All Natural DIY Chicken Coop Spray & Deodorizer

Keep your chicken coop fresh, clean, and bug-free with this DIY chicken coop spray and deodorizer. This natural spray doesn’t contain any harsh chemicals. It only takes a few minutes to make and works great!

We have seven backyard chickens, and I absolutely love each and every one of them. Not only do they provide us with delicious, organic, fresh eggs, but they are also quite entertaining.

What I don’t love is the stench chickens can create and dealing with the bugs and rodents chickens can attract.

But if you do your best to keep your coop clean, you shouldn’t have to deal with those issues very often.

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I am not a doctor and the statements on this blog have not been evaluated by the FDA. Products mentioned here are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Consult your doctor before using essential oils on children under 5 or while pregnant or breastfeeding. Please do not ask me for medical advice. Click here to read my full disclaimer.

What Should I Spray My Chicken Coop With?

Several different products can be used to spray your chicken coop to keep it smelling fresh.

MICROBE-LIFT Chicken Coop Cleaner and Odor Eliminator is completely non-toxic and helps to eliminate odors quickly. This coop spray accelerates the breakdown of waste and litter.

MICROBE-LIFT Chicken Coop Cleaner and Odor Eliminator utilizes natural microbes and proprietary odor neutralizers to maintain a healthier environment in coops & yards.

This coop spray also eliminates ammonia odors. You can click here to check it out.

Eco Strong Chicken Coop Cleaner and Odor Eliminator is another spray that you can use to freshen up your chicken coop. This product breaks down odors and neutralizes ammonia that can build up in the chicken coop.

Both of these products have great reviews on Amazon. However, the problem with these products is that their primary purpose is to deodorize. They make no mention of repelling bugs.

I personally wanted a chicken coop spray that would deodorize as well as deter bugs and critters. These products are also a little bit pricey.

So, I decided to make my own homemade chicken coop deodorizer and bug-repellent spray. It works great, and it’s pretty cheap to make.

I use my DIY chicken coop spray almost daily to keep my coop fresh and bug-free.

What Does Chicken Coop Spray Do?

I made this chicken coop spray with two purposes in mind. After encountering several hideous spiders in the coop, I wanted/needed something to repel bugs, specifically spiders.

The chickens take care of most of the bugs in the coop. But the spiders were creating webs on the coop ceiling where the chickens couldn’t reach them, and they needed to go!

I also wanted to create something that would just freshen up the overall scent of the coop.

This homemade chicken coop spray does both very well. It contains only natural ingredients and is completely safe to use around chickens.

DIY Chicken Coop Spray Ingredients

To make this DIY chicken coop spray, you’ll need the following ingredients plus a 16-ounce glass spray bottle like this one.

White Vinegar

Lemongrass Essential Oil

Rosemary Essential Oil

Tea Tree Essential Oil

Peppermint Essential Oil

Water

How do you Make a Chicken Coop Spray?

Simply add a 1/2 cup of white vinegar to the glass spray bottle.

Add 15 drops of rosemary essential oil.

Add 15 drops of lemongrass essential oil.

Add 10 drops of peppermint essential oil.

Add 10 drops of tea tree essential oil.

Fill the bottle the rest of the way with distilled water.

Attach the nozzle, shake well, and you’re done!

How to Use DIY Coop Spray with Essential Oils

To use this chicken coop spray, I simply spray all over the inside of the coop, focusing primarily on the inside of the coop walls. I also spray in the nesting boxes and the roosting areas.

I always keep my chickens in the run when I do this. Chickens have susceptible respiratory systems. I let the coop air out for about an hour before letting the chickens back in the coop area.

The vinegar smell can initially be quite strong but it dissipates pretty quickly.

I use the chicken coop spray as often as necessary. I use it almost daily in the summer, and in the winter, I use it every few days or so.

Just make sure to shake well before each use.

Lavender essential oil can also be used in this natural coop deodorizer. Simply add 10-15 drops of lavender essential oil to the recipe above.

Always Use Pure Essential Oils

It is absolutely vital that you use only 100% pure essential oils around your pets and family.

I regularly use Plant Therapy and Simply Earth essential oils. 

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How to Store DIY Coop Spray With Vinegar

I know it may be tempting to store this DIY chicken coop spray somewhere outside near the chicken coop, but the best way to store it is in a cool, dark place.

Heat can cause mold and bacteria to grow, so try to store this DIY coop spray in a cool, dark place, like under your kitchen sink.

It is also important to keep it in a dark glass bottle because sunlight can damage the essential oils used in this homemade chicken coop spray. 

The bottle should be made of glass because pure essential oils are very potent, and plastic may begin to deteriorate and leach into the coop spray.

How Long Does This Homemade Coop Spray Last?

Homemade products made with water that do not contain a preservative don’t last very long. That is because bacteria and mold can grow in water quite quickly.

So since this DIY chicken coop deodorizer is made with part water, its shelf life isn’t very long.

If you follow the directions above and make sure to store the DIY chicken coop spray in a cool, dark place, it should last around 30 days.

I typically use up my bottle of homemade chicken coop spray well before 30 days. But how fast you go through a bottle will depend on how often you use it and the size of your coop.

Tips to Keep Your Chicken Coop Fresh & Clean

A fresh and clean chicken coop is a bit of an oxymoron. Chickens are messy animals; there is no doubt about that. To truly keep your chicken coop fresh and clean would be a full-time job.

But if you’re anything like me, you don’t want to retrieve your eggs from a coop that has an unbearable stench and creepy bugs crawling all over the place.

My idea of a fresh and clean coop is not a coop that is completely sterile, sanitized, and 100% bug-free; that would actually be very bad for the chickens, but rather a coop that has minimal odor and bugs.

This DIY chicken coop spray definitely helps with that, but you can do a few other things to ensure your chicken coop is a pleasant place for you and your chickens.

Below are some of the best ways to keep your coop fresh and clean.

Quarterly Clean Outs

I try my best to do a major cleanout of the coop about four times a year. I say I try my best because sometimes it’s three times a year, and sometimes it’s two times a year.

A major cleanout consists of removing everything from the coop, including any soiled bedding (I use pine shavings). I use a broom to remove any webs that may have accumulated and then add fresh new bedding material.

A thorough cleaning makes a huge difference and it doesn’t take very long at all.

Diatomaceous Earth

If you have a huge bug problem that the chickens themselves (and the homemade coop spray) can’t get under control, you might want to try diatomaceous earth.

Diatomaceous earth is a white, porous powder that is made of crushed fossilized remains of diatoms (phytoplankton). It kills insects that have an exoskeleton.

It absorbs the oils and fats from the cuticle of the insect’s exoskeleton, dries out the insect, and kills it.

Diatomaceous earth is generally safe to use around chickens. However, if inhaled, it can cause respiratory problems in humans and chickens.

Some chicken owners apply diatomaceous earth to the coop floor because it kills mites and other types of insects.

I’m not saying you shouldn’t do that, but I personally don’t think it’s a good idea. I tend to be slightly more cautious when using diatomaceous earth around my hens.

I prefer to apply the diatomaceous earth all around the outside of my coop, essentially creating a barrier between the bugs and the coop.

It works great for killing cockroaches that generally only come out at night when the chickens are asleep.

If you decide to use diatomaceous earth in or around your coop, make sure only to use food grade. This is the one that I recommend.

You can click here to learn more about the benefits of diatomaceous earth for chickens.

Herbs

I love to use herbs in my chicken coop, both fresh and dried. Herbs can help improve the overall health of the chickens, improve the smell of the coop, and repel insects.

A few of my favorite fresh herbs to use in the chicken coop are lavender, rosemary, and mint.

I grow all three of these herbs in my garden, so I have access to them almost all year long. I like to hang bundles of these herbs from the ceiling of the chicken coop.

They make the coop smell so good!

I also like to add dried herbs to the nest boxes. These are the herbs that I use.

These nesting herbs contain a combination of calendula, rose petals, alfalfa, oregano, basil, rosemary, chamomile, and lavender.

Nesting herbs help to improve the scent of the coop and also attract the hens to the nesting boxes.

Sachet Bags

Sachet bags are another great all-natural way to keep your coop smelling good. Simply fill a little sachet bag like these ones with things like dried orange peel, vanilla beans, cinnamon sticks, fresh mint, etc.

Then, hang them from the coop ceiling or set them on any ledges that you may have inside your coop.

Final Thoughts About DIY Coop Spray for Chickens

Ever since I started using this DIY chicken coop spray and deodorizer, the coop smells so much better, and I’m not noticing as many spiders or webs.

It is a great natural way to keep your chicken coop bug-free and reduce the smell of chicken manure.

If you have chickens, I highly recommend you try it out!

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