Letters to Lizzy - Raising the Royal Chicken Dander??

Good morning Lizzy,
I am so very glad that your column has taken off. I have a somewhat personal question, however, to ask you. Why do chickens smell? Do you not have a shower in the hen house?
Signed,
City Ignorant

ooooOOOOoooo!  Miss Lizzy's Blood is beginning to BOIL!

Dear Ignorant,
This question just BLEW off Miss Lizzy's SPECTACLES! If there is ANY odor to a hen or her HOUSE, the fault lies with the KEEPER of the COOP, NOT with the chickens!!!  Our housekeeper cleans nest boxes out daily for our laying enjoyment; the house is completely cleaned each and every week, and the floors are dusted for pests that might wish to "bug" us Working Girls.  Our run is cleaned once a week, and the feathers and waste are burned and destroyed.  Fresh kiln dried pine shavings are used for bedding, and they smell just wonderful!  In the Spring and Summer, fresh cut Lavender and Lemon Balm are added to the corners inside our little house, and the aroma is SpEGG-tacular and ever so relaxing!  What therapeutic clippings are not used for aromatherapy can be readily eaten without harming any of us Ladies!

Coop care is so important to the health of any flock.  If there are odors, they can harm our delicate respiratory systems (causing disease and illness), but also odors attract bugs and rodents as well.  Visitors to our Chicken Palace have often remarked that if they did not see us or hear our gentle clucking, they would never know chickens lived in that coop!

As for your question about showers being provided, we girls prefer a good dust bath instead, containing 1 part sand to 1 part sifted wood ash.  Dust baths, when done properly, will drive away lice and some breeds of mites, and help remove the dander that accumulates under our feathers and upon our skin.  Dust baths are a daily necessity, and we find it ever so enjoyable!

Thank you (I THINK!) for your question, my dear "Ignorant" - - I hope this has helped educate you and others with questions concerning (cough!cough!) ODORS in the POOP  COOP and Hens that SMELL!  There should be no odors from EITHER!  (Now, I hope I can suck in my eyeballs before they swell this way permanently!!!)

Signed,
the Queen Lizzy