Any advice please on caring for hens in winter when working full time?

[PaulaMc]

Hi everyone.

I live in the north of England and currently it is winter. The days are getting shorter and shorter- sunrise 8-8.30 and sunset 3.30. I work full time as a teacher so need to leave home at 7.30am and often do not get home until after 6pm. This wasn't a problem in the summer as I would let the girls out at 5.30, feed and water and clean out the poop etc. They would not go to bed until 10pm when the sun went down.

However, they don't want to get up on the dark mornings and have gone to bed before I get home. They free range during the day in my secure garden and have lots of sheltered areas and food and drink stations etc. To add to the problem I currently have two very broody Silkies who need to be enclosed in a separate run each day. I am currently off work ill and so am able to sort them out during the daylight hours but am wondering how other people manage in winter please?

It is not a problem for me to clean out poop using my trusty headlamp and to fill feeders etc - I know it sounds silly but when I go back to work I'll miss giving them their afternoon treats and spending time with them.

Any advice please for a very sentimental chicken lady?

 

[QueenMisha]

Welcome to BYC! It's great to have you.

Oh boy, I could not imagine working full time! I wouldn't have enough time to even care for as many birds as I have now. I'm not sure I really have any advice for you, perhaps others will have some suggestions.

 

[Mrs. K]

I am a teacher too. It is daylight for me in the morning, but dark when I get home. Saturdays are a lazy day for a cup of coffee, a bit of chicken watching.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

I don't understand why anyone with a small coop and under say 50 chickens would not clean the coop floor daily.
When its fresh it scrapes up so easy. and a clean coop doesn't smell near as bad.
It only takes about 3 minutes of my day to clean floor in my coop. and I have 31 chickens right now.
I do realize a lot of you have a designated roosting area with some kind of poop catcher.
To me this also seems like a waste of space and a unnecessary clean up detail.

Quite the opposite... Takes up no space but leaves my coop floor clean for hanging out and nobody gets pooped on when underneath.

Also when the poo is wet, it just smears for me. Better to let it dry out a touch and then it comes up easily.

All I can say is that what works for one may not work for another.

When I had only 3 chickens and a smaller coop I put off cleaning inside the coop as long as I could, But I lived in the desert and everything dried fast. They spent zero time in their coop except sleeping. It seemed like such a terrible task. Truth is my set up wasn't right like it it is now.

Also how someone manages their time and all the other things in their head may not be the same. For example... my husband doesn't understand why I don't iron all his work clothes at the same time instead of getting up early every morning to do one outfit. It simple, doing one outfit takes 5 minutes verses an hour. My brain can do 5 minutes of ironing, no big deal. But all at once, I hate it! So it's just part of my routine and how I function best.

I guess it's the opposite for coop cleaning. Trying to chase one little poo here or one little poo there wastes my time. If I wait a couple days, I can grab a rake and shovel and be done in probably 10 minutes. It's an ongoing learning and adjusting process that sometimes changes from season to season. And I don't always wanna scoop poop and go wash my hand before I can do anything else.

I do agree though that dried chicken poop is like cement. So the ones that are stuck on my ramp get scraped with the shovel. But if I do it wet, it's still there waiting for one of my feather footed girls to come make pretty boots out of it. At least that's my current observation... will adjust as needed.

But living in the PNW and having birds that often hang out inside on rainy days, I will NEVER give up my droppings boards!

And the great thing about BYC is we all get to share what works or doesn't for us and hopefully learn from each other.

And then you've got folks like the OP who literally don't have a speck of daylight when they aren't at work.... She goes way above and beyond. But maybe it's from fear mongers telling her if you don't clean everyday they're gonna die and be sick... It's nice to have it clean, and everyday would be great, but there's gonna be poop somewhere all the time.

If you can smell ammonia, you've waited to long. Other than that whatever works best for you is awesome!

And I just feel blessed, not special... but never in 5 years have I lost a chicken to natural causes. I know it's just a matter of time before that does happen. But it won't be because I don't clean my coop everyday.

Guess I just had a lot to say, don't mean to keep going on and on like I have something to prove or a bone to pick, because I don't.

I would like to know your 3 minute method for that many chickens. Please describe your set up and weather conditions as well. Thank you

 

[PeacefulPlace]

That friendship goes both ways. Knowing your not alone in your despair helps so much. And I thank you.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Do you lock the pop door at night or do you leave access to the outside open all night? I generally lock mine up at night and open the door in the morning. In circumstances like you describe I open the pop door before I leave in the morning and fill the feeders and waterers. When I get home I lock the door. They will not be eating or drinking in the dark.

As a teacher you should have weekends off. Enjoy them then. Summer will eventually return.

 

[PaulaMc]

Thank you Ridgerunner.

Yes I lock them up at night and let them out in the morning.

I know I seem a bit paranoid but it is my first winter as a hen keeper

Thanks so much

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Hi, welcome to BYC!

\Wow. I thought our daylight was short right now! Thank God that summer will eventually return!

That sounds pretty difficult. Like @Ridgerunner said, better make the most of the weekends. You are a trooper doing things with a head lamp! And the thought of not even being able to see them is enough to make me wanna cry.

I depend on chicken TV to perk up some of my days. But I know I would learn to adjust as you are if I had to. Wish I had better suggestions other than saying "hang in there, I don't think I could do any better."

 

[lazy gardener]

What do you have for predators there? That would be my chief concern. Sorry, I can't offer you much in the way of advice, other than a bigger coop would definitely be an advantage.

 

[centrarchid]

I am a teacher of sorts with similar hours. Each evening I load buckets with feed and do a quick scan of feeders and roosting birds with flash lights. Where supplemental lighting is used, it is setup so hens are down of the roost when I feed and water early in the morning. I lot of information can be gathered by seeing the walk around but simply walking over and feeling them on roost can be employed as well. My few remaining free range birds are less trouble with respect to actual care but more worry when it comes to predators. Those a provided a feed mix that is reloaded every two or three days and it give me a handle on feed needs for everyone when temperatures drop.