Chicken Coop Spring Cleaning

beaky80
Mar 23
2 min read

Happy Spring!

Two fluffy chicks stand close together among vibrant red and yellow tulips in a garden, creating a serene and cheerful scene.

The girls are so HAPPY it's finally SPRING!

Not only have they been free ranging more often, but they have been giving me a healthy dose of eggs....SO MANY EGGS! The kids and I have started delivering eggs to our neighbors again since our 45 laying chickens are giving us about three dozen eggs each day,

A white limo with a large colorful rooster statue wearing a black hat on its roof. The vehicle is parked on a sunny street. — The Infamous Chicken Limousine

Last fall I joked about wanting a chicken limousine for my egg deliveries (Kelly's Chicken Car for Neighborhood Egg Deliveries). Santa Claus decided I didn't need to have a chicken limo for my egg deliveries. He brought me something much better .....

Red tricycle on grass surrounded by diverse chickens pecking at the ground. Basket on the bike contains items. Overcast day.

My very own Egg Delivery Tricycle!!! Isn't she pretty in cherry red? I need a great name for her...any suggestions?

Now when I go on my egg deliveries, my husband hums the Wicked Witch of the West's song. Hopefully I don't look this scary!

Spring Cleaning Inside Kelly's Fluffy Butt Hutt:

Sign reading "Kelly's Fluffy Butt Hut" with cartoon hens, "Spoiled Hens," "Est. 2018," and "Last one in is a rotten egg." Rustic setting.

Every year starting in September, I don't clean the coop throughout the fall/winter seasons...bring on the poop! I use a method called the Deep Litter Method to keep my feathered friends warm in the winter. Poop, mixed with pine shavings, straw, and pine pellets, creates a compost pile inside the coop which is a natural way of keep the girls warm in the winter.

But, as soon as the ground thaws and the water melts, boy-oh-boy does it stink at my house!!! Yuck!

About two weeks ago, I took 12 wheelbarrow loads of the poop/straw mixture out of the coop and placed it around the outside of the chicken run. This mixture helps regrow the grass around the coop and keeps it less muddy with the spring rain.

Although this is my least favorite chicken chore of the year, it is also my most rewarding! I love walking into a clean smelling coop free from poop. Hopefully, this spring cleaning will lower fly invasion this summer.

I had a problem with chicken mites last year which resulted in the chickens having scaly leg parasites and losing feathers throughout the summer. When I cleaned out the coop, I added a healthy dose of lime to the floor of my coop. The lime dries out the floor which makes it difficult for bugs larvae to survive.

Every month, I'm going to reapply the lime with a fresh layer of pine pellets to keep it very dry inside the roosting area. I'm hoping this helps the girls remain mite free this summer.

Happy First Week of Life to my 13 newest loves!

Here is a baby picture to start your week off with a smile!

They've doubled in size this week, and some of them have started growing their first round of feathers. This picture was taken after I discovered they had dumped an entire water feeder over the pine shavings leaving me a wet mess inside their playpen. As they grow, they get messier and messier...just like human babies.

Fluffy chicks of various colors gather on wood shavings in a wire mesh pen. The setting is cozy with a reddish floor background.

Here is a blurry picture of my chicken sitter....extremely interested in the opened chick playpen during the photo shoot, haha! I quickly took her picture before she decided to jump inside to join the chicks.

A black cat stands near a mesh rabbit cage with hay bedding. The cage is open, and a few objects are scattered inside. Indoor setting.

Thanks for reading my Country Squawk,

Kelly