Chicken Maintenance

 

When it comes to my chickens I keep it pretty simple.  I built them a simple coop and I employ "the deep litter method" for said coop which means I only have to clean it out twice a year - no joke.  Because of how I built my coop and this method it doesn't get gross and it does not stink.  Honest.  The coop has the right amount of air flow so it stays dry inside, which is key, a coop needs airflow.  It is also a small coop so it retains its own heat in the winter time.  The only insulation inside is a 2 inch thick Styrofoam board on the ceiling which is primarily to keep the coop cool in the summer time so it doesn't get too hot for them.

 

When I clean the coop, once in the spring and again in the fall, I remove all of the pine shavings and manure from under the roost and add it to my compost bin.  Then I scoop all of the pine shavings and any remaining manure and scoot it over placing it under the roost leaving a nice thick layer.  Next I replace the pine shavings on the other half of the coop with fresh new shavings.  It is a repetitive cycle that provides an adequate amount of bedding to keep the coop clean and dry as well as enough manure to generate heat and keep my chicken's comfortable.  My chicken coop literally has its own ecosystem.

 

Once a year, usually in October, I will rake up the outside pen area and place that into the compost bin as well.  In the fall as we are raking our leaves a vast majority of those leaves end up in the pen area.  The chickens will scratch through and scatter them all over the ground which provides them with fun activities, nutrients and keeps the pen from becoming a muddy mess.  The leaves decompose and mulch themselves under the chicken's care.  Again, the pen area becomes its own ecosystem as well.

 

Edith & crew

I interact with my chickens daily, feeding them, giving them fresh water, collecting eggs and visiting with them.  I give them kitchen scraps as I have them, scraps from the garden, and I will often collect weeds and dandelions which they love.  All of these things help to supplement the chicken feed I buy at the feed store.  Every afternoon I give them scratch grains or "chicken candy" as I like to call it.  In the winter I make suet cakes out of rendered fat I collect for them from my own cooking and keep in the freezer.  I mix the melted fat with their "chicken candy" place it in an empty plastic sour cream container and once it is solidified I can pop it out and place it in a Ziploc bag.  I keep the suet cakes in the freezer until I'm ready to give them one.  The extra fat in the winter time helps them maintain their body heat and improves their nutrition.

 

They had this pile worked down in no time

I am constantly checking their coop and pen area, maintaining as needed to keep them well sheltered and secure from predators.  Keeping these areas dry is also very important so if we have a lot of rain I make sure to add extra leaves to the pen area for them to scratch around in and scatter.  I keep those extra leaves in a large trash can in my backyard.  The most important part of keeping chickens is to make sure they are happy.  In turn they bring me a lot of joy as well.  And I get eggs!