Raising Chickens | Time to give that coop a spring clean!

An important part of henkeeping is making sure your coop stays clean. The girls love having a clean space to lay their lovely eggs. Keeping happy chickens will reward you. Just before Christmas we had a fox come and take my entire flock of 13 hens. Over the following months, the time was used to take a break from the chickens and have a good clean out of the coop- ready for my next flock! As you can see from the following photos, my coop was taken over by my kitchen scraps starting to take seed and grow!

An important part of having a chicken coop is making sure that there is plenty of room for the number of chickens that you intend on keeping. Most advice is that you will need about 4 square foot of space per hen. But you need to look at it realistically and ask yourself....Does this look like there is enough space and would I be happy in there?

My coop has a hen house with a perch and nesting boxes, a large run, but, I also let my chickens free-range most days. There is plenty of room inside the hen house, space outside to scratch around in, logs to jump on, a pit with sand to fluff their feathers in, an undercover area and there is also jasmine and passionfruit vines growing over part of the coop to provide shade.

When building your coop, it's important to remember to build it so it is easy to keep clean. You will need to clean out your coop every 4-6 weeks. Having a side of the coop that opens is useful. When spring cleaning your coop you will need to scoop out all of the sawdust and give it a good sweep before replacing the coop with new sawdust. After you have done this, treat your coop, the perches and nesting boxes with a good lice treatment. You should also change the sand in the sand box and shake some lice treatment into the sand and mix it around.

It's important that you provide plenty of space for your girls to nest and lay their eggs. Nesting boxes need to be roomy, comfortable, warm, ventilated and clean. They should be easy to access to collect the eggs. You don't want to be rummaging around trying to find where your hens have layed their eggs each morning.

Hens will also need a perch where they roost of a night. You will find that on dusk your girls will make the trek to their perch automatically and go down to roost. I have to admit, I did go a little overboard in my coop and provide the girls with a window to look out of and a window box. Very spoilt hens!

 

Lastly, as I've discovered personally, you will need to make sure your coop is predator proof. When giving your coop a clean it's the perfect time to just walk around the perimeter and check that everything is secure, that soil hasn't washed away and that ther are no weak points in your fence. Believe me, a crafty fox will find a spot to get through!

A great way to keep predators away is to add bunting or flags to your coop, make a scarecrow and plant mint to use as a natural deterrant for rats.

So, this weekend, get out have a spring clean of your coop...or perhaps even start building one!

In the next raising chicken blog post we'll be giving you tips of how to keep your girls happy little hens.

 

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Comments

[Deb Strike]

Hi Bronwyn, loved your blog on chooks. Just a bit more info for you, you can also feed your girls raw mince or meat, this helps keep their blood good and in return better eggs and also feed them green grass whenever possible this will ensure lovely bright yellow yolks. Also when cleaning your coop keep a watch out for red mite. If left unattended these little blighters will suck the blood out of your hens. Red mite can only be seen at night with a torch. You will not see them in the day. The first signs of red mite is paleness in their combs and lethargy, then if not treated the hens will go in the legs and then death can follow if severe. This is very common and should be checked regularly
The red mite live in the wood and wooden perches during the day and come out at night to suck on the hens. Hope this info is helpful if you already didn't know. I have a lot of calls about this. My husband and I have had exhibition poultry for 40 years and these are some of the most common questions we get from chooky enthusiates. Absolutely love your blog. Deb Strike

[Bronwyn...]

Thanks Deb! Very helpful indeed. I must admit I've never heard of red mite. Will have to go and check tonight.
Bron

[Robyn]

Thank you Bronwyn!! I have some great scraps to make bunting and I am going to sjow my husband your blog so that he doesnt worry about my sanity.
Rushing out to plant some mint now , have it rampaging through the garden.
The red mite is a bit of a worry. I actually do have a lthargic hen with her comb going pale and she has stopped laying about a month ago. She is only a year and a half old.
Love my 3 girls...Poached, Scambled and Fried and one of their fav foods is extra sausages from the night before as long as i but them in long thin strips like worms.
Kind regards and Thanks again
Robyn

[Anne-Lise]

I do hope your chooks will be safe now in their beautiful home.

[Lorraine]

We have free range chooks (hens) and no foxes. The girls have 24 hour access to pellets and I also feed them boiled rice mixed with grains, bird seed and rolled oats each morning when I let them out. They also get a slice of dog roll every few days and raid left over cat food if they can. Evening meal, is laying mash mixed with warm water. As some don't appear to eat grit I mix some into this mash. Left overs are also fed and they flock around the kitchen door when they hear plates being scrapped. Their eggs are so yummy and I have glossy healthy hens. a couple of the younger ones love spider hunting and even get up on the roof of the sheds and house. Love how pretty your coop is and I am going to add planters too.

For bedding I use paper that has gone through the office shredder, which after cleaning their coop out goes into the compost.

[Barb]

What a great design you have and such handy tips!!
I have wanted to get 3 or 4 of my own but just don't feel confident enough yet!! But now I know what will be a good looking coop!!
Thanks :)

[Lee]

Thanks Bron. I too am looking at getting half a dozen chooks in the very near future (when I can talk my hubby into it!!!!). I was so interested in reading this as I have never had chickens before and I want as much info as possible before I start. Thanks again. Lee

[Annemieke]

what did I see, the flag from the Netherlands with the Orange one (for the Royal Family)

[Cath Guilfoyle]

I love the post on your girls, Bronwyn. I grew up with hens in the backyard, unfortunately now my yard doesn't have the space.
I admired the hen house and it took me back to my teaching Kindergarten days when we used to work a lot with the book, "Rosie's Walk" - I'm sure you would be familiar with it. Your hen house looks so much like Rosie's. I really look forward to reading your posts
Best wishes
Cath

[lynn bourgeois]

I loved your post and I am a chook fan. As I sit here this morning with my netbook open I feel as if I am in catch up mode with a friend. Thanks so much for sharing
Lynn

[Bronwyn...]

Thank you ladies! Henkeeping is wonderful, they're the best pets I've ever had. Very easy to look after and very friendly. If you raise them from chicks, they love to follow you around the backyard!
Lorraine, I don't think I will show my "girls" what you give to your "girls." I think they'll be very jealous and want to go and live at your hen house!!
Your hen names made me laugh Robyn...when is Boiled coming?? And yes, you did see right, that is the Netherlands flag. The hen house was built by 2 Dutchmen for me and they insisted that the flags be displayed on the hen house for ever after :-)

Looking forward to hearing more about all of your chooks.
Bron x