Your Spring Chicken Keeping Checklist: What to Do Between March and May

Spring is the most productive season in the chicken keeping calendar, and your spring chicken keeping checklist should start well before the warmer weather arrives. From deep cleaning the coop after a damp UK winter to catching red mite before they have a chance to build up, March to May is when a few hours of attention sets your flock up for the rest of the year.

Whether you came through your first winter with hens or you have been keeping chickens for years, there is something here that will be useful.

How Do You Deep Clean a Chicken Coop in Spring?

The spring deep clean is the most important clean of the year. A coop that has been damp through a UK winter needs a proper strip-out, not just fresh bedding on top.

Moisture is the main problem. Even a well-ventilated coop accumulates damp bedding, condensation and the residue of months of indoor living through winter. If you leave that in place and add fresh straw or wood shavings on top, you are creating the kind of warm, damp environment that mites, bacteria and mould thrive in.

Strip everything out. All the bedding goes. Remove the perches if they lift out, and take out nest box liners and any other removable parts.

Scrub with hot water. Work into every joint, corner and crack. A stiff-bristled brush gets into the grain of the wood. Pay particular attention to the ends of perches, the joints between wall panels and the underside of the roof overhang, because these are where mites and bacteria accumulate.

Use a poultry-safe disinfectant. Products such as F10SC kill bacteria, viruses and fungi and are safe to use in poultry housing. Apply generously and follow the product instructions.

Let everything dry fully. This step gets skipped and it should not be. Putting fresh bedding into a damp coop undoes much of what you just did. Leave the doors and pop hole open on a dry day and let it air out for several hours.

Add fresh bedding. Once dry, lay clean straw, wood shavings or aubiose in the sleeping area and nest boxes, then put the perches back.

For a more detailed walkthrough, read our How to Clean a Chicken Coop guide, which covers the full process including products and frequency.

When Should You Start Treating for Red Mite?

Red mite are active from around April through to October in the UK, so April is the time to act preventively. Keepers who start a monthly prevention routine in April are far less likely to have a serious infestation by July.

The key thing to understand about red mite is that by the time you see obvious signs, whether that is hens reluctant to roost, pale combs or a drop in egg production, numbers are already significant. The goal in spring is to catch them before they establish.

Do the perch test now. Go out after dark with a torch and a piece of white kitchen paper. Wipe it firmly along the underside of a perch. Any red or brown streaks are mites that have fed. Grey smears are unfed mites. Either way, you want to know now, in spring, rather than in the middle of summer when populations can spiral in a matter of weeks.

Apply a preventive treatment in early spring. You do not need to see mites to justify treating. A treatment applied in March or April, before numbers build, is far less work than dealing with a heavy infestation in June. Apply it to perch ends, nest box corners, joints and any crack or gap in the structure.

For the full guide to red mite, including how to identify them, how to treat an infestation and which products to use, read our Red Mite in Chickens article.

When and How Should You Worm Chickens in Spring?

Spring is one of the two main worming windows for backyard chickens in the UK, the other being autumn. Even if your hens look healthy and are laying well, a routine worm treatment in spring is good husbandry.

Signs that worms may be present include weight loss, a drop in egg production, loose or pale droppings, and hens that seem lethargic despite normal feed intake. In a moderate to heavy worm burden, you may also notice worms visible in droppings. Many wormy hens show no obvious signs at all, which is exactly why a routine schedule matters.

Flubenvet is the licensed in-feed wormer in the UK. It treats all the main internal parasites including roundworm, hairworm, gapeworm and caecal worm. The treatment runs for seven days, added into the hens' feed at the correct rate. Follow the product instructions carefully.

There is a short egg withdrawal period with Flubenvet, so check the label before treating a laying flock. The key point is simple: spring is the time to do it. Add it to the routine now.

You will find Flubenvet and related products in our Poultry Feed and Treats collection.

How Do You Check and Maintain Feeders and Drinkers After Winter?

Winter is hard on equipment. Before the warmer months arrive, check every feeder and drinker for damage and replace anything that is not working properly.

Plastic drinkers crack in frost. Even small cracks allow water to seep rather than seal properly. A cracked drinker will not fill correctly, and the drip can create a damp patch in the run or coop that you do not want. Hold it up to the light and check the base and seams carefully.

Feeder mechanisms can seize up. Treadle feeders in particular rely on a smooth-operating mechanism. If the plate is stiff or the spring has weakened over winter, hens may not be able to trigger it easily. Check the action and lubricate or adjust as needed.

Metal feeders may have rusted joints. Galvanised feeders are durable but the joints and welds are vulnerable, especially if they have sat damp through winter. Surface rust can usually be brushed off and treated. Deep rust at joints that affects the structure or hygiene of the feeder is a reason to replace it.

Spring is the right time to sort this out because summer brings higher water consumption and heavier daily feed use. Equipment that was managing through winter may struggle when your flock is more active and feeding heavily.

For more on choosing the right feeders and drinkers for your flock, read our Chicken Feeders and Drinkers guide.

How Do You Manage the First Broody Hens of the Year?

Broodiness peaks in spring and carries through into summer. If this is your first spring with hens, there is a good chance you will encounter a broody hen for the first time and not be entirely sure what is happening.

How to tell if a hen is broody. She will stay on the nest for long periods, often most of the day and through the night. When you try to lift her off she will puff up, spread her wings low and make a low, repetitive clucking sound that is quite different from her usual vocalisations. She may also pull feathers from her breast, exposing the bare skin of her brood patch, which helps transfer her body heat to eggs.

What to do. A broody hen can be frustrating when you want eggs, but she is not ill and she is not broken. She is doing exactly what hens are designed to do. The most reliable way to break broodiness is to lift her off the nest two to three times a day, every day, and block access to the nest boxes for a few hours after each lift. This disrupts the hormonal cycle that maintains the broody state. Most hens come out of it within a week.

What not to do. Do not simply leave her sitting. If you do not have a cockerel, no eggs under her will be fertilised and she has no chance of hatching anything. A hen left broody indefinitely loses condition, stops eating and drinking normally, and can become quite weak. A week of intervention is much kinder than weeks of inaction.

If you do have a cockerel and want to let a hen hatch a clutch, that is a separate topic. For most keepers in backyard flocks, management means breaking the broodiness efficiently and getting her back to the flock.

When Do Chickens Start Laying Again After Winter?

Egg production is driven primarily by daylight. Hens need around 14 to 16 hours of light per day to lay at full capacity, and from the winter solstice onwards, days start lengthening, so hens that slowed or stopped through the darkest months will begin to pick up again.

Most laying breeds start to come back in February, with production usually reaching normal levels by March or April. This is worth knowing if you came through your first winter slightly baffled by why your hens stopped laying. It was not something you did wrong. It was the light.

If your hens reduced production through winter but have largely come back by now, that is normal. If a hen stopped laying entirely through winter and has not restarted by April, it is worth checking her over. Look at her overall condition, weight and comb colour. A hen that is not coming back into lay when others are may have an underlying health issue worth investigating.

For younger hens in their first laying year, spring output is often their best. Older hens take longer to come back and may lay at a lower rate than the year before. This is natural and worth factoring in if your flock is ageing.

Which Plants Are Safe to Grow Near a Chicken Run?

Spring is when new planting goes in around the garden, and if your run is near borders or raised beds, it is worth thinking about what goes in within pecking distance of the wire.

Hens will reach through or over wire at anything growing close to the run. This is not always a problem. Some plants are perfectly safe, and a few are actively beneficial. Others are toxic and should not be growing anywhere hens can access them.

Chicken-safe plants worth putting in near a run include lavender, rosemary, mint and marigolds. Lavender and rosemary have some natural pest-deterrent properties. Mint grows vigorously and hens enjoy it. Marigolds (calendula) are safe to eat and add useful nutrients.

Plants to avoid near a run include foxglove, rhubarb leaves, nightshade, and lily of the valley. These are all toxic to chickens and the risk is real. Rhubarb stalks are fine for people but the leaves contain oxalic acid and are harmful to hens. Foxglove contains cardiac glycosides and should not be anywhere hens can peck at it.

The general rule is: if you are not sure, check before planting. There are reliable reference lists available and it is a much easier problem to solve at the planning stage than after something is already established and spreading.

Frequently Asked Questions

When do chickens start laying again after winter?

Most laying breeds begin to come back into production in February as days lengthen, reaching normal output by March or April. The precise timing depends on breed, age and the individual hen. Hybrid laying breeds tend to recover faster than traditional or heavy breeds. If a hen has not restarted by April and others in the flock have, it is worth checking her health and condition.

How do I deep clean a chicken coop in spring?

Strip out all bedding and removable parts including perches and nest box liners. Scrub the inside with hot water and a stiff brush, paying close attention to joints, perch ends and corners. Apply a poultry-safe disinfectant such as F10SC and leave to dry fully. Once dry, add fresh bedding and replace the perches. Do not put fresh bedding into a damp coop. Our How to Clean a Chicken Coop guide covers the full process.

What is a broody hen and what should I do?

A broody hen is a hen whose instinct to sit on and hatch eggs has been triggered. She will stay on the nest for extended periods, puff up when disturbed and make a low clucking sound. If you do not have a cockerel, she cannot hatch anything and should not be left sitting indefinitely. Lift her off the nest two to three times a day and block access to the nest boxes for a few hours after each lift. Most hens break broodiness within a week of consistent management.

When should I start treating for red mite?

Start in April, before you see any signs of mites. Red mite become active as temperatures rise and populations can build very quickly through the warmer months. Applying a preventive treatment in early spring is far less work than managing a heavy infestation in summer. Do the perch test now, then apply treatment to the coop and begin a monthly prevention routine. For the full guide, read our Red Mite in Chickens article.

For cleaning products, disinfectants, red mite treatments and health supplies, browse our Chicken Cleaning and Health collection. Everything you need for the spring clean and prevention routine is there in one place.