Benable — create shareable lists of things you recommend!
E.g., products you love, local businesses, travel recs - you can add anything to a Benable list!
My Must-Haves for Chicken Keeping
27
items We've kept chickens for years, and these are the products that have earned a permanent place in our coop. They save us time, make chores easier, and help keep our flock healthy. I don't recommend everything I try—only the things I'd happily buy again...
Sections
7
Feeder & Waterers
Bedding & Supplies
Mites, Lice & Flies
Deworming
Treats
Solar Chicken Doors
Feeder & Waterers
Two of the most important things you can provide your chickens are food and water. We've tried a LOT and prefer semi-automatic feeders that keep them supplied with plenty of food and water without having to refill daily.
Turn any bucket or trash can into a gravity feeder with these feeding cups. These help reduce feed waste, too.
ZenxyHoC DIY No Waste Chicken Feeders Kit
These are one of the best ways to keep your chicken water clean. Simply drill holes in your bucket of choice (I like 5 gallon buckets) and add these gravity filled cups.
Darcvds Chicken Waterer Cups, 8 Pack Large
We love to use this automatic waterer in the summer when the chickens are going through more water. The float keeps the water topped off at all times.
The Truth About Automatic Chicken Waterers
If you've been considering making your own chicken feed then check out this video for some tips.
How I Make Homemade Chicken Feed They Go Crazy For (With Vitamins, Herbs & Love)
Bedding & Supplies
Hemp bedding has been a game changer in the chicken keeping world. Hemp produces much less dust than most other beddings while being soft and absorbant.
Hemp Bedding - 33 LB Bale
Keeps Coops Fresh
First Saturday Lime
I've found nesting pads to be the easiest way to keep the nesting boxes clean and sufficienly padded to protect eggs. These ones are infused with dried herbs which help make the coop smell fresh and provide stimulation for the hens.
Chicken Nesting Pads with Aromatic Nest Herbs, Pack of 10
A Great poop scooper for sand, coffee ground, and hemp bedding.
Sindarhor Stainless Steel Chicken Poop Scooper & Rake
All Natural and Smells Wonderful
GrubTerra Coop Refresher. Keeps The Coop Smelling Fresh For Longer!
A surprisingly great bedding that can usually be btained for free.
Free & Eco-Friendly Chicken Coop Bedding with Used Coffee Grounds
The need to clean never ends when you have chickens and other farm animals. But the proper tools can help make the tasks a little less of a burden. I had tried kitty litter scoops and full size stall rakes before finding this nifty tool. In this vide...
How the Right Poop Scoop Can Make Cleaning Fast and Fun
Keeping your chicken run nice and dry will help your flock stay happy and healthy during winter (or the rainy season). In this video, I show how I use a sturdy tarp to make my chicken run a little warmer, wind-proof, and snow free so the ladies alway...
Keep The Chickens Warm and Dry
Mites, Lice & Flies
The ONLY way to truly treat lice and mites
Elector PSP Spray 480 G/L 8OZ X 1BOTL AM
For applying Elector PSP
VIVOSUN 27oz Handheld Garden Pump Sprayer
I tested fly predators on my ranch for 7 years. See waht they are and how they work in this vdeo I made.
Do fly predators work? We know they do! #horsehealth #holistichorse #youranimals #paddockparadise
Deworming
Keeping on top of parasite management doesn't have to be hard. A few minutes of practice with this microscope and you can learn to run fecal exams every month (or however ever often) to ensure your flock is healthy. A great investment, especially if ...
AmScope M150C 1000X Cordless LED Microscope
This is the solution you'll need to run your own fecal exams for chickens.
VetLine Fecal Float Sol Sugar-Based 500ml
This slide system makes counting eggs in fecal exams so much easier. A worth while tool for keeping healthy hens.
McMaster Method Microscope Slide for FEC
The grids make it so much easier to count eggs and stay on track of where you've scanned already. McMasters is universally known so you can share results with your vet and be on the same page.
Two-Chamber McMaster Green-Grid Vet Slide
These are great for pulling your samples and filling the slides.
moveland 3ML Disposable Plastic Pipettes
Treats
High quality treats they deserve
GrubTerra
Growing fresh greens for your chickens is easy and fun. It's a great way to provide fresh food no matter the season. It's also cost effective.
Grow Fresh Fodder for Chickens, Pigs, Goats & More | Easy DIY Stacking System
Solar Chicken Doors
My podiatrist actually introduced me to automatic chicken doors and I can't image chicken keeping with them now.
RUN-CHICKEN Red Solar Battery Coop Door
Here's a video I made with some of my favorite tools that make chicken keeping a lot easier to manage.
How To Make Backyard Chicken Keeping Less Work With Easy Hacks
Feed & Supplements
After doing a lot of research, I decided to switch my flock to the Kalmbach brand of feed. In the past, I had been buying extra treats and scratch to supplement their feed store brand layer pellets. I did the math, and buying a higher quality feed li...
Henhouse Reserve® Feed for Chickens and Poultry
Since I have a mixed flock (15 hens, a wonderful rooster, and a Tom turkey) I choose to mainly feed this all flock feed and supplement the hens with Kalmbach Hen House Reserve. This way, our males don't get exposed to the extra calcium the ladies nee...
Non-GMO All Flock
This is a wonderful high protein treat that our chickens absolutely love. I mix them with black oil sunflower seeds as their evening treat. It makes putting everyone to bed easier (they look forward to treat time and come running) and it gives them a...
Get Best Dried Black Soldier fly Larvae Feed For ...