Free ranging in snow?

[bruceha2000]

It's a bunny!

And she lays a LOT of tiny brown eggs too

Nope, can't let the chickens out in the snow, too cold on their feet

Can't compete with Aoxa's snow load though, probably only about 1 cm here last night.



They really appreciated the grass that was accessible after I ran the snow blower. I wouldn't usually bother for that little amount of snow but it is an old blower mounted on an old garden tractor a friend gave me last spring. Had to check that it would work before the real snow shows up.

 

[aoxa]

ya not to bad today .. my ducks have paths every where outside the make such a mess outside they get their feet muddy then walk every where there is mud foot prints lol .. i don't think my male drake likes my other to much now he caught tippy my first duck rouen/pekin with my pekin female then tippy just ran lol .. i have a young rooster he doesn't crow he has his tail feathers in but he makes a turkey sound its really weird my mom was making the noise back and he was doing it back lol having a conversation .. houdini the rooster is crowing not fully but he sounds funny and he has gotten alot bigger to and rudy has finally stopped trying to stand up to me to so im happy .... i was talking to a lady about getting some more chantecler for colonel cocker lol my alpha roo he is a partridge chantecler and she said she has a black on her friend is trying to make a new color of the chanteclers

Glad to hear it Jason!

My ducks won't go out in the snow unless I plough them paths. Silly things.

 

[WillowChick]

ya not to bad today .. my ducks have paths every where outside the make such a mess outside they get their feet muddy then walk every where there is mud foot prints lol .. i don't think my male drake likes my other to much now he caught tippy my first duck rouen/pekin with my pekin female then tippy just ran lol .. i have a young rooster he doesn't crow he has his tail feathers in but he makes a turkey sound its really weird my mom was making the noise back and he was doing it back lol having a conversation .. houdini the rooster is crowing not fully but he sounds funny and he has gotten alot bigger to and rudy has finally stopped trying to stand up to me to so im happy .... i was talking to a lady about getting some more chantecler for colonel cocker lol my alpha roo he is a partridge chantecler and she said she has a black on her friend is trying to make a new color of the chanteclers

Didn't they try that with the buff and it didn't breed true? Or am I thinking of something else? I daydream of having a breeding pair. Or blue footed!

Willow

 

[MsChickenMomma]

We finally got some snow! But it's too windy to convince my chickens to even climb down the ramp. We only got an inch but they looked at it like it was an inch of lava on the ground. crazy chickens!

 

[Ronh]

Hi folks, I'm in Indianapolis and we just had our first real snow with extremely high winds giving us single digits until about an hour ago. I'm sitting here recovering from a broken leg and busted knee worried if my birds would freeze their first winter since they won't roost inside of the coop at all, just lay eggs only. Mind you there's straw and a roost in there too!
Well I'm relieved to say they'll be okay, they stayed roosted on a perch in the run all morning through the wind and drifting snow until a few minutes ago. One girl had been in the coop laying and once she was done, she flew out hit the snow and the rest along with my rooster followed her and they're all scratching around as normal, guess they had to study the snow first.
Now I need to study how to get some feed, straw and fresh water to them without busting my but!!!

Merry Christmas All!!

 

[BullChick]

Sheesh! Merry Christmas to you too! Hope you heal fast (and well!). I am sure someone can help you. Don't try to do it yourself! You will have two broken legs and busted knees!

 

[BullChick]

My chickens are enjoying the snow. I realized that I have a problem, though. I was fortunate the ice in front of the run door was thin, and broke easily. IDK how I am going to get it open when we get more snow (like tomorrow morning!). I do have another way to get to the food/water so they will be okay. I really need to think of a way to open the door though. Any ideas?

 

[minpins99]

Where in NH do you live? I'm in Nashua and I'm so glad you all are out here so us newbies can pick your learned brains! I'm planning on starting my small flock come spring and figure there's no better time than right now to do so. I have a large back yard that I fenced in for my minpins; the flock will have plenty of room to roam and I can plant them a garden, etc. I see that some coops I've looked at have a small space for the chickens to run about. Would it be a good idea to confine them to just a little space instead of letting them out into the whole yard in the winter? Any help/suggestions, etc., will be soooo appreciated. It's so awesome to see the posts and coops from other states; it's like meeting new neighbors.

Mimi

 

[minpins99]

My car door freezes shut, making it necessary to crawl through the hatch (one time in paw print PJ's and leopard slippers! NOT pretty, folks!). A mix of warm water and salt would do but that could be clumsy. With the car, I've used the claw part of a hammer to pry it open. Or you could try a chisel or something similar, and a hammer. There are many spray de-icers on the market that may work for you.
I am so not a winter fan and would stay in the whole season if I could!

Mimi
Nashua, NH

 

[PAchickengirl]

We got about 1 1/2" of snow today so I decided to let them out. They studied the ground from inside the coup.they one tried to fly up over it ( they usually run full put about 20 feet then fly a little to stretch their wings.) the others were lifting their legs really high at first. One chicken, the one I call Ding Bat, decided she wasn't going out at all. Not even when I cleared the grass a little and threw scratch. It was funny to see her anxiously awaiting the return of her coup-mates!