Daily Care of Your Chickens

Chickens are rewarding pets to have, but unless you have the right technique, cleaning your coop every day can be a burden. However, proper care will keep both you and your chickens happy.

The number of chickens that you have will determine how often you need to fill up the chicken’s feed dishes.  At one time in one of our coops we had about 25 chickens, so we only needed to fill up the feed containers every two or three days. When we have just a few chickens in one of our coops, it can be weeks before they run out of food.   First of all, you should use the kind of food needed for your kind of chickens.  If you have laying hens, you should use a laying ration.  It’s a good idea to keep your chicken feed locked up safe from mice in a large metal trash can in your coop.  When you go out to feed your chickens in the morning, fill the feed containers that you are using with the ration almost up to the top.  We have found that hanging feeders work best.  Next, add some grit to the mixture.  You should add about 1/10 the amount of grit as that of the ration.  After that, put in some oyster shell.  You should add about as much oyster shell as you added of grit.  You can optionally add a handful of scratch, but we prefer to throw it out for the chickens when we come out to the coop, because our chickens are always excited to see us, and they love to peck the ground to get all of the scratch. A small handful of diatemaceous earth can be added as well to ward off worms.   After you have filled your feed container(s), you should pour out the contents into a shallow tray to easily mix it thoroughly together.  After you have done that, pour it back into the feed container(s), being careful not to spill, as that will attract mice.  Once a week, you should dump out all of the food and bring the feeders inside to clean them with a sponge, soap, and warm water, drying them off when they are clean.

Your next object is to clean out the water dishes.  You should use a small, clean rag to do this.  Pick up your water container, and take it outside of the coop.  Get your rag wet.  Then dump out the old, dirty water from the waterer, and start scrubbing the waterer using the rag.  You should get off anything unsanitary, such as dirt, soiled litter, etc.  However, if there is a large amount of chicken poop in the water, you should clean it more thoroughly, with soap.  After the waterer is clean, you should fill it up with clear, pure water and put it back.  It will stay much more clean if you keep it raised above the ground, either hanging or on a lifted box.   In summer, encourage your chickens to drink more by providing cold water, and in winter, provide warmer water.  Once a week, you should bring the waterers inside for a thorough cleaning.  You should use either a rag or a sponge and warm water with soap.  Make sure you have rinsed out all of the soap before you return the waterers to the coop.

You should add fresh litter every day to the soiled areas where chickens have left droppings, especially under their perches.  The best kind of litter to use is pine shavings.  You don’t want to use an extremely fine sawdust, as it will cause problems for you with dust and cleaning.  But you also should not use large, coarse pieces of litter, as that will hurt the chickens feet.  Go for a thinly shaved brand.  Every day, sprinkle a light amount of the pine shavings over the areas with droppings.  You will also have to do an entire coop cleaning that includes cleaning out ALL of the old shavings and laying down fresh litter, scrubbing the perches, etc.  But that does not have to be done on a regular basis.  It only needs to be done a few times a year, depending on how many chickens you have and how big your coop is.  But on a daily basis, just adding more shavings should be adequate.  Diatemaceous earth (a natural substance) can be occasionally sprinkled on the pine shavings on the floor and also sprinkled on the chickens to ward off fleas and mites. Wear a mask that covers you nose and mouth when you use diatemaceous earth since it could damage your lungs if you breathe it in.

If you take proper care of your chickens, you will find that either none or a very few will die of disease, and your chickens will be healthier, happier, and cleaner because of your excellent care.