Day for Coop Cleaning!

Ahhh...  The joys of having chickens.  Not much is better than "Clean Out the Coop Day".  Oh, OK, a lot is better than clean out the coop day, but it is something that has to be done whether you like it or not.  I prefer to keep a clean chicken coop and have it smelling nice.  Thus, we have to clean it often.  Plus, I think the chickens are happier when it is clean and therefore will lay more delicious eggs.  (HEY!  It is my story...)

The men getting ready to start cleaning.

First thing we did was remove the nesting box and the roosting bars.  Since the brooder house is a bit heavy, we decided not to move it this time.  Josh then swept all the shavings up.  Once it was in a big pile, the boys held a giant trash bag for us to putt he shavings in.  I wish we had a bigger compost pile.  This would make GREAT compost for the garden...  Chicken droppings are great for gardens after they have been composted.  

Glad I have such a great man to help with the chores.

When researching tips about keeping chickens for dummies I came across a website full of lovely ideas. One of the things that I noticed was a natural coop cleaning solution.  We keep trying to move to a more natural household and I figured what better way to test out a cleaning solution than in the coop!  And what a test the mess would be!  Go check out Fresh Eggs Daily for the recipe of the cleaning solution.  It uses vinegar, oranges (or other citrus fruits), cinnamon sticks, and vanilla beans.  It worked awesome, and smelled great too!

I mixed the solution half and half with water in a spray bottle I had under the cabinet.

I sprayed the walls, baseboards, roosts, etc with the spray and wiped it down with a paper towel.  I think next time I will use rags because the paper towels just tore on the rough walls.  The cleaner worked exceptionally well and I will mix up another batch to be ready for the next cleaning day.

Spray On, Wipe Off!  :-)

After everything was cleaned, we moved the nesting boxes back in and installed the roosting bars.  Then we covered the floor with pine shavings again and also some DE.  With all the poop you can have a bit of a bug problem.  DE is natural and great for bugs.  It helps keep mites away and also other pesky bugs out of the coop.  The pine shavings are great for absorbing liquids and keep the coop smelling fresh, for the most part.  plus I think the chickens enjoy fluffing it.  We also fill the nesting boxes with it.  I have read some awful things about hay in nesting boxes and the things that live in the hay, so we will be staying away from that.  Also realize that pine shavings are not the only method for covering your coop floor.  You can read all about the different methods of litter for chicken coops over at the Chicken Chicks Website.  She evaluates lots of different methods.  Her favorite is sand.  Pine Shavings are easier for us to get than a load of sand.

Fresh bedding in the clean coop.

Clean feeders too!

I love our chicken feeders that we made.  They were a tad expensive to get all of the materials needed, but the chickens waste so much less than they did with a traditional feeder.  These are totally worth it.  You can get everything you need from the hardware store.  All it is is a PVC pipe stuck into a Y pipe (not sure that is the technical name) with a cap on the bottom.  Super easy!  We chose black and white to match our floor.  You can use any color of pipe (teal and white is cheaper!).  We feed our chickens natural chicken feed.  We mix the feed 50/50 with a blend we make ourselves and a certified organic feed from a mill close by.  The recipe we use is quite simple and we can get all of the ingredients we need from the natural food store or the mill (if we want larger quantities).  Check out the link for the Chicken Feed Recipe we use.

Z mixing the feed.

Fresh herbs in the boxes too!

I have also read that herbs in the nesting box is a great bug deterrent and also provides the chickens with aromatherapy.   HA!  We love our chickens and want to give them the best egg laying experience.  Short of taking them to the spa, this is what we can do...  Over at the Chicken Lady's Website she talks about herbs in the coop.  She also has pre-made baggies that you can purchase to sprinkle into your nesting box.  I gave it a shot and it looks lovely and smells lovely and I just think the chickens ADORE me for giving them such luxury.

Happy chickens!

Although cleaning out the chicken coop is not the most exciting thing to do, it does allow for us to spend time together as a family.  It is awesome to have the opportunity to provide food for our family that we know is fresh, safe, and healthy.  Nothing tastes better in the morning than a freshly gathered egg from our own backyard.

Our cute egg carton labels.

Fresh Eggs!!