Routine Jobs

The following routine tasks will give you an idea of what you will need to think about doing at the various times if you keep chickens. These are my routine tasks:

Daily.

  • taking water to chickensFresh food and water needs to provided. Pelleted feeds can stay fresh for a week inside a hopper so that they are dispensed ad-lib as the hens require food, however it will soon go mouldy and cause disease if it is not kept dry. Place food containers under cover or purchase a rain hat to keep the rain off. Clean water containers with a small hand brush before refilling them with fresh water.
  • A quick 1 minute health check – stop for a minute and observe. Make sure everything appears normal.
  • Collect eggs and keep an eye out for broody hens over the spring and summer months.
  • Scatter a handful of corn per bird in the late afternoon as a treat.
  • Essential: Close the pop hole at night and open it in the morning to protect chickens from predators (especially foxes). Open the coop as soon as you are awake and it is light outside, close it at dusk as soon as your chickens have gone to roost for the night. An automatic doorkeeper has been one of the most useful items I have bought to lock up my chickens at dusk and let them out in the mornings. It is one of the more expensive items I have bought but it is very reliable (the batteries last well over a year) and I am not in a panic trying to get home as it gets dark and the best bit…. I get to have a little extra sleep in on the weekend!

Weekly.

  • choosing a hen house for easy cleaningChicken houses should be cleaned out at least weekly to prevent a build up of organic matter, which puts your birds at more risk from respiratory problems and disease. Between May and October, check perch ends and cracks for Red Mite. They are very common and the sooner you find them, the easier it is to get rid of them. You can read more about cleaning out on this page here.
  • Clean feed hoppers – a wipe will sometimes do.
  • Provide fresh greens at least twice a week, more often if chickens don’t have reasonable free range or if grass is short / there is snow on the ground.
  • Check grit hoppers and top up as necessary.
  • 5 minute check: Pick up a couple of birds and give them a quick health check. Check that they haven’t lost weight and examine between their feathers, particularly around the vent area for lice.
  • Check your stocks and re-order as necessary.

Monthly

  • Give 2% Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV) in the water for one week a month. I always do this on the first week of every month so that I don’t forget.
  • Feed Verm-X monthly at 2.5g per bird.
Month Jobs to complete
January Think about breeding. 2 to 3 year old chickens are best for breeding as they have resistance to disease and their eggs are now a good size. Get incubators tested and ready for use if you plan on hatching this spring.
Add a vitamin supplement to the water if the weather is cold and rub Vassalene into large combed cockerels such as Leghorns to protect against hard frosts. Provide regular greens when the ground is frozen. If snow falls, clear the ground immediately in front of their house so they can get out.
February Order spare heat lamps for brooders, chick crumbs and anything else required if you are going to incubate.
Add a vitamin supplement to the water to birds that are breeding or if the weather is cold. Continue rubbing vaseline onto the combs of large combed cockerels if necessary.
Provide regular greens when the ground is frozen. Check fertility of eggs in incubator.
March Collect eggs and start incubating to get new stock.  Fertility should now be at its best and all hens should be laying by now. Add gravel, sand or wood chippings to well used ground as it turns to mud in the rain. Worm the flock with Flubenvet.
April Spring clean chicken houses. Set broody hens and tend to chicks if you have hatched them.
If you have a cockerel, fit poultry saddles to hens so they don’t lose feathers from their backs.
Build or buy any new housing required for new birds. Remember not to mix young chicks / growers with older birds but let them out on warmer days for a couple of hours around mid-day to get some fresh grass.
May Red mite season begins – start preventative red mite treatment. Let chicks / growers out onto grass in covered runs and make sure they are locked up at night.
June Continue preventative red mite treatment.
Inspect fencing fully as June to September is a popular time for fox attacks. Make sure birds have shade and their water is not in the sunlight so they can cool themselves off by drinking.
July Continue preventative red mite treatment.
Get any painting or treating of houses done when the sun is shining. As chicks can be sexed, remove unwanted cockerels as they will cost you to keep and won’t be productive.
August Continue preventative red mite treatment.
As chickens come into moult, give them extra vitamins, a handful of dried catfood (for extra protein) and ACV to help them to grow new feathers.
September Continue preventative red mite treatment. Move this years hatch (now pullets) to their new accommodation or integrate them with the flock as they will soon start to lay. Worm the flock. Repair houses and runs that need fixing before the winter. Replace sand or chippings if used in smaller runs.
October Red Mite Season Ends – Stop preventative red mite treatment as weather turns cold. Review stock levels: Don’t over-winter stock that isn’t going to be of use next year. Remember young cockerels who get on fine now will become competitive and start to fight in the breeding season.
November Make sure you have sufficient water containers for the freezing weather to come. Consider visiting some of the poultry shows that are held during the Autumn. Make sure hen houses are draft proof.
December Add a vitamin supplement to the water every other week if the weather is cold. Provide regular greens when the ground is frozen and extra corn so they have more fat (from the maize) to produce more heat. Ensure hens can get shelter when the weather is bad, especially in cold winds and rain.

The following routine tasks will give you an idea of what you will need to think about doing at the various times if you keep chickens. These are my routine tasks:

Daily.

·Fresh food and water needs to provided. Pelleted feeds can stay fresh for a week inside a hopper so that they are dispensed ad-lib as the hens require food. Clean water containers before refilling with a hand brush.

·Close the pop hole at night and open it in the morning to protect chickens from predators. An automatic doorkeeper has been one of the most useful items I have bought.

Weekly.

·Chicken houses should be cleaned out at least weekly to prevent a build up of organic matter, which puts your birds at more risk from respiratory problems and disease.

·Clean feed hoppers

·Provide fresh greens at least twice a week, more often if chickens don’t have reasonable free range.

Monthly

·Give 2% Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV) in the water for one week a month. I always do this on the first week of every month so that I don’t forget.

·Feed Verm-X monthly at 2.5g per bird.

Month

Job

January

Get incubators tested and ready for use if you plan on hatching this spring.

Add a vitamin supplement to the water if the weather is cold.

Provide regular greens when the ground is frozen.

February

Order spare heat lamps for brooders, chick crumbs and anything else required if you are going to incubate.

Add a vitamin supplement to the water to birds that are breeding or if the weather is cold.

Provide regular greens when the ground is frozen.

March

Start incubating to get new stock.

Worm the flock with Flubenvet.

April

Spring clean chicken houses

If you have a cockerel, fit poultry saddles to hens so they don’t lose feathers from their backs.

Build or buy any new housing required for new birds. Remember not to mix young chicks / growers with older birds.

May

Red Mite Season begins – start preventative red mite treatment.

June

Continue preventative red mite treatment

July

Continue preventative red mite treatment

August

Continue preventative red mite treatment

As chickens come into moult, give them extra vitamins and ACV to help them to grow new feathers.

September

Continue preventative red mite treatment

Worm the flock with Flubenvet.

Repair houses and runs that need fixing before the winter.

Replace sand or chippings if used in smaller runs.

October

Red Mite Season Ends – Stop preventative red mite treatment as weather turns cold.

Review stock levels: Don’t over-winter stock that isn’t going to be of use next year. Remember young cockerels who get on fine now will become competitive and start to fight in the breeding season.

November

Make sure you have sufficient water containers for the freezing weather to come.

December

Add a vitamin supplement to the water if the weather is cold.

Provide regular greens when the ground is frozen.

Do you have any routine jobs I have missed from this list? Please leave me a comment below.

41 Comments

  1. hi we are getting 2 chickens next week, we have a coop fit for 4 big birds but we have built a 9ft by 9ft run aswell.
    what do i do with the hens if i have to go out during the day and wont b back untill late at night?

    • Chickens will put themselves to bed once they get used to their house. You should be careful of foxes and when there is nobody around, keep them in their run.

  2. hi, can you keep chicken on slabs? we have a chicken coop and are looking at slabbing to stand it on, we are having an extra bit of run that will allow for contact with the dirt as i know they like to dig about…thanks

    • Yes, it helps you to keep them clean easily but they do like to scratch so for happy chickens, I would put a filling of hardwood chippings down on top of this and change them from time to time.

  3. Hi,
    I have been looking into getting 2/3 chickens, however my garden is only around 50ft x35 ft, it is grassed and there are a couple of small veggie patches about. I wondered if this would be enough space for them to roost and scratch about in? Also would you be able recommend a suitable laying breed for such an environment, although am not sure if this is the right time of year to be starting out?

    Any help is much appreciated,
    Many thanks in advance
    Emma

  4. Hi, we have 4 chooks and this is our first winter with them. What are your thoughts on artificial lighting? I’m in Scotland and it gets dark mid afternoon in the mid-winter. Any other advice for them in the winter?
    cheers
    john

    • Yes, you can add light so they get 14 hrs per day (better to add in the morning so they don’t get caught out at night when the timer goes off and can’t roost) and this will cause them to lay through the winter. Trouble is, they will still need to take a break, so you could find they stop laying then in the summer earlier. I don’t bother with lighting and accept that I’ll have less eggs in the winter. Pullets hatched in the summer that are at POL in the autumn will usually lay some eggs into the winter during their first year so I seem to manage with just a month or so without eggs most years.

Leave a Reply to bantamloverCancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.