If you’re just starting out then you might not believe it when someone tells you that taking care of pet chickens is actually quite simple. Taking care of any pet takes some time and dedication and chickens are no different except they take less time.
Taking care of chickens actually involves a simple routine.
The Daily List
Firstly, list down the things that you’re supposed to be doing everyday. This is mostly about taking measures to keep your chickens well fed and healthy. Now, while this seems like a time-consuming task, you will soon realize – as you ease yourself into this daily routine – that daily chicken care involves actions you’d normally do everyday.
This list should include keeping the chickens well fed and keep them from getting thirsty. That’s easy to remember, right? So, right after grabbing breakfast for yourself, why don’t you scoot over to the hen house and make sure your chickens are well fed too.
Keep the feeder and the waterer full so you know they’ll have enough to last them the whole day. Make sure to give them clean water; since they will avoid drinking any if they see that it’s dirty – and a dehydrated chicken is more likely to get sick.
If you do at least that much everyday, then you probably won’t have to deal you’re your chickens getting sick.
However, do make sure to check on them – see if they’re active, and looking healthy. If any of them look like their slow-moving, or mangy; separate the sick bird from the others and call a vet.
As for the final item in your daily chicken care list, you should always remember to secure the coop at the end of the day after letting the chickens back in. You don’t want any uninvited predators to find your pets!
Things to Remember Every Month
Fortunately for you, some of the dirty work that you have to do in the name of chicken care, you only have to do on a monthly basis.
Every month, change the nesting and clean up the coop. If the coop is not cleaned regularly the fumes from the chicken droppings will build up, causing your chickens to get sick with respiratory illnesses!
If you use wood chips or straw as nest bedding and coop floor covering, you can use it as compost for your garden.
On Reaching the Half-Year Mark
This is where chicken care gets really dirty. Are you ready for it? Your monthly routine should have prepared you for this.
Two times a year, you’re going to have to give the chicken coop a good cleaning. And this means that you’re going to have to scrub the entire chicken home clean. Aside from the chores you have to do monthly, you really have to get down and dirty and scrub all parts of the chicken coop so that it’s like new.
You might consider a presser washer to make the job go even faster.
Do the same with the containers for the feed and water. When everything is dry, replace the bedding, the nest materials, the feed, the waterer and let the chickens back in.
They’re bound to be really happy with the cleaning you just did.
See? That wasn’t so bad. Even this mid-year spring cleaning that you did for your chickens shouldn’t take you more than a couple of hours to do.
At this point, it might be a bit anti-climactic, but that’s all there is to it. This makes up the bulk of your chicken care to-do list.
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Ok, ill be the first for a commet. I found your site by accident while looking up stuff for my new adventure in backyard chickens. i just got four buff orphinton. i live in a small town, thorsby alberta canada. i have a nice size pen built 11 by 21 but i dont have a coup built yet. they were delivered in a large crate. i am a worry wart in nature and feel bad for the 2 that already had been pecked at. one the bum one the back. i found online putting cider vinegar in drinking water helps so i started that yesterday, dont know if there drinking though as they like to pick at the nasty snow that we got, its may and this month sucks. its ranging from -1 to -2 at night, the chickens are warm in there crate with straw but they have not boxes. this crate is temp until we build a coup in the next few days. i want something easily cleaned and pretty. im thinking of finishing off the interior with lino on walls for easy cleaning and keeping bugs from hiding out. it will be insulated also. as im in town what is the best way to deal with the poop, i will be cleaning it out daily i suppose, to keep the neighbours from bitching, i want to put it on my compost, will smell be a problem, should i keep it in a covered container maybey and turn it into liquid fertilizer. honestly im not sure the best thing to do. i have a garden but it needs to rot first doesnt it? i really cant have a bad smell going on and unfortunately i myself have no smell so i need to be on top of things. i read wood chips are preferred for bedding, straw they say can harbour mites. what is the best thing to do. i hope you enjoy my comments