[Blondie]

Hello,
I'm picking up my hens next week but not sure how I should prepare the house for their arrival. I'm aiming to put a mixture of sawdust/straw in the nestbox, and the floor of the run will be covered with bark because it's on concrete slabs and wood. Do I need to disinfect the house beforehand even though it has not long been built? If so what can I use, and do i need to sprinkle some red mite powder in the nestbox and run too before I put the bedding in? Once the chickens are in, how often do I need to clear out all the bedding etc and disinfect the whole thing, once a week or just as and when it gets mucky? I have a droppings board under the perch area which has wire mesh on top so im going to empty this everyday, but is it ok to line it with newspaper?
Lots of questions but I just want the hens to settle in well. Anyone help?

[richyrich7]

Wow loads of questions I'll try to answer for you all my opinoin not neccessarily right just what i would do  

don't bother disinfecting if its a new house

Red mite thingy yes it won't hurt are you providing a dust bath ( they will love you forever ) put some in there.

I clean my nest box's out about every 7- 10 days but if there mucky change em.

As for the droppings board yes line it with paper if you wish it won't hurt, might make it easier to clean.

keep an eye out for rodents is your house raised up ? if not I would, wish I had with mine    big job to do it know.

Hope this helps

[Blondie]

Thanks good advice. Am planning on providing a dust bath and yes, the house is raised off the floor so shouldn't have a problem with rats etc. Are flies ever a problem in the summer, anything I need to do about them?

[richyrich7]

I find flies are a problem, but regular cleaning of the droppings board is very helpful. Depending on how big your garden is you could use one of these Red top flycatcher I bought one last year and I honestly could not believe the number of flies we caught, literally thousands  :shock:  We had one fly in the house all the time we had it up and we had all the doors and windows open. But they do smell a bit. You can also find them on ebay.