We’ve been focusing a lot lately on how to clean up your home come springtime. There’s nothing quite like throwing open the windows for the first time after the chill of winter and sprucing up your personal space.
But the animals we care for stay in their own homes and they need some spring cleaning too. For example, think about your hen house.
There are a few things you only need to do a few times a year (like spring cleaning). A chicken coop – even those high-quality options from Homeplace Market, made of shiny, sturdy aluminum – should be deep cleaned about every six months. And that includes getting their warm-weather digs ready before they head out.
First, be sure to clear out all feathers, dirt, nesting materials and droppings. Once the big stuff is removed, either by hand or with tools, spray the coop down with a hose. You can use a gentle cleaning product and a brush to scrub and disinfect the walls and floors (and if there are any, windows). If you use a bleach solution, let it sit for at least 10 minutes before thoroughly rinsing the coop again.
After the coop has fully dried, add in fresh nesting materials and snacks for your flock to enjoy.
That’s for the big cleaning sessions, though. On a monthly basis, you should be wiping down walls, doors and ceilings with a water and vinegar 1:1 mixture and scraping their roosting bars (and disinfecting them with that water-vinegar cleaning mix). Clean out any cobwebs building up while you’re at it.
Always be on the lookout for wear and tear. While cleaning your coop, keep an eye out for anything that needs repair – sharp edges or loose wire that can make it easy for predators to sneak in, for example.
To keep yourself and your birds safe while cleaning, at a minimum wear gloves while you’re cleaning. (A mask wouldn’t hurt either.) Chickens can carry diseases like Salmonella, bird flu and E. coli, which are transmitted primarily through their waste. Especially with the current heightened risk of highly pathogenic avian influenza, designate specific shoes and clothes that you wear only inside the chicken coop to avoid tracking germs into your freshly spring-cleaned house.
