How to keep your Chicken Coop (House) clean

If you are owner of some backyard chickens, then I know you will appreciate the ease of using the deep litter method to keep your coop clean. In this article, I will tell you why the deep litter method is not only great for your birds, but also for you and your environment.

WHY YOU MUST CHOOSE THE DEEP LITTER METHOD FOR CHICKEN COOPS ?

The deep litter method is one of the best way to keep your chicken coop clean, without any extra work. It’s the best practices by many homesteaders and poultry farmer like myself. I know it may seem counter-intuitive that cleaning your coop less often is actually healthier for you and your birds, but it truly is and I’ll explain why.

This method for cleaning chicken coops is not only easier, but it takes advantage of natural decomposition to get rid of all the gross things that come along with backyard chickens.
But before we get into the basics of the deep litter method, let’s talk a little about coop sanitation.

You don’t need a pristine coop. If you’re trying to have a picture perfect coop 24/7, then don’t put chickens in there. Chickens make a lot of mess.
On the other hand, your chicken coop should also not stink to high heaven. You’ll know it’s time to add more litter to the coop when you start to notice an odor.
This method works great, but you’ll have less success if your coop isn’t well ventilated. Proper ventilation of chicken coops is essential to the health of your birds.

HOW TO KEEP YOUR CHICKEN COOP CLEAN USING THE DEEP LITTER METHOD

I am a big fan of the deep litter method because you only need to get into your coop to perform a deep cleaning every 4-6 months. In between cleanings, you’ll simply place new bedding material every few days to weeks.

How often you add new material depends on how many chickens you have and how much of a mess they are making. But the idea is just to dump a few inches of fresh bedding on top of the droppings like a cat covering up their mess in a litter box.

When you add fresh bedding, you absolutely must make sure you use enough to provide a fairly thick cover over all the droppings. You can’t add too much, but you can add too little.

HOW TO CLEAN YOUR CHICKEN COOP

Using the deep litter system, you’ll only need to clean out your chicken coop every 4-6 months.

Step 1: Choose a day when the weather is nice and you’ve got your old dirty work clothes on to open up the coop and rake out all the bedding and droppings that have piled up.
If you’ve been adding new litter often enough, this is honestly not as bad as it sounds. Do wear a mask to be safe and be especially mindful if your coop does not have good ventilation because it will get very dusty!

Step 2: With the coop emptied of bedding and any toys, feeders or waterers (if you have them inside), whip out a scrub brush and some warm soapy water to clean all surfaces of the coop, then rinse and let dry.
You’re not trying to sterilize the coop, you just want to clean up any remaining droppings, spills, and whatnot. Let the coop air out and dry for a couple of hours.


Step 3: When the coop is dry, I like to sprinkle the corners and all nooks and crannies with diatomaceous earth. DE helps keep down on fleas, mites, and other bugs in the coop. Why wait till you see them, right?
You want a bit more than a light dusting in there. DE works by slicing the thin skin of soft blooded insects, but they need to be coated in it by walking through the powder.
Be careful of using too much DE, though. The particles will also slice up tender lung tissue, so you don’t want to use so much of it that you’re inhaling it. If you decide to treat your coop with DE, just use your best judgment to protect yourself and your birds from harm.
With the DE in place, it’s time to fill your coop back up with 3-4 inches of fresh bedding. You can also sprinkle any number of dried herbs in your coop bedding. My favorites are lavender, mint, lemon balm, and oregano.
It’s so satisfying to get to this point. I love watching the birds go in and enjoy their fresh clean coop.

MAKING CHICKEN COOP COMPOST

Take all that stuff you just raked out of the chicken coop and put it in your compost bin or set it in a pile at the corner of your property. Let it compost for at least 6 months and then add it to your garden.

The bedding material and the chicken droppings will compost into something that’s very healthy for your garden soil. If you’ve used enough bedding material, your chicken compost pile won’t stink. If it stinks, add more dry materials like straw or dried leaves to balance it out.

DEEP LITTER METHOD DISADVANTAGE

The things you need to watch out for are odor and moisture. If you notice either of those, it’s time to pile on some more bedding. You can quickly remedy any issues with a thick layer of dry material.

The type of bedding you use doesn’t matter as much as making sure you have an absorbent material to cover up the droppings. It’s also fine to layer different types of bedding based on what you have available.

WHY YOU SHOULD USE DIP LITTER METHOD  ?
For chickens, the deep litter method helps keep down moisture and the build-up of ammonia in the coop between cleanings. If you weren’t using the deep litter method, you’d need to remove chicken droppings every few days to make sure your flock doesn’t get sick.

Picking up chicken droppings can potentially expose you to harmful pathogens like salmonella. The less often you can risk coming in contact with infectious organisms, the better.

With the deep litter method, you don’t have to handle the droppings but twice a year. The rest of the time you simply toss bedding on top of it. Plus, you can use the chicken litter in your compost to make your garden healthier.

SIMPLE STEPS TO STOP PREDATORS FROM YOUR POULTRY HOUSE

One of the biggest problem of poultry farmer or keeper are predators like Snakes, Rats, cat, and others

It was just another working day here on the on my farm, as I was heading out to feed and give water to the chickens , I immediately noticed something was wrong. My hens were acting strange, staying on the  feeders and not crowding the door as usual.

As I looked around I saw one of my prized hens laying under the roost. I went over and  to my horror , she was dead. There was nothing really  quite as heartbreaking than finding an animal that you work so hard to take care for longtime killed.  inside of the henhouse. A place where our chickens supposed to be safe, not hunted.
It was so sad

.chickenandsnail.blogspot.com.

After 8 years of raising chickens, this was my first predator attack.

How could I tell my beloved hen was killed by a predator? I could see by the condition of her body.

When a predator such as a weasel, raccoon, or hawk kills a chicken they kill just to kill.

They do not eat…… they just kill it. Usually by biting the head off. If you find a decapitated hen, then you know right then and there you have a predator and you need to take action fast.

Once an animal learns how to get into your henhouse, I promise you they will be back. They will be back to take the eggs and to kill the chickens.  

The best advice to give is to set to work immediately taking steps to better protect your backyard chickens from predators. Remember, your animals depend on you to keep them safe and if you have a predator in your coop, don’t beat yourself up. Just take the necessary precautions so it does not happen again. 

With winter in full swing, animals are hungry. They are understandably drawn to food such as eggs, chicken feed, and kitchen scraps.
Watch for suspicious tracks in the snow leading from the coop. If you see any, you may want to take action immediately. 

Now How can you Stop Backyard Chicken Predators From Attacking your birds again.

Step 1.
 Clean Out the Chicken Coop
To stop a repeat visit from an outside animal you first need to find where how they got in. To do that you will need to clean everything out.
You need to get all the bedding out so you can get a good look at the coop. Scrape, sweep, and shovel. Remove every bit of bedding along with the nesting boxes.

Move everything away from the walls. You would be amazed at the small size of the holes that a predator is able to get through if they are determined. 

Step 2 .
 Inspect everything very well
Once you have the inside of the chicken coop emptied and cleaned out take the time to do a good and thorough inspection.

You will want to look everything over. The walls, the floor, the corners, the door. Everything.

Get down on your knees and get busy. You may not be able to see an opening from a standing position. Use every viewpoint and look up and all around. Don’t make the mistake I did and assume a small opening is too small for an animal to get through. 

Once, when I found what I thought was a crack in the way was actually a wide-open door for a dozen birds that would squeeze through every day to gorge on the chicken’s feed. 

Let me just say that trying to feed your chickens with a dozen little hungry birds flying around your head really gets this old heart pumping. 

Step 3.  Seal it Up all the hole damage net,
As you find a crack, space, or hole that you feel backyard chicken predators can gain access seal it up. You can do this with scrap pieces of wood or other material you have lying around.

This is a great way to use up wood scraps you have stashed away around your home. Secure the board down with a few screws or nails. 

You will also want to check any fencing you use as well. Remember, it doesn’t have to look pretty, just be effective! 

Step 4.  Keep your poultry feeds in a save place
Want to stop some of your unwanted visitors, then you need to remove the food source. Keep all of your animal’s feed, scratch, and treats inside of totes or metal cans with good tight-fitting lids. You can also go one step further and place a brick on the lid to prevent a chicken predator from gaining access. 

Another tip is to do most of your feeding during daylight hours. This will give your animals plenty of time to not only eat but enough to clean up any food they drop during feeding time. 

Backyard chicken predators such as skunks, weasels, and raccoons come out mainly at night so make sure any heavy feeding is done early enough so your chickens are able to clean it all up before dusk.  

Step 5.
 Train Your Hens to Come When Called.
Get into the habit of locking your chickens up safely before dusk or earlier if you already have a predator problem.

Since most backyard chicken predators prowl at night, get a head start and put your hens on lockdown early.

To help you can train your chicken flock to come to you when you call. Training your chickens is easier than you think. Each time you put your hens away give a quick “Chick-Chick” call and reward the flock with a sprinkle of scratch once back inside of the coop.

Each time you do this routine your hens will associate that call and your voice with the treat and come running. This is a great tool to have on evenings that you might be running late and need to get your hens to safety fast. 

Step 6.
 Purchase a Little Extra Help
Get a predator light. Yes, this actually good in keep predators away from your poultry

I just recently read about these small sensor lights and I am happy to say they work great! The work as a deterrent for any small rodents keeping them away from the coop. Once it becomes dark outside the sensor turns the light on and a red flashing light continues until daylight. I was a bit skeptical at first, but since installing one at the front of our chicken coop and the other at the back we have remove almost all of the footprints that I normally see each morning. 

 Step 7.
Eliminate the Problem
If you have already done the tips listed so far and you find yourself still with a problem, you may need to take things one step further.

Once a predator knows where the flock is and they have gotten the “taste” of your chickens and/or their eggs, it may be difficult to stop them. This means you will have to remove the problem instead.

We prefer to use live traps. The reason is when using poison you run the risk of hurting maybe even killing your own animals. Most animals are very curious and there is just no way to ensure they will leave any poison you have out alone. 

For this reason, we prefer to use live traps to catch and remove any uninvited animals.
We put the trap out only from dusk to dawn. This just ensures our pets are protected.

Remember, raising animals comes with a great deal of responsibility.

Our animals rely on us for food, water, shelter, and also for protection. If you lose a chicken to an attack from backyard chicken predators, don’t beat yourself up.

Follow these tips and do what you can to protect your animals and hopefully your birds will be happy , safe.and productive.
Predators are enemy which we must put and end to as a poultry keeper. Follow these steps and you will keep predators out from your poultry. Thanks for reading.

Breaking , President Buhari in a meeting with all service chiefs

President Buhari is currently presiding over the national security council meeting in the chambers of the presidential villa. In attendance are service chiefs and the inspector feneral of police, national security adviser, minister of defence, minister of interior and other some other members of the president’s cabinet. This meeting comes off the hels of call for the resignation of the swrvice chiefs over their failure to curb banditry and the boko haram insurgency that continues to ravage the northern part of the country and other violent crimes that has become prevalent recently. The National Security Adviser disclosed that the major resolution reached at the National security council meeting is the need for greater collaboration between government agencies and the wider society, but he refused to disclose what kind of collaboration is required while insisting that the security challenges facing the country are multidimensional. The National Security Adviser told state house correspondents that the security council which is the highest security  body in the country did not consider calls by the national assembly for service chiefs to resign over their failure to end the boko haram insurgency and other violent crimes

REASON WHY YOUR CHICKEN WILL LAY SOFT EGG

When you take a regular walk to the chicken coop, open the door, reach into the regular nesting box, And what you get is a IRREGULAR-looking egg. So, what does it mean when a chicken lays a soft egg? And how can you prevent it?

Today I’m going to share some of my natural remedies and hopefully ease way to easy your mind a bit. After all, we definitely want our chicken to start laying some regular eggs, now don’t we? Unless you prefer “mushy-water-balloon-like-eggs”, in which case feel free to continue to live happily in your mushy bliss.

WHY WILL MY CHICKEN LAY A SOFT EGG?

Sometimes things don’t go as planned and your chicken may lays a soft egg. Why is this exactly? Well it could be due to some few problems.

1. Could be a calcium deficiency. Chickens need calcium in order to produce hard shells. When a chicken lays a soft egg, it could be as simple as a calcium deficiency. One of the easiest supplements for chickens is to provide crushed eggshells (yes the very same ones from your chickens) or oyster shells. A handful of alfalfa thrown in the coop weekly will also make sure their calcium levels are high enough.

2. Could be that your chicken is young. Young chickens often lay tiny eggs, odd-shaped eggs, or flimsy-water balloon soft eggs. When a young chicken lays a soft egg, it’s nothing to be concerned about because they usually grow out of it pretty quickly. If your chicken doesn’t,

3.  she might have a disease or major deficiency. If this is happening to your hen, I’d suggest looking into Newcastle disease or infectious bronchitis symptoms as these could be the culprit.

4. Could be that your chicken is under stress. If a chicken is dealing with hunger, thirst, extreme temperatures, or even danger of predators, it could make her release her egg early, before the shell has completely hardened and this could be the reason why your chicken lays a soft egg. It’s a good idea to go through the checklist and make sure she’s happy & relatively stress-free.

IS THE SOFT EGG STILL EDIBLE?

Absolutely. When your chicken lays a soft egg it will feel very similar to a water balloon. Simply wash the egg with soap/water, then break open as usual. If you don’t feel like eating it, I’m sure any dogs or cats in your home would love it:
To stop your chicken from laying soft eggs, you need to practice and follow and the explanation above.

Best ways to maintain Healthy poultry Bird weight

Birds weight mean alot in poultry bird, However, if you suspect a loss in weight, you must immediately schedule an appointment with the vet and get a proper diagnosis. Weighing and measuring livestock is a primary step in ensuring the animals’ and birds’ health.

Understanding the Reason Behind the Weight Loss
Take your bird to an avian veterinarian to identify the root cause of the sudden weight loss. He can recommend a course of action to help the bird get back to a healthy weight. However, if no illness or problem has been detected, then the bird might need a change in the diet to get back to a healthy and ideal body condition. Probably, giving the pet larger amounts of its favorite foods may stimulate its appetite.

These are tips to Maintain Healthy Bird Weight
1. Feed a Balanced Diet

You must choose a feed that is rich in nutrients, which can ensure that the bird reaches the optimum level of production. Feed variability will benefit them; feed the birds less human food and give them a high-fibre content to improve their overall nutrition intake and resistance to diseases.

2. Make sure you provide the Right Food Supplements

Supplements help in boosting the birds’ health and productivity by encouraging the growth of beneficial microbes in the rumen. Find supplements that help in absorbing dietary protein and increasing the appetite of the bird. Few supplements prevent gastrointestinal acidosis as well.

3. Using Technology

You must take advantage of technology like livestock scales to monitor the bird’s health in a consistent and accurate way. Moreover, technology can provide you with timely and accurate interpretations in the form of structural statistics. Various imaging tools and floor scales allow you to monitor the birds’ health remotely, thus helping you make informed decisions about rearing and feeding patterns from any location.

It is recommended that you use automated livestock scales as they are durable, accurate and cost-effective. They also help in monitoring birds’ health, evaluating their performance and measuring the feed conversion. These scales deliver accurate data; therefore, you can rely on them for making good management decisions.

4. You must prevents Diseases

If the birds are imported from temperate climates, they would lack the resistance to humidity, parasites, heat and tropical diseases. Therefore, it is important to keep them in clean stalls to avoid disease vectors. Understand what the bird is prone to and take appropriate measures to combat diseases.

5. Stick to Traditional Farming Practices

Your bird can lose weight if you stop traditional farming practices and conventional grazing and replace them with industrial systems that don’t take natural factors into consideration. Changing farm practices will benefit only when the local breeds, resources, and feedstuffs are used and wastage is reduced. If you feed the local breeds with a balanced diet along with fresh water and supplements, they will remain healthy and be productive.

6. Track your birds Performance

You can track the performance of the bird using weighing scales and identify whether it is healthy or not. By monitoring its performance, you can identify diseases early on and even avert dangerous diseases from spreading to other farm animals. It would be wise to invest in a well-made, quality bird scale and keep a log of the bird’s weight every day. If you notice any fluctuation from the normal weight amounting to an ounce or more in either direction, check with an avian vet to ensure that your bird’s diet is on the right track. There are numerous scales available in the market to use in other to update your birds weight, you can get it at various store around you.

THE BEST WAYS AND HOW TO SET UP NESTING BOXES FOR YOUR POULTRY BIRDS

As a poultry farmer, it is a difficult things loosing eggs because of lack of good place or nest where poultry  birds can lay eggs without stress  of fear of loosing  eggs 
  When you build a new chicken coop, how many nesting boxes will you need? How do you set them up?

Learn about this basic chicken care topic in this article.

When Do You Need The Nesting Boxes?

If you are just getting started raising young chickens, you will not need the nesting boxes until they are about 4 months old. If you put the nesting boxes in before that, they may start sleeping in there.
The last thing you want is chickens sleeping in nesting boxes because many chickens (most chickens) poop a whole lot while they are sleeping. That would mean lots of poop in the nests where they are going to lay those precious eggs.

Wait until your chickens are just about old enough to begin laying, until you begin to think of nest in your coop.

How many nest do you need in your chicken coop ?
When you build your chicken coop, the next question people often ask, is “how many nesting boxes do I need?”

First of all, you need to know that chickens do not sleep in the nests. I know there are lots of people that think that is the case. But generally chickens sleep on the roost and lay in the nest. As I stated above sleeping in the nesting box should be discourage. Unless of course you have a broody hen who is hatching eggs. Then you leave that mama be!

Secondly, chickens share nests. You definitely do not need to have a nest for every chicken. It would be a waste of space and resources.
A good rule of thumb, is 1 nest per 5-6 hens., 6 hens can used the same nest. Hens not only share nests, but they will pick their favorite one and even fight over it. I have had three hens squeeze into the same nest all at once because they wanted to lay in “the best nest.

What Kind of Nesting Box Should I Use?

There are many type of neet and there many things you can use for a nesting box. You can purchase commercial, pre-made wooden boxes at the farm supply store. You can order kits for nesting box sets also.
But here’s the thing. Chickens aren’t that picky. In my large coop, I have what I call the “egg box condominiums.” It is a large, metal, commercial box set that has 10 nests in it.

In my A-Frame chicken sled, I have two milk crates with one side cut low.
There are all sorts of inexpensive options. The rectangle buckets that kitty litter comes in are a great, cheap (free) option. You can do a search online and find all sorts of creative ideas.

Very simply, you need something that the hen can easily get into, something that is a “nest” shape, you want it easy to clean, and you need to put some bedding/nesting material inside it.

Nesting Box Placement
Once you decide upon the number and type of nesting box you are going to use, you need to decide where to place them.

There’s really three rules to follow.

You want the nesting boxes in a location that you can easily get to. You’ll need to be able to gather eggs every day as well as be able to clean them out as needed.
The nesting boxes should always be lower than the roosts. This is another method of encouraging them to sleep in the correct location.
The nesting boxes should never be directly under a roost, or should have a roof/cover of some sort. This is to keep them clean. Remember, a roosting, sleeping chicken is going to poop. You don’t want them dropping that right down into the nests.

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How Do I Get Them To Lay in It?
Here’s the thing. A hen is going to lay any place she thinks is a good spot. To encourage them to lay in the nesting boxes, I simply place a fake egg inside the box when they are about the age to begin laying. It shows them that “eggs go here.
You can get ceramic or wood eggs…but here’s a tip. If you have a golfer in the family, just use a couple golf balls. To a chicken, it looks enough like an egg to do the trick.

Once one chicken lays in there…they all seem to figure it out right away, immediately this happened many of your birds will also go there to lay their eggs.
When have a good meeting box for birds, this will make it easier for you to collect your eggs and it will also help in loosing eggs, it also allow your eggs to look neat and fresh.

HOW TO KNOW INFECTIONS BY THE LOOKS OF POULTRY BIRDS POOP (POULTRY DROPPING)

There are many infections and deasese that can affect your bird growth and general health. These infections can be easily detected in many ways , if diseases or infections are detected earlier it will reduce lost in your farm.
  Chicken poops ( poultry dropping) is one of the important and quick way to detect infections and diseases in your farm.
The types of poultry dropping, they are normal and abnormal poops. Although, the chicken droppings (poops) can vary in shapes, colours, textures and even odour. The Main factor that contribute to that may be as a result of diet in their feeds or diseases/infections. The atmospheric conditions may be a collaborating factor as chicken drink more water in hot weather which can make their droppings watery.
By close observation, one will be able to determine if there is health problem among the birds. This may not be 100% accurate but it majorly gives insight of necessary steps to take in poultry health management. This article will be helpful in analysis of normal droppings according to the diet and other factors for you not worry unnecessarily.
Normal poultry dropping is of shade of brown, solid with a small covered white on top. The solid part is the feaces while the white part is the uric acid (urine). Other colours of droppings may range from brown to green, yellow, black, blue, orange, watery white or even red.

Below are the common colours and problems to observe in your chicken droppings (poops)

1. Yellow poop; this can possibly be caused by Coccidiosis, intestinal worms, or kidneys disease. It is most likely to be caused by intakes flowers, strawberries or tomatoes and feed that's highly rich with corn. If the symptoms persist after changing their feed, one can treat coccidiosis and deworm the birds. Read more on Poultry Medication And Vaccination.

2.  Greenish poop, This is possibly cause by intestinal worms of Marek's disease or avian flu but the most likely causes are diet rich in vegetables, herbs, grass, weeds and plants of all kinds, if not from that, one need to treat viral infection.

3. Black dropping is possibly caused by internal bleeding while the most likely cause: Ingestion of charcoal, wood ash, dark berries. Droppings can be of blue colour due to a diet rich in red cabbage or beet. You just need to ensure that you treat your birds with coccidiostat as at when due.

4. Highly liquid white manure could be caused by fungal Infection of the Cloaca, wind gleet, kidney damage due to a too high-protein diet, stress, internal disease while most likely cause is drinking of excess water due to hot weather or eating large amounts of fruit like watermelon.

5. The possible cause of Liquid Brown droppings are Infection of e. coli or respiratory system infections such as bronchitis, so the consistency of faeces will look more of a pudding and this can occur at a frequency of once every 7-8 filing of droppings, which is quite normal. If continue for long time than normal, go for treatment of viral infections.

6. Big pile of Brown droppings occurs when a hen hatches her eggs during a long period (brooding), rather than drop a dozen of droppings per day, she will hold them off until she leaves the nest and drop a few large droppings a day. Also, the first droppings in the morning can have this look right out of the dorm. This type of dropping is completely normal.

7. Orange droppings is possibly caused by coccidiosis or lead poisoning. The probable cause is inflammation of the intestinal wall. The Orange particles are sometimes confused for blood. This situation is quite normal on occasion and subsides naturally over small period of time.

On usual occasion, there is nothing to worry about the colour and texture of poultry droppings, especially if you can identify the cause. On the other hand, there are events that you will never want to see like blood in the stool which is a clear sign of coccidiosis and/or serious intestinal illness. If you suspect this, start anticoccidiosis treatment or consult you vet doctor immediately. Other one is seeing worms in the droppings which is a serious parasite disease of the intestine. Read more on Poultry Worms.

As a farmer you should be able to know and noticed all these poops sign and able to determine what kind of treatment you quickly give to your birds.

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