Is it OK to leave my chickens locked in the coop for the winter?

[kellyloveschad]

Ok my issue I am having this is some of my chickens want to sleep in the run not the coop. Like Olaf who is who is pictured here likes to sleep on top of the coop.. is probably my fault because in the summer when it was hot I didn't lock them in the coop and let him sleep in the Run. Now I can't get the in the coop.. idk how cold is to cold.. my 15 silkies go in the coop.. but my other 18 are the issue...

 

[kellyloveschad]

I'm doing this c

Their feed and water is in the coop, but they only ate grass and bugs in summer and spring and drank water from our cow waterer. They need to learn to eat their food and drink from their water.

Mine lover to swing this is the one I made and put under my pool deck.. they like it down there when it's hot.. I am to chea to buy lumber...lol

 

[Doc7]

They really only need to be outside their coop for about 5 hours to be considered free-range. Mine always come inside in the evening and I let them out in the morning. Get a bag of dried mealworms and they'll learn really quick to come back in when you ask them to. I've only had one chicken that liked to lay her eggs on my patio chair. Everyone else likes the nesting box.

What do you mean by “about 5 hours” ? Is this a regulation in your area? I have never heard of such a thing and it certainly isn’t the federal guideline regarding free range label at stores. The chicken in fact never needs to even be outside to be considered free range, it merely needs to have been offered access to outside.

 

[aart]

idk how cold is to cold.. my 15 silkies go in the coop.. but my other 18 are the issue...

33 birds total?
Probably won't fit in that coop. Your run is pretty protected and probably better air quality.

What do you mean by “about 5 hours” ? Is this a regulation in your area? I have never heard of such a thing and it certainly isn’t the federal guideline regarding free range label at stores.

Mere speculation from a one time poster. Grains of salt are often needed here.

 

[kellyloveschad]

They all fit 60% of my chickens are bantams so my coop it two story with very good ventilation. This isn't my first year with this amount of chickens.. just my first year wondering how cold is to cold..

33 birds total?
Probably won't fit in that coop. Your run is pretty protected and probably better air quality.

Mere speculation from a one time poster. Grains of salt are often needed here.

 

[kellyloveschad]

 

[~KH~]

Ok, so I have around 15 chickens and my coop is about 150 sq ft. These chickens are free range. What I'm going to do is give them 14 hours of light a day using a combination of natural and artifical light to make sure they keep laying. I am providing the chickens some entertainment as well. The chickens have been in there for a couple days now, should I continue doing this? Why or why not?

I think it depends on your weather and how your chickens react to being shut in. When I was in Idaho, my flock of of 5 or 6 was kept inside their tractor style coop/run for many days on end because of the weather (the run part was completely tarped to keep the snow and wind out). If the weather was nicer, I'd give them the option to come out, but they often didn't want to (if there was snow, they wouldn't venture out unless I'd shoveled them a path to walk on...). They seemed to tolerate the confinement and I never had trouble with them turning on each other.

I trained mine with treats also to come when I called, and when they were first in their coop/run, I would shut them in the coop part at night to help train them where they were supposed to sleep.

 

[Grits&Eggs]

Mine have never been free range, I have a small coop, what I have learned is that chickens are adaptable, I let them out for several weeks (a couple hours) in the yard, then after a hawk scare, I now lock them up 24x7. Actually, mine enjoy the treat toys, the hanging head of cabbage, the chicken swing and other toys and keep busy doing that instead of pecking each other - they are happy and healthy, laying 7-8 eggs per day for the 9 (in a 12x12 pen, 6x6 coop and 12x6' run)

 

[HeiHeisMom]

They really only need to be outside their coop for about 5 hours to be considered free-range. Mine always come inside in the evening and I let them out in the morning. Get a bag of dried mealworms and they'll learn really quick to come back in when you ask them to. I've only had one chicken that liked to lay her eggs on my patio chair. Everyone else likes the nesting box.

That's adorable

 

[HeiHeisMom]

Mine lover to swing this is the one I made and put under my pool deck.. they like it down there when it's hot.. I am to chea to buy lumber...lol

View attachment 1621940 View attachment 1621941

Love the swings!
My chooks broke one of ours that everyone decided was "the best".