My Chirpy Chicken Coop

5 Tips To Keep Your Chickens Mite-Free May 29, 2022 (Hammy staring soulfully into the camera :) I believe that I've figured out 5 ways to keeping your flock mite-free.  Naturally. 1. Dust Baths Providing your flock a dust bath year round is probably your best defense against not only mites, but lice, ticks, fleas and other biting parasites. A kiddie pool or small tub filled with dry dirt, sand, wood ash and dried herbs like lavender, rosemary, thyme and mint makes a wonderful dust bath.  If your chickens free range at least part of the day, they'll find their own spot to bathe in.  My girls seem to like taking their dust baths in the herb garden....coincidence? I think not. 2. Add Some Herbs In addition to adding some herbs in the dust bath area, sprinkling aromatic herbs in the nest boxes or hanging them in the coop is another good idea.  In general, insects, rodents and other pests don't enjoy the strong scent of herbs.  3. Dry The Coop Diatomaceous earth or lime is a gr

All About Coop Shavings May 22, 2022 (Shavings in the coop!) Do pine shavings make good chicken coop bedding? Pine shavings are commonly used for chicken coops as they’re more absorbent than most other materials, have insulating properties, are low in cost and widely available, and can be used for the deep litter method and composting. There are so many different types of wood shavings out there. Why is there so much attention on pine? Pine is typically preferred over other kinds of wood shavings because it’s: Cheaper More readily available Less dusty You also want to be sure that the shavings you’re buying haven’t been treated with any kind of chemicals, whether you’re buying pine or something else. Some treated woods may be toxic for chickens. One type of shavings you don’t want to use is cedar. Cedar contains plicatic acid, which can cause asthma and respiratory illness in your chickens.  You also don’t want to use sawdust, no matter what kind of wood it comes from. Whether it be pi

The Pecking Order  May 15, 2022 (Our little flock of hens...can you guess who is at the top of the pecking order???) Chickens take their pecking order very seriously. And I mean very seriously. As flock animals, they adhere to a very strict social hierarchy and establishing a pecking order actually helps to keep peace in a flock. Being high in the order equates to being "big man or woman on campus" and enjoying the top roost at night, first dibs on food and treats, the rooster's attention, and even the prime spot in the sun to take a dust bath. Chickens continually remind the others where they stand in the social order. The alpha hen at the top can peck at everyone, the hen just below her in the pecking order can assert her dominance on any flock member except the alpha hen, and so on down the line until you reach the bottom. The poor hen on the bottom often becomes everyone's footstool.  So while it's natural to feel badly for the hen who's lowest on the tote

All About Roosting Bars May 8, 2022 (Our roosting bar overhead the coop!) Roosting bars are where your chickens should perch to sleep at night inside their coop. A lot of chicken-keepers have questions all the time from building their own coops wondering exactly how the roosts should be built: how high, out of what material, how far apart...so here's all you need to know about roosting bars. Why Do I Need Roosts In The Coop? Chickens instinctively seek high ground when they sleep to keep them safer from ground predators. As you likely know, they take their pecking order very seriously and those highest in the pecking order will grab the highest perches, leaving the lower (and therefore more vulnerable) spots to those lower in the flock. Sleeping on the ground also leaves chickens more susceptible to pathogens and bacteria in the litter on the floor of the coop. It also makes them more apt to have issues with external parasites such as mites and lice who like the dark, warm, damp ar

The Deep Litter Method May 1, 2022 (Our deep litter in the chicken coop!) If you're not familiar with it, the deep litter method is a brilliant method to manage your coop litter through the year. It's easy, economical and results in beautifully composted chicken manure and bedding (whether it be straw, shavings, leaves, pine needles etc.) for your garden come spring. The deep litter method basically consists of repeatedly turning over the soiled bedding, adding a new layer, and allowing the chicken droppings to decompose on the floor of the coop all winter, at the same time creating heat to keep the coop warm naturally . As a further bonus, same as when you compost, beneficial microbes grow that actually help control pathogens, making your chickens less susceptible to diseases. The decompositional microbes produce Vitamins B12 and K, which the chickens take in as they find interesting things to eat in a mature litter. The experiments even demonstrated that biologically active l