Daily to weekly chicken maintenance.

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If you are thinking of getting chickens and want to know what it takes to keep them, this article will give you the daily to weekly maintenance.

Whether you already have chickens or are thinking of getting them, you need to know the daily to weekly maintenance they require. When you get your chickens, you will need;
  1. A chicken coop with enough room and nesting boxes for your hens to lay their eggs. For the roosting bar you will need at least 4sqft per bird, the more room the better. Make sure that the coop is safe from predators.
  2. You will also need waterers and feeders. You want to have enough for your whole flock to insure they always have access to water and feed.

Once you have your chickens you can start spending time with them and taking care of them. The first thing you do every morning is let them out of their coop, whether you decide to let them free range or if they are going to stay in a run. They will be up as soon has the sun rises and will be ready to start their day. as soon has you let them out, they will need clean fresh water and feed.

Depending on your weather, you might need to change their water a few times a day, for example, if it's cold outside their water may freeze. And in the heat, they will drink more water, which they run out of more quickly Also, if it is hot outside the water may become too warm to drink and will need to be changed to fresh cool water. And when you feed them be sure to give them enough feed so the whole flock has enough. Avoid letting the feed get wet, it will get moldy. Never feed your flock feed with mold in it.

After about a week you will find that your waterers will start growing green algae inside. You will need to scrub your waterers with soap and water at least once a week, you may need to do it sooner if you find algae growing. The next thing that will need cleaning is the coop. Cleaning the coop is necessary to a healthy flock. Clean the coop every week or two, don’t wait longer then two weeks to clean the coop. Get all the poop off the roosting bars, clean out the laying boxes, rake up the poop and bag it up or make a compost pile. You will want to deep clean your coop every month or so.

An important thing to give your chicken access to is a place to dust bathe. Chickens love to get their feathers in the sand. It is a way that they get bugs, like mites, off them, and is necessary for a heathy flock. They like to dust bathe in places with loose dirt, with sunshine and shade.

Another important thing to do is to give your flock a health check up every couple of weeks. Here are some things you can look for:
  1. Make sure they have clear eyes.
  2. Check around their vent or in other words butt, for mite eggs and poop stuck to their vent. Their vent should be clear of both.
  3. Look at the scales on their legs and feet. The scales should be laying down smoothly. If they are lifted, they may have leg mites and will need to treat them.
  4. Also, check the bottom of their feet. Are there any sores cuts or scabs? Their feet should be clear of all these, if you do find sores cuts or scabs, they run the risk of getting infections like bumble foot or may already have it.
  5. If you choose to clip their wings now would be a good time to do so. Also, make sure that their toenails and beak are not too long.
  6. Watch their behavior. If it is a hen, make sure she is still laying eggs, hens should lay eggs every few days. If at any time she stops laying eggs, and she is not broody, there is something going on, and she could be egg bound, and will need treatment immediately. Also look out for behavior like, limping. Are they eating and drinking normally? Keep an eye on thing like this.
  7. Another important thing is spending time with your flock. Give them healthy treats, like live or dried meal worms. Hold them, talk to them, and let them get to know your voice.

These are some of the key things to maintain a heathy flock, and know you should be ready to get your chickens!



photo credit: @Felixr1998


photo credit: @Felixr1998.

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photo credit: @ChocolateWingTheRooster


photo credit: @slordaz


photo credit: @Mvan42.


photo credit: @Mvan42


photo credit: @Mvan42

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photo credit: @Julesstarohio56

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photo credit: @chrissynemetz
About author
chickenmama109
I'm a stay at home dog mom who loves to raise chickens and rabbits.

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Good info.
Thank you so much. My first year of raising chickens and this helps me greatly to have a happy flock.
Valuable info. I didn't know about the space required in the roosting area.

Comments

I tell people who live in the suburbs that keeping chickens is not maintenance free. It requires time and a financial investment to have what they need to keep them safe and healthy. Thanks for this inclusive article making it clear what people need to do and have.
 
Our coop has a floor area of about 4’ x 4’ and is about 5’ tall. The floor is about 30” off the ground, so the hens have access to the always dry and dusty area under it. A small varmint-proof run that is 4’ x 6’ is attached to one side of the coop, and unless it is really cold, the door between the run and the coop is always open. The run and coop sit in a fenced pen that is about 20’ x 20’. A second pen that is 7’ x 40’ is connected to the first with a chicken “tunnel”. There is a feeder and waterer in both the run and the pen. The roosting bar, a small tree limb, is installed on a diagonal in the coop and is about 5.5’ long. The coop has a solar powered exhaust fan, light, and swamp cooler. (We’re in central AZ.) We have had varying numbers of hens over the years. Right now there are four, and the setup is just the right size.
 
Thanks for the article. I just want to ask... what kind of products do you use when you clean your coop? Especially for disinfection purposes. Is there any product that's particularly toxic for the chickens?
I have a drywall mud scraper that I scrape the nest boxes out with. I line the shelves where they sit/sleep with cardboard, brown paper (believe it or not) and then I change it every couple of week. That way I don’t have to scrape the boards they sit on. I use no detergent or soaps, and flock is pretty darn healthy. I put paper and cardboard and waste into an area then throw it in the garden in the spring.
 
Thanks for the article. I just want to ask... what kind of products do you use when you clean your coop? Especially for disinfection purposes. Is there any product that's particularly toxic for the chickens?
I first started with hay. Not too good. On the bare wooden floor and in the cracks, nesting boxes, I dusted heavily with diatomaceous earth. Then put pine shavings, which I had put in the coop about 3-4" deep, not packed down..The girls pack it down themselves. I use horse stall PDZ, which is more economical than the repackaged coop PDZ (I forget what that's named, Sweet coop?). I sprinkle the granules liberally over the whole area. I'm trying the deep litter method, so I just added more shavings and PDZ today.
 
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I don't have my chickens yet; I'm still trying to finish building the coop! But I have a question about when you check the vent hole and if you find debris, what do you use to clean it off. When my cats turn up dirty like that I use a wash cloth, hike up the back end of kitty and clean her off. Is this the same principle for chickens? Thanks so much.
 
I don't have my chickens yet; I'm still trying to finish building the coop! But I have a question about when you check the vent hole and if you find debris, what do you use to clean it off. When my cats turn up dirty like that I use a wash cloth, hike up the back end of kitty and clean her off. Is this the same principle for chickens? Thanks so much.
that'll work fine.
 
Our coop has a floor area of about 4’ x 4’ and is about 5’ tall. The floor is about 30” off the ground, so the hens have access to the always dry and dusty area under it. A small varmint-proof run that is 4’ x 6’ is attached to one side of the coop, and unless it is really cold, the door between the run and the coop is always open. The run and coop sit in a fenced pen that is about 20’ x 20’. A second pen that is 7’ x 40’ is connected to the first with a chicken “tunnel”. There is a feeder and waterer in both the run and the pen. The roosting bar, a small tree limb, is installed on a diagonal in the coop and is about 5.5’ long. The coop has a solar powered exhaust fan, light, and swamp cooler. (We’re in central AZ.) We have had varying numbers of hens over the years. Right now there are four, and the setup is just the right size.
I am in Phoenix AZ and I take 3 walls off the coop sides in the summer (same size as yours). I have chicken wire on them already. I would like to put up a small swamp cooler but not sure if it would make a difference since 3 sides are open. They have a large yard that they free range in during the day with lots of shade. I put up a mister system in the hot parts of the summer for the daytime.
 
I must be clean obsessive. I clean the coop ever 2-3 days. New food every day. Water is changed once a day unless they go crazy and splash it everywhere. We have a big covered run. One is 7x20 and the other one is 10x30. All attached to the coop. The coop is a converted old redwood Costco swingset. The upper part is where the coop has been enclosed. They also free range. I don't usually have to clean the nest boxes, because they don't poop in them. When I first built the coop and boxes, I lined the floor and up the sides about 8 inches and the nest boxes with a floor walkway vinyl. Really helps with cleaning. The pen is cleaned about once a week. Chickens and ducks are very time consuming and a lot of work. I like clean areas because, I eat the eggs. So makes sense to me.
 

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