Chickens who HATE snow?

[chefintc]

Most of our hens will walk about as long as there is something in it for them. If they can get to the warmer, thawed soil around the basement foundation, they will dirt bathe for hours. If there is a snack, they will be there. When they get board, or the food is gone, they will make their way back to the coop. Many times, their feet get cold, and they will sit down to warm them. It's their way of saying, "Hey, little help, I need a lift".

 

[newfarmgirl]

My Ladies hate snow too..thank goodness spring is coming! I started to use old hay bales in the run for the ladies for a few reasons. First...traction! When I took an earth shattering slide in about 4 inches of mud...I figured I needed to do something. Second, the gals LOVE it! They have something to peck into as well as aleave the boredom. It Also makes them curious enough to come out of the coop with minimal snowfall. Lastly, I'm finding my eggs are less muddy...they are not carrying it in to the nesting boxes as much mud. I am sure there must be bugs and such still in the bales and can only hope residual weeds or greenery will flourish in the spring before it gets promptly eaten: ) needed to get rid of the bales anyway. If you don't have hay bales...ask a nearby farmer for a few that may have gotten wet over the winter and no longer dutiable for horses.

 

[cstronks]

My chicken flew from one end of the yard to the other to avoid the snow...I honestly didn't know that chickens could fly that far. She is a minorca, and man she just took off while the others waded around in 20 inches of snow. Had to go over to the fence and carry her back to the coop.

 

[BrownEggsnHam]

My B. Orpingtons, though very outfitted against cold, don't seem to care for the snow either.

Thankfully, for them, we've only had a few weeks of (3" / 76mm) snow this winter, here in south Sweden. They stayed within the confines of the covered exterior run or the interior run of the barn until spots of grass begun to show through. Once bare patches of grass were visible, they were promptly back out grazing, often flying from patch to patch.

Now with the crocuses and snowdrops blooming, they've been mostly out scratching up worms and actively eating the henbit and chickweed in addition to the grass, probably thankful for the lack of a real winter this year.

Egg laying was curtailed this winter from mid November until mid January (we don't use additional lighting) and they've all been laying eggs gangbuster since.

 

[Lydia77]

I'm in West Va and we have had an unusual amount of snow and cold this year. My hens don't quite care for it either but they deal with it. When the snow is deep, I dig out little paths for them and they line up, single file, and off they go!

 

[ElyseWilson]

Thanks for sharing your experiences with the snow. I was wondering if my chickens were exceptionally wimpy because they refuse to go out in the snow, also. However, after reading everyone's posts, I suspect they know something that we don't. The cold may be hard on those skinny little chicken feet.
(They eat a lot more chicken food when they don't go outside!)

 

[mochilee]

That's kind of funny-awful! Since you live in Minnestota. My favarolles really don't like snow and I ended up clearing an area for them, but the plymouth rocks and ameraucanas don't mind it. Of course, I'm in Virginia, so it's not too big an issue. (WAY too much snow this winter though; I can complain because I'm a southerner.)

 

[mainechicklet]

We've had a terrible winter, tons of snow and ice, rain then zero deg temps, more snow, more snow....... This is a new coop and run and four of these hens came to me in Dec during the neg 10 deg days from a huge hoarder rescue. Anyway, I put plastic over 75% of the run and every snowstorm, I shovel it off. I also stand leftover boards against the sides when it's snowing and then lay them down to allow the sunshine in. If I don't remove the snow from the plastic, it's dark and dreary since the sun can't penetrate. They will eat the snow, but they really prefer to stay off it. I gave them a kiddie pool full of peatmoss/playsand and they love to dust-bathe in it, sometimes 4 at a time. Then because there was never any grass, I keep hay down, turning it over every evening and raking it back to avoid it getting wet or snowed upon. Because four of the seven are new, they really don't want to be cooped up together during the day. It doesn't matter how cold it is, they'll run out every morning and only return to lay. Although it's much cozier inside, I suppose it's healthier for them to get lots of fresh air, albeit really cold fresh air. They have fresh water in and out. I move their food out/day and in/night.

 

[Searsmom]

I like the peat moss/sand pool. What a great idea!

 

[mainechicklet]

Yes, they LOVE it!!! Initially I had a huge litter box and they were all struggling and fighting to get in together. I looked over and decided my dogs were going to sacrifice their pool. Of course I had to dig the peat moss out from under 3 feet of snow at the lumber store, thaw it out in the garage for a couple weeks and then lug it down through 5 feet of snow and ice to the coop. But to watch them dust-bathe and peck around in it makes all the trouble so worth while.