Chicken Owners

[Marsha Cassada]

How are your birds faring in the winter chill?

We had 11 degrees, 40 mph wind on Christmas Day. I had to go out several times to attend to the water. No electricity at the chicken house so I don't have a water heater there. Had to put the water and food inside, as the girls said No Way are they coming out! I even had to close their little door as the snow was swirling around and blowing into the house.

Didn't think about checking for eggs each time, until I got one that was frozen solid.

Shoveled an area clear in their pen so they'd have a place to walk around outdoors.

They're out and about now that the wind has stopped blowing.

I gave them some alfalfa to scratch around in. Any other ideas for winter care?

Winters are not too severe here, so we are not set up for the occassional blizzard.

 

[Carolyn R]

Ours always did fine. We always made sure they had food and fresh water at least twice a day. We have one old lady left, she is almost nine. I let her in the barn each night and during cold spells.she likes to roost on a shelf, so I installed a slanted piece of wood below the shelf, the poop rolls down into the isle and I just brush out the isle. I make sure I leave the light on during very cold spells, it is only a little extra heat, but it helps.

 

[Reignmaker Miniatures]

We have a pretty severe winter here but my chickens are happily singing away every time I go out to see them. First, mine do not go out once the snow is more than 3 or 4 inches deep, I close up their house and plug in a heat lamp for them. It still drops below freezing at floor level but they can keep a bit warmer on their roost. I also take them warm water every day and make sure they have plenty of food at all times. Thats pretty much it, nice insulated house, heat lamp, warm water and plenty of good quality food. It has been dropping to -20 Celsius, can't think what that is in Farenheit but cold enough to freeze their water rock solid by morning, and my hens are still giving me an egg each most days.

 

[Diamondinmypocket]

This is my first year with chickens. I have a silkey hen, a frizzle hen and 4 silkey 2 week old chicks. The Mc. Nuggets we call them. Its been cold in central Tx past few days. At night we actually brought the hens inside in cat kennels and the chicks right now are kept inside. So funny my cats and dogs love it lol!

 

[Lil Eowyn]

We have a heat lamp in our Chicken coop, and a water heater for their water--It gets way below 0 F where I live so those heateres are much needed =) They're not that expensive either--you could probably find them at your local fleet supply/feed store. =)

 

[Foster Woods Miniatures]

Chickens... you mean destroyers of horse barns?!

Our chickens are in protest after a long, ugly summer of molting, they are now refusing to lay.

We have all the works in their coop... heating lamps, laying boxes, auto water tank system.... and no eggs.

 

[susanne]

No lights, no heaters for our girls, but then this is Oregon, so we barely dip below freezing on most nights. We dealwith rain more than cold or snow.

Their egg production dropped to nothing in late fall, but started up again right before winter solstice. We've considered putting in a light on a timer to come on early morning to make them think we have 13-14 hour days, but for now we're letting them follow their natural circadian rhythms.

 

[cretahillsgal]

I've done nothing special for mine and they are doing great and still laying. Mine are free ranging and I don't feed and water them specifically. They drink out of the water troughs for the other animals and scratch in the hay for grain and bugs. (I feed wheat hay so lots of grain in it)

 

[Kendra]

It has been COLD here - the Chinook finally blew in yesterday, but before that we had -20 and colder for at least a week.

My chickens live in an unheated coop without any light. They have a heated waterer, but I put a thermometer in the coop to see, and at the floor it was only about 5-7 degrees warmer than it was outside. I worried about them a lot, took them warm oatmeal every morning to warm up their tummies, and gave them scratch at about 4, just before the sun went down, so they had high energy feed in the crops to digest through the night. I'm scared of using a heat lamp because of the fire risk, and I also worry that if they have supplemental heat and then the power goes off it'll be way harder on them.

They were fine though, and most days spent part of the afternoon outside - one day it was -25 and they were out having dustbaths in the covered part of their run (where there wasn't snow on the ground). I only have 3 hens (and 2 roosters - oops) and only one is currently laying, but she kept right on laying through the cold snap, every other day.

I do have Chanteclers though, and they were bred specifically to thrive in a cold Canadian winter - they sure do seem to take the weather in stride!

 

[susanne]

I'm scared of using a heat lamp because of the fire risk

Same here! Even a regular light worries me, so there is no way I could sleep use a heat lamp. Their coop isn't all that warm, but it is dry and draft-free. Now that they are laying once again without the artificial light, I think I'll hold off on any electricity.

 

[Marsha Cassada]

Be sure to be aware of that Teflon coated rough service light bulb. Teflon makes a toxic gas for birds.

The water is the hard part. At least now it is above freezing during the day, so I go out in the morning to give them water. Besides their feed, I give them some scratch in the evening and scraps. They did enjoy scratching in the flake of alfalfa, too.

I let them out yesterday. There were paths shoveled through and they went on the paths to their regular patrol grounds, and then had a hard time finding their way back to the coop at sundown, because they weren't used to having a path. So today I did not let them out. I'll wait til the snow is all gone.