08/28/2026
In my 20+ years of raising chickens, Ive never painted the inside of my chicken coops. I vaguely remember hearing of lime washing, but didn't pay much attention to it. Oddly enough, as I was learning about how to protect my fruit trees this past spring, I read about lime washing their trunks. That rabbit hole lead me to the benefits of lime washing a chicken coop. I'm kind of wondering why this isn't more widely practiced. 🤔
‐ It's cheap. I bought a 50 pound bag at the local co-op for 18 dollars. That bag is going to last me a long time.
- It's a breathable seal for wood that protects agains rot and moisture.
- It brightens up the coop. I didn't realize how nice that would be.
- Once it dries, it is non toxic.
- It deters and kills pests like mites, lice, fleas by suffocating them.
- It provides and alkaline environment that neutralizes ammonia odor and destroys bacteria, fungi, and viruses.
The only drawbacks are
- It's caustic when wet, but as long as you wear goggles, gloves, and long sleeves, you'll be fine. You should also wear a face mask when measuring the lime so you don't breathe the fine powder in. It's no worse than what you have to do teaching homeschool chemistry.
- It will have to be reapplied yearly. I'll be doing that in the spring when I clean out the deep litter for my garden.
If you are interested in lime washing your coop, the measurements are 1 gallon of water (make sure you put that in first), 8 cups of hydrated lime (not garden lime), and 2 cups of salt. I just used regular white table salt. Slowly mix the ingredients. It's going to be the consistency of milk. At that point, it's ready to use.
When you start painting it's going to be very anti-climactic. You'll wonder if it's even there at all, but after 24 hours, you'll see a big difference. 🙂
