downstairs?
sylv i have kept hens for 10 year as well.i spray my sheds at the beginning of march with a solution of 500ml of dettol mixed with a litre of vinegar.then again at the beginning of september but in september i also paint them inside with a cheep white emulsion paint red mite hate paint.this way very rare i get any problems with them.my old battery hens are just starting to lay as well im getting about 50 eggs off 80 old hens so im pleased ith that.ive also got 18 warren hens i bought last june and im getting 17 eggs every day off them they havent stopped since last june.im glad youve found this site its been quiet the last few week.you will find loads of help and ideas as ive done………….
We have kept chicks for ten years and are lucky enough to still have two of our original girls left.Last summer we bought for £2 each five battery hens.They are an absolute delight their feathers are renewing and they are looking great.
Disaster struck just after Christmas when the mite problem arrived.We tackled it with what we thought with success but they are back.
carn’t wait for my husband to get back from the cricket ground to show him your site.The only pleasures in his life is his girls and cricket and your site will brighten his life.
Thank you Stuart.
just treat the infected. if they are outside at some stage you will probobly have to do them all.most catch it at some stage in there life. its nothing honestly.
Stewart
Thank you so much for that, I will get out and try it. Do I only treat the affected hen or should I treat them all?
I love your confidence!
jules a very common problem in older hens and very very easy to treat watch the difference in just 2 or 3 days.first of all when your chickens are scratching around outside a small microscopic mite gets in there scales this is scaly mite.get a small paint brush put some cooking oil in a cup and hold the hen under your arms ith the legs held fully open between your fingers and paint the full legnth of the legs with plenty of oil the oil smothers the mite.i paint with oil then immedietly after get a good lump of vasaline or nappy rash cream and smother over the oil.if you dont see the difference in 48 hours i will come to your house and give you 100 pound.