Farming doesn’t have to smell! Three tricks to keep your chickens clean.

Once you've had fresh eggs it opens your mind to all the possibilities of what else would taste better fresh. I like to call chickens the gateway to farming.

They are a great animal to start with and help with our modern need for instant gratification. I fed you and you fed me. The reward for feeding them is waiting for you in the nest box. Or hidden in the hay pile, or right in the floor!

I get asked a lot of questions about smell with chickens. It's the biggest concern when you are going to have these creatures share your backyard. Luckily it's a really easy solution.

Keep those feet dry and you eliminate 90% of all chicken problems.

The coop needs to be in a safe environment that stays dry year round. When the droppings dry out they are easy to remove to your garden. If you don't have one now is the time to start adding the droppings to plants around your property.

My favorite thing about free ranging hens in a backyard is that their droppings get washed away with the hose. Your lawn gets fertilizer and your bug population decreases.

Chickens evolved from jungle fowl and our great at foraging. This might turn into destructive habits if you let them free range. Use this ability to your advantage and let them eat your table scraps. Nothing too moldy or dangerous but they work wonders on my daughters unfinished breakfasts! But no one wants to smell leftovers and attract other critters.

To keep the flies away I will freeze leftovers if it's too much for my hens to finish in 10 minutes.

The last trick is to keep the nest boxes clean and filled with the bedding material of your choice. I use 2nd cutting hay. You can also use pine shavings, straw, and hay. I just happen to be allergic to everything but 2nd cutting hay. This works in my favor because hay and straw can be stuffed in the nest boxes and the chickens will move it to their liking.

The biggest smell in nest boxes is a broken egg getting everything dirty. Sometimes an accident and sometimes on purpose.

Use fake eggs to keep the chickens from pecking eggs.

A fake egg can be purchased at most feed stores. When I chicken tries to peck a fake egg it hurts and has no reward so they will stop pecking real eggs. Get the eggs out of the coop asap to keep them clean and reduce the change of accident.

Farming doesn't have to smell! You got this!