DIY Happy Hens Herbal Mix!

Oh my goodness, it smells so good!  I love mixing up these herbs and giving it to my girls every day.

I have found that the hens love this nesting box mixture of herbs I have concocted with the help of Treats For Chickens.  I purchased their Nesting Box Blend, and loved it so much that I determined to figure out how to make something like it.  It smells so good, and helps to keep away mites, lice, and other pests, like spiders and mice who don't like the scent of mint.  I just sprinkle a pinch or so into their nesting boxes daily. You can also sprinkle it around the perimeter of the coop if you need a little extra protection against those pests.  It's a great little extra I enjoy doing for them just to say thanks when I collect their eggs each day.  Who wouldn't want to snuggle down into a cozy bed of fresh hay that smells of lavender, mint, eucalyptus, etc.?

7 oz. Jar of Herbal Mix

I love chickens!  My hens are special to me.  They provide my family with eggs, plus some extra to sell to help offset the cost of their feed.  Poultry is a fairly easy backyard hobby that can be very rewarding.

The Chickens Have Moved In!

Baby chicks!

The girls have moved into the coop!  This is not just any ol' coop, this is Cluckinghen Palace! We have six Black Australorps, six Silver Laced Wyandottes, and one free unknown rare breed!  Next week we get a shipment of six New Hampshire Reds and fifteen White Leghorns.  The blacks, silvers, and reds are our dual purpose chicks, and the White Leghorns are meat chicks.    These babies are so cute and fuzzy!

Cluckinghen Palace, Completed!

Carpe diem, Lil and Bill

Chicken Coop Chicken Doors

My husband designed these chicken doors with a pulley system so I could open and close them without having to go into the chicken area.

Chicken Coop Chicken Door Pulley System

It is a fabulous system, as the chicken coop has an entrance area that is our supply and storage place, a foyer (or fwa.je if you will).  They are designed on a pulley system, and are very convenient.

Chicken Coop Nest Boxes

Chicken Coop Nest Boxes - rear door view, open

Chicken Coop Nest Boxes - rear door view, closed

Chicken Coop Nest Boxes

These are the photos of the nest boxes in our chicken coop that Bill is building.  He designed them so that I don't have to go inside the chicken area to collect the eggs.  There is a back door that opens up for egg gathering.  He also made the box bottom to lift out to make for easy cleaning.  What a guy!  I'm thinking he wants to be certain that I keep the job of caring for the chickens, and that it doesn't fall back on him.  That will work until I find my first snake in the box!  He's trying to make certain that doesn't happen as well.  We'll see!

Carpe diem!  Lil and Bill

Building a Chicken Coop

Bill hard at work

Building a chicken coop, how hard can that be, right?  Well, we're going on to month three and we're not finished yet!  My husband Bill is engineering this coop so carefully, these hens will be living like little princesses!  And so will I because caring for them will be so convenient!  You think they'll give us bigger eggs?  I'll be posting photos of the inside soon.

Carpe diem!  Lil and Bill