Winter is almost here!! Share your tips and tricks for coping the elements with your chickens!

[CuzChickens]

Hello there all!

I have gotten to thinking. This will be my first winter raising chickens. I had ducks last winter (but that is a whole different story) but I think chickens will be a tad bit different from ducks. So, lets begin by sharing all of our tips and DIY tricks for keeping things thawed and other such things. As winter progresses, we will share stories of how our tips and tricks are working, maybe need to find different ideas if some are not working, and share pictures of chickens enjoying the snow! Here are some topics I would love to see some ideas on:

1. Keeping those waterers thawed, because we all know how hard it will be to get ice chunks out of them.
2. How to keep the eggs from freezing.
3. What to feed them for a nutritionally balanced diet when they don't have greens.
4. Preventing frostbite.
5. When it might be necessary to bring in extra means of heat.
6. Things for them to do since they won't have worms to search for, the ground will be too frozen for dust baths.

Let's have fun with our chickens this winter!

ALL BYC RULES APPLY.

 

[cavemanrich]

Well, here are some quicks answers. Numbers correspond to questions.
1.

2. Collect eggs regularly asap.
3. Alflock or Layer feed or Starter feed is a COMPLETE NUTRITION. There are your choices. Some do need the addition of calcium in the form of Oyster shells freechoice.
4.VENTILATION, VENTILATION VENTILATION.
5. Depending on your location. Your location" most likely in the chicken coop" does not tell us what your climate is like. Some peeps do not want to disclose their location for privacy reason. In such cases you should just simply lie and say you live in a city near you. This way no one will find you or track you. Choose a city with same weather.
6. Hang a head of cabbage on a rope and let them peck on it. Provide them with a dust bath tub inside coop filled with peat moss and potting soil mix. Don't use the type with added fertilizer like Miracle Grow.
WISHING YOU BEST

 

[Bogtown Chick]

In All truthfulness, I do like these threads about wintering chickens. Tons of information/help. Here's the big "But":

I think these threads really become confusing for new folks because there is so much information and adaptions for climate. Mild winters. Nasty Humid (coastal) Cold? Midwest Dry and Cold? I find even that the design of a chicken coop roof can throw a monkey wrench into how to ventilate your coop properly.

And the other variable is are you a Pet Owner, Show person, or chickens are purely livestock, what breeds do you have? Large comb varieties with extended periods of cold will become dubbed with frostbite. And yep. Even with excellent ventilation.

So if a person comes on here and says this is the end all, answer to everything, the gospel for chickens...please know it may absolutely be right for them but totally wrong for your own set up. It's always good to check in with experience people on the threads that are for your state or location. When you visit on these threads your climate and location is EVERYTHING.

 

[wamtazlady]

I had the same problem with my turkeys and chickens. They could not catch on to horizontal nipples and i had to go back to double walled founts. I like the whole nipple concept... for keeping the water clean they cant be beat... but I think a chicken or turkey naturally will choose water thats at ground level than they would drinking from a nipple. I dont think there are watering nipples in the wild, something us humans came up with and expect the chickens to learn... just my 2 cents

I don't think my chickens are smarter than other chickens. First time I used nipples it took them 2 hours to figure it out. During the summer the neighbors' chickens on both sides of me all learned to use the nipples at my house. It was easier for them to use the nipples than go home to get a drink. Last spring I started with new pullets that were 3 months old. Put them in the coop at night. By 7 am they were using the nipples.

Yes, I expect them to learn to use those nipples so took away all their other sources of water. That is the secret to them using the nipples. They have to have no other way to get a drink. They all did just fine.

Makes winter watering very easy. I use a semi transparent ( so I can see when it needs filled) 10 or 15 gallon tote I bought from Walmart, horizontal nipples, and a stock tank heater that is rated to use in plastic. Only had to fill up my waterer once a week or so and it stayed thawed down to the -10 F we had here last winter.

 

[crealbilly]

This past Sunday I thined out the herd from 49 birds... I'm now down to 24 birds. 21 chickens (16 Buff Orpington hens / 2 Roos) + (2 Rhode Island Red hens / 1 Rhode Island Roo) + 3 three Burbon Red turkeys (two Hens / one Tom).

The flock is all set up for spring chicks and I have freezer full of chickens. Plus one 25 Lb Turkey Tom for Thanksgiving in the refrigerator - thats how i help my chickens cope with winter - i eat them

 

[PingoBags]

It's my first winter too, so I'm not sure if the modifications I did will work.
Past two nights it has gone down to 0c so I'll be testing it soon.

I wrapped 9' of heating tape around a 2 gallon bucket and wrapped that with insulation, it has nipples at the bottom.

I built a 4x8 run with a solid roof, put clear 6 mil plastic on the smaller ends and a black tarp for the larger sides.
The black tarp can be lifted for the nicer sunnier days. I'm hoping the black will absorb the heat.
Because the black tarp doesn't let light through very well, I installed a 4 watt bulb, surprisingly bright for only 4 watts.

I have passive ventilation but I made an active vent too. I doubled up on two 12cm pc fans and they exhaust the air outside.
My coop is only small so it does a good job swapping air out.

For boredom, I hung a 1 gallon milk jug with a few holes drilled in it. I filled it with a mixed seed bag I found at the dollar store lol
It has whole and cracked corn, whole sunflower seeds, grains and lots of other small stuff.
Works perfect, they work really hard for such little gain.

No heat, didn't see the point.

My temps get down to about -20, -30 on average at night

 

[CuzChickens]

I am also thinking we might do a chickens in snow photo contest. Limit 4 photos per user and I will pick a winner in March. I don't know what the prize will be yet.....Probably a GFM.

 

[MollySunshine]

In All truthfulness, I do like these threads about wintering chickens. Tons of information/help. Here's the big "But":

I think these threads really become confusing for new folks because there is so much information and adaptions for climate. Mild winters. Nasty Humid (coastal) Cold? Midwest Dry and Cold? I find even that the design of a chicken coop roof can throw a monkey wrench into how to ventilate your coop properly.

And the other variable is are you a Pet Owner, Show person, or chickens are purely livestock, what breeds do you have? Large comb varieties with extended periods of cold will become dubbed with frostbite. And yep. Even with excellent ventilation.

So if a person comes on here and says this is the end all, answer to everything, the gospel for chickens...please know it may absolutely be right for them but totally wrong for your own set up. It's always good to check in with experience people on the threads that are for your state or location. When you visit on these threads your climate and location is EVERYTHING.

You raised valid points, I agree with everything you stated. I only speak for myself, I have found the information on this site to be overwhelming at times, there's so much. For instance, I read where people are using nipple waterers. I used the old fashion jug type, thinking it works fine. I have recently changed over because I don't like having to clean the jug 2x/day. Now that the season is changing, it is the winterizing issue. I have been concerned about the water (freezing) issue in the winter. There are great ideas out there. For a newbie such as I, the most valuable tool is information from others that have experience. I still have to discover what will work for me and what doesn’t. You reiterated what I know about myself, I have much to learn about my flock….and now about the area where I reside and how it relates to my flock...the learning curve is very steep! In the few months I have discovered what works for me and what doesn't and made the adjustments.

I take into serious consideration the advice from those of you who have been doing this for a while. So of course, I looked to see if there was a R.I. thread. Yes, there is. I will pick their brain; I am curious to see what my "neighbors" are doing in terms of winterizing. Thank you for speaking out, for pointing out these important factors.

Fellow BYC’ers keep these ideas flowing. What fascinates me, is how those of you that reside in much colder climates than I, how you handle your flock. I think my tendency is to baby my flock unnecessarily. I have to let them be chickens. They are not made of porcelain. My current course of action I will put into place is to cover my coop with shower lining. It is along the same train of thought I had but is more cost effective. Leave the west side uncovered for the needed ventilation. Will it work well, I don't have a clue. But I will find out. Oh, and to incorporate the bag balm! Brilliant idea! My list keeps growing. But I will learn in small steps. As long as none are lost I will call it a success. Who knows, I may read something I prefer and change my course of action. I won’t know unless I try….something.

I think someone mentioned that the first year is the costliest. Don’t I agree! Tractor Supply loves me! If I walk out of there spending less than 100$ I feel great.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Most animals are more hardy than humans give credit to. They have feathers and fur, we are naked and often cold in anything under 50 degrees, so we put our feelings onto the critters we keep.

Nature provides them with a coat that if not messed with with thicken and grow for the climate they live in. Acclamation means letting your birds and animals get used to temperatures and allowing them to adjust.

We get -20, with -40's wind chills at time during the winter. My chickens do fine because they are not shut up tight in their coop or heated in any way. I even keep frizzles, I've kept silkies, all have been fine. I've never had a chicken freeze to death.

So there are lots of way prep and handle winters, but it's always best to remove your human feeling and provide the birds what they need.

Chickens become stressed when temperatures suddenly drop. You will see them huddle, and perhaps shiver, but if left alone they will be acclimated to the new temperatures in about a week. It's similar to how cold 30 degrees feels in the fall to us, but in spring it feels like a heat wave.

 

[PingoBags]

Pingobags-
I'm intrigued by your coop vent/fan.
Is it actually a fan? Or is it a vent with a fan placed inside?
Do you have a wire running out to a power source?
Did you make or buy it? If buy, where?
I think I want to copy you and put one in our coop.
Thanks!

It was a small vent but I made the hole bigger and added the box to the outside.

Its two 12cm pc fans I got off ebay, I put them together because I was limited on space and incase one failed during winter.
The blue/purple box is just a piece of scrap pine I had and made the box slightly bigger than the fans.
The fins are to stop rain from dripping in the box and i'm hoping to keep snow out too, it was some scrap aluminum flashing but plastic would work just as good.

I have an extension cable running to the coop and the fans use a 12 volt adapter (which I had already) but can also work off a solar panel or even a car battery.
I had a smaller fan running on solar all summer but that only works when the sun is out, I wanted something moving air 24/7.
I only used L brackets to attach it to the coop and sealed it with white silicone because that's what I had.

Pc fans work great even when really dusty but I'm unsure how they will hold up being outside like that.
If it stays dry, it should last years. I've had 12cm pc fans last 10 years but that was inside.
So far, the aluminum fins are keeping the rain out.