Having the kids engage in the meaningful work of homesteading is important, but how do you actually go about doing it? Here’s a breakdown of equipment, ages, chore assignments, and tips for cleaning out the chicken house with the kids! 
These tips will work for cleaning your chicken house even if you don’t have children but they’re particularly helpful if you do.
Not all children are excited to wade through the chicken poop of winter (go figure) and it’s helpful to have an order, assign everyone a job and have a little fun at the same time.
If you’d like to learn more about real family life on the homestead, please visit the Family Times on the Homestead chapter of our book, The The Do It Yourself Homestead. Don’t have your own copy? Just click here to learn more. You can also email me for a FREE sample of this chapter at Tessa@homesteadlady.com. 
Chicken House: Coop Cleaning with Kids
You know it’s time. As the weather starts to warm after the chill of winter, the chicken house once again becomes a presence for your olfactory senses. Plus, your children are restless to get outside and have some fun.
It’s the season for coop cleaning with kids. With a chicken house on hand it isn’t hard to teach your kids the value of hard work in the family and on the homestead.
Coop Cleaning Equipment
- Give everyone their own shovel, appropriate for their size. There’s going to be a lot of scraping of poo and your children will get bored if they don’t have a tool that’s a good fit.
- Consider face masks if you’re concerned with poo dust or live in a really windy place. I’ll be honest, I’ve tried them before and the kids just rip them off about five minutes into the chicken house endeavors.
- Safety glasses might come in handy to keep eyes clean. They also might be something the kids are more willing to wear.
So, couple your sanitation efforts with a verbal reminder about being cautious with dust and flying poo particles.
Coop Cleaning Assignments
Here’s a simple breakdown of assignments by age:
- Give the littlest kid her assignment first and then move quickly to help the others. Your youngest will need the most direction but she will also be the most impatient to start – unless she’s off looking for spring bulbs. Looking for spring bulbs is also a form of work and you may want to just let her do that for awhile. However, if she’s ready to work, give her a useful chore commensurate with her age.
- For example, my six year old usually gets the task of cleaning out the nest boxes. I remove them from the coop and she scoops out the shavings, putting them in the compost pile.
- After which, the eight year old joins her in a good scrubbing down of the boxes. While the boxes dry in the sunshine, the girls snuggle chickens and then return to the put the boxes back into the chicken house, filling them with new shavings.
Equally useful would be pulling early spring weeds around the property and feeding them to the chickens. The hens are usually highly affronted at all this disturbance of their peace. Or, the youngest could be in charge of washing down coop windows or cleaning out the water bucket.
Or, simply playing with the baby in the sunshine.
Older Kid Jobs
As soon as you can, get the older kids scraping poo off the surfaces. Ah, the dream of every homestead kid.
To make this job easier come spring, in the fall:
- Put down heavy cardboard, plastic board (like the campaign signs are made of) or thin plywood.
- Use pieces that are small enough for the kids to haul out in the spring – around three feet wide and tall.
- Cover the coop floor with them, leaving other areas of the coop open during the winter for ventilation. (FYI, our coop floor is raised off the ground about three feet and is made of punched tin. This works really well.)
- The children can get into the coop for spring cleaning; they use their shovels to bust up the poo and break the mats apart.
- Then, they can haul out each mat and knock the poo off further, making a nice pile for the compost. Because we also put down straw (carbon), this manure (nitrogen) is a great mix for the garden beds in spring.
Cleaning the Coop
Kids can do a lot more than we sometimes think. Here are some examples of the actual work of cleaning:
- Use heavy duty scrapers to get pernicious poo off the roost and anywhere else it has congregated over winter.
- Using a hose can help loosen up stubborn bits. The kids love taking turns blasting the chicken house with bursts of water when they’re needed. You can use a non-toxic, biodegradable soap as well.
- Have them clean their shovels and any other equipment while you finish up the walls and floor – this is a great signal that you’re almost done!
Finishing Up Coop Cleaning with Kids
Finally, make sure that the feeders, waterers and boxes have all been cleaned to your satisfaction. Leave the coop open to dry during the day. Go down together later on to close it up and visit with your birds.
Make sure the children know they are expected to go back and clean some more if the coop isn’t clean enough. Accountability is so, so important. If you want them to take these chores seriously and be an asset on the homestead, keep them accountable to do their very best work.
Explaining how hygiene is important for chickens, too, can go a long way towards motivating them to be thorough.
“If we want eggs and meat, these birds must be healthy. If we want chicks to stay strong, we have to do a good job.”
I like to play the “it’s all for the good of the chicks” card as often as I can. Spring is a typically time to have chicks on hand for the coming season.
Just For Fun
If they want to, I’ll let the kids decorate with magazine pictures on the walls of the chicken house.
Sometimes they like to line favorite dusting holes with whatever treasures they can find in the yard – pinecones, straw, green weeds and certainly dandelions, if they’re in bloom.
Giving Praise
Talk about your love and appreciation for your chickens and how grateful you are that they have a nice chicken house to live in. Be sure to convey how much you appreciate your children and their help on the homestead.
Even my reluctant chicken house cleaners are not immune to my praise. They want to hear they’ve done a good job and that I rely on their help to accomplish all that needs to be done on the homestead. Be generous with your approbation.
The children are actively engaged with our poultry all year long. From chick care to egg gathering to harvesting the meat birds the kids help all along the way. This spring ritual of cleaning the chicken house is one that we always do together. It always feels so good once it’s done!
Some people will be uncomfortable involving their children quite so much in the poo and the muck and that’s fine. However, I encourage you to find some task for your children to do with the chickens.
Children need to feel important and useful, just like you do. They need to have ownership in their homesteading lifestyle and accountability to do their best work. This is because learning to always do our best makes us happy.
Cute and informative article. I will definitely check out The 104 Homestead’s Hot Chicken Topics book. Thank you for the info.
So glad you stopped by, Lee! The book is great and an enjoyable read – we’re all so busy that we need our information high quality and quick, right?
I am getting ready to start raising chickens and need all the help I can get.
Don’t we all, Joyce! Good luck!
I love my chickens and the little chicken herders that love them
Much love in the barnyard, Leone – I dig it, too.
We are moving to a new city and a half acre lot. I will soon have my first flock of chickens and couldn’t be more excited (believe me, my husband is tired of hearing me talk about chickens!). I have enjoyed everything I’ve learned from the various homestead bloggers and books. The Chicken Hot Topics book would be a welcome addition to my learning and chicken journey.
How exciting, Brandi! You’ll be able to do so much on half an acre. Chickens are a gateway animal, as they say, and pretty soon you’ll look up and be a full-fledged farmer. Blessings to you and your family!
I had chickens when I was raising my kids and I really enjoyed them. I don’t have the room for them now although I am trying to talk my husband into 2 or three of them now. Wish me luck.
Oh, seriously, good luck! Bringing around the spouse can be hard, but lovingly stick with it. I wish you a few chickens as soon as possible!
Great read , I’ve always enjoyed cleaning the coop, the flock let’s ya know they enjoy it too. Looking forward to many more articles 🙂
So glad you stopped by and we hope you come again!
I can’t wait to get our chickens this spring.
How exciting – your first? How many are you starting with? Do you have your breeds picked out yet? Spring is such a fun time on the homestead; so many possibilities.