5 Creative Ways to Involve Your Children in Chicken Coop Maintenance

Raising chickens is a rewarding hobby, but it can also be deceptively difficult work. From supplying your flock with adequate chicken feed to keeping the coop spotless, there are a lot of little tasks you have to stay on top of to ensure that your flock is well taken care of.

The good news? If you have a family, you don’t have to go through the chicken-rearing checklist all alone. Your children have a pair of capable hands that can help lighten the load when it comes to raising and caring for chickens.

Once you’ve instilled in them the importance of animal care, they can carry with them lifelong farming habits while simultaneously helping you reduce your workload in the present moment.

And if you don’t trust them to take care of the lives of your birds just yet, one of the next best ways they can help out is by conducting regular chicken coop maintenance.

But then there lies a problem: teaching your kid to become a capable chicken keeper is not a straightforward task.

From teaching them various chicken coop cleaning activities to relying on them to consistently carry out these tasks, it’s hard work. It’s also not uncommon for children to disobey or lose interest in keeping the coop clean over time.

If you want to ensure that your kid remains steadfast with this obligation, then you’re in the right place. In this article, we’ll showcase five creative ways you can involve your children in chicken coop maintenance and keep them interested in the activity.

Let’s jump right into it.

Let Your Kid Have an Impact on the Coop’s Layout

One way to entice your kid to take part in chicken coop maintenance is by giving them the chance to decorate or design the coop in some capacity.

There’s no greater joy than to see things you’ve built and created come to fruition. Kids sense this as well, taking great pride in things that they’ve created from scratch.

Allowing them to exercise creative freedom safely can make them feel more attached to the outcome; in this case, letting them take part in designing the layout of the coop can amplify that sense of satisfaction.

If you’re building a coop from scratch, then consider inviting your kid to help out in an age-appropriate manner.

For instance, you can have them paint the hardwood a suitable colour. You can also let them create a wooden sign that labels the structure as a chicken coop. You can also help them create a miniature garden outside the chicken coop to make the space more welcoming, or draw chalk art (using safe materials) to make the place feel more alive and artistic.

If you’re purchasing a coop, then you can also get them involved by letting them choose one of many pre-made coop designs from retailers like Somerzby to add to your farmyard. This way, they’ll feel a genuine sense of involvement in the project. In turn, this can make them more likely to carry that sense of ownership and obligation through the years.

Assign Egg Collection Duty

Another fun way to get your child involved in taking care of the chicken coop is by giving them daily duties.

One of the easiest responsibilities they can do is collect eggs that have fallen in the nesting boxes at the start of each day. This assignment is an easy, fuss-free activity that can easily be integrated into their daily routine.

While this duty may feel repetitive over time, there are ways to reinforce your child to continuously carry out collection duties.

For instance, you, as a parent, can turn egg collection into a game and occasionally mark a random egg before your kid comes into the coop as a “Golden Egg”. This marked egg can be turned over to the parent and exchanged for a prize, like ice cream from the supermarket or a dinner out at their favourite local restaurant.

If you have multiple kids, the better, as the above game can be turned into a friendly competition. And even if they don’t find the egg, they’ll still feel incentivised to enter the coop each day to clear out the nesting boxes.

Over time, your kid will be more motivated to enter the flock each morning. These continuous visits make it much easier for you to train your children to perform more cleaning tasks in and around the coop.

Let Your Kid Build a Bond With Your Flock

There’s no greater motivation than getting your child to truly love and feel obligated to what they’re doing. And this can be harnessed.

For starters, consider getting your child to play with the chickens from time to time. Let them know each of them at a personal level, if possible.

Before introducing a new chicken to your flock, gather as a family to observe how it integrates with the others. Involve your child in the process—let them help choose a name and spend time offering food or talking to the new bird. This makes them feel a greater sense of attachment to the bird.

These interactions can help your kid develop empathy towards your birds. In turn, this can make them become more motivated to take care of these animals, and by extension, the structure in which they inhabit.

Create a To-Do List in Game Form

Kids may not always enjoy being told what to do, but if they feel that it’s worth their time, they can be productive. One way to wire your kid’s brain into enjoying coop cleaning duties is by listing them out in a to-do list and game-ifying it.

There are multiple ways to go about doing this. For one, you can transform cleanup duties to a fun competition with your children. You can allocate set points for each chore accomplished, and the kid with the most points during a specific time frame can get a little reward, like more screen time or something specific based on your child’s interests.

Alternatively, you can also structure the to-do list as a speedy competition. Kids can compete with themselves and see how fast they can accomplish their duties (all without compromising the quality of the tasks). Seeing their progress with each passing week can be a great way to incentivise them as it shows how they’ve improved over time.

You don’t have to go all creative with your to-do list, either. Another alternative is to simply label chores more fun than they really are, like calling it a “Treasure Egg Hunt” instead of “Egg Collection” to entice your kids. Your mileage may vary, so experiment with what works best considering your child’s interest and your family’s dynamic.

Involve Your Kids in Feeding Sessions

Another creative way to get your kid into cleaning duties is by teaching them how to handle chicken feeding time.

Teach them how to measure the correct amount of poultry feed per chicken. Generally, this amounts to 120 to 150 grams per adult chicken daily. You should also teach them how to scatter the feed to ensure every chicken gets their fair share.

The same goes for providing the chicken with ample hydration. Teach them how to refill water dispensers with cool water every day. Make them create a consistent schedule and have them follow through with it consistently.

Getting your children involved in these feeding sessions isn’t only beneficial for the chickens, but it also makes your kids more aware of the process. They’ll know what places in the coop get the most dirt, or where foul smells tend to linger. From there, they’ll know what spots to clean.

Let them observe you at first. And during these moments, give instructions on how to both feed the chickens and clean up the coop afterwards. Once the trough or feeder becomes dirty, take out the equipment and clean it with them being witness to the act.

Over time, your kids will build the intuition and sense of responsibility to do these tasks by themselves. In turn, this can help them become more capable coop cleaners—and chicken keepers at large.

We hope these tips will help inspire your kid to clean your backyard coop. All the best in raising chickens as a family!