Winter is Coming! Checklists, tips, advice for a newbie

[The nest4]

We rescued a bantam rooster 2 months ago, we found him on a deserted road, and now we're chicken people! We've built a small coop and run and next spring we would like to get a few chicks. Here's the question...we live in Michigan, our coop is not heated and I can prepare the coop for winter, but does a chicken need other chickens for body heat? I don't want to run out and get a hen...from somewhere....but i will if our little chicken needs an extra body through the winter.

 

[Chicken Egg 17]

We rescued a bantam rooster 2 months ago, we found him on a deserted road, and now we're chicken people! We've built a small coop and run and next spring we would like to get a few chicks. Here's the question...we live in Michigan, our coop is not heated and I can prepare the coop for winter, but does a chicken need other chickens for body heat? I don't want to run out and get a hen...from somewhere....but i will if our little chicken needs an extra body through the winter.

I think it would be best if you had a hen or two for body heat and company. But I am sure he could pull through the winter but I don't know how cold it gets there.

 

[The nest4]

Thanks for your response!! Where we are in Michigan it rarely goes below zero....more like 20*.

 

[Chicken Egg 17]

Thanks for your response!! Where we are in Michigan it rarely goes below zero....more like 20*.

Anytime and that's pretty cold it gets down to 20 or lower sometimes and I use a heat lamp on those nights and I have more chickens the silkies I don't know what I am going to do with they might have to come inside on those really cold nights

 

[Alaskan]

Thanks for your response!! Where we are in Michigan it rarely goes below zero....more like 20*.

I guess it just depends on where you are and what you are used to.


If 20F is as low as it gets...then a single rooster should be perfectly fine. If you drop down to zero or below, I would just pop him in a small dog crate and put him in the mudporch or garage over night.

I dont heat... But I never get below -20F.

I think if you get to -30 and colder, especially for long periods, then you might want to heat.

Not sure how dark it gets where you are... But when it gets cold, they need at least 10 hours of light so that they can eat enough to stay warm.

 

[Hokum Coco]

What do you typically do to prepare for winter?
What advice would you offer to someone starting out?

I am subject to -40º weather l live in Canada think North Pole. I have been keeping chickens and birds for decades.

Your best practice I find is to not be too concerned about winterizing or heating your coop to help your birds combat the cold.

Predator proofing "ABSOLUTELY".

Your efforts should be spent in winterizing your birds and letting them acclimatize to their surroundings.
This is done by feeding them whole corn as an added supplement in a separate feeder.

The extra nourishment is more then adequate to bring them through the
"COLDEST" winter.

Do keep an eye open for birds that maybe not be adapting well to the new menu and may be at the lower end of the pecking order they can sometimes run into problems and may need extra TLC.

That being said in a perfect world the flock will flourish and do just fine .

I do not add any extra heat or lighting.
Egg production does slack off but I have more than enough eggs for the table all winter long (24 hens).

Some people may disagree with my method but it has worked well for me and I am not about to change.

I look at it in the same light as winterizing your car.

You really do

"NOT"


have to winterize your car if you can keep it in a controlled environment at all times otherwise you are in for

"MAJOR" problems.

When it comes to lighting if you find you are short on eggs it does apparently help. I personally do not bother in my operation eggs are sold only to neighbours when they are available (if the sign is out I have eggs). Eggs in my operation have a tendency to crack and freeze during the winter months (we do not discard them and are fine but use them in house not for sale) the more eggs you produce during these months the more eggs will fall into this category.

I have roughly 24 Golden Comet hens the longest I ever been out of eggs can be measured in hours >12<24. You will find that the egg supply in any hen is a finite resource the quicker you milk the eggs out of a hen the faster it will be spent and end up in your stew pot.

On average one hen produces somewhere between 600 to 700 eggs in its life time. Lighting only effect the speed of delivery of the eggs which at the end of the day would amount to less than a year in the hens life is my guess

If you do decide extra lighting is necessary have your light on a timer to lengthen the day "MAKE SURE IT IS SECURED BY 2 MEANS OF SUPPORT" one being a "SAFETY CHAIN" in case one fails especially if it is an incandescent bulb or heat lamp.

I personally raise hens as a hobby; and for their manure to enrich my vegetable garden any thing else the hens provide is merely a bonus.

Here is one BONUS NOW not many people can enjoy seeing in their back yard on a regular basis.



Nest boxes
In my nest boxes I fold a feed bag to fit (nest boxes are 1 ft³). When a bag gets soiled; fold a new one; pop out the soiled; pop in the new. Feed bags are a nylon mesh bag.
Frozen poop just peels off in below freezing temperatures and just flakes off in summer when left out in the sun to bake and dry.

I have 66 trips around the sun it is the best method I have stumbled upon.

Make sure the twine is removed from the open end of the bag it can get tangled around your birds.

 

[LadyCluck77]

Gah! We lost a rooster last night. I do not think it was the cold, it has been chilly at night, but only down in the 30's F. There were very small bite marks on the rooster.

I suspect it was a rat. I've been seeing a very LARGE rat occasionally inside the run- trying to catch that bugger is nearly impossible. We've set snap traps, glue boards, live traps, etc. We've even gotten the terrier in the grain shed to let him try, but the rat is so quick, you can just barely see it- it runs much faster than the dog.

Never had a rat before, we've been very lucky. I don't want this one sticking around!
My grain shed is definitely showing signs of chewing.

 

[aart]

Gah! We lost a rooster last night. I do not think it was the cold, it has been chilly at night, but only down in the 30's F. There were very small bite marks on the rooster.

I suspect it was a rat. I've been seeing a very LARGE rat occasionally inside the run- trying to catch that bugger is nearly impossible. We've set snap traps, glue boards, live traps, etc. We've even gotten the terrier in the grain shed to let him try, but the rat is so quick, you can just barely see it- it runs much faster than the dog.

Never had a rat before, we've been very lucky. I don't want this one sticking around!
My grain shed is definitely showing signs of chewing.

Bummer! Bucket Trap? Might have to resort to poison, research carefully for one with a low secondary kill risk.

 

[Bogtown Chick]

I guess it just depends on where you are and what you are used to.


If 20F is as low as it gets...then a single rooster should be perfectly fine. If you drop down to zero or below, I would just pop him in a small dog crate and put him in the mudporch or garage over night.

I dont heat... But I never get below -20F.

I think if you get to -30 and colder, especially for long periods, then you might want to heat.

Not sure how dark it gets where you are... But when it gets cold, they need at least 10 hours of light so that they can eat enough to stay warm.

I second this. 20 is very easily handled by chickens. Sub zero like -5 F or lower in my coop...those birds are roosting and keeping their toes warm under their feathers even during the day. Jumping down for just a bite to eat and a drink and then back up on the roost. Extended periods of that ...is a bit hard on them. But at 0ish F and above they are down chooking around, scratching without any problems. No heat required at 20F.

Heat lamps pose a fire risk that I'm not willing to put my coop up in flames for. I did a small investment of about $30-$35 on a flat panel radiant heater for those sub zeros which takes the bite out of my super cold days. And the birds do seem to gravitate to it on those days.

Edited to add that chickens are seemingly a social creature and a rooster should have a couple hens to court.

 

[bigmrg74]

Got my winter table done for the coop today. I have found that its much easier to have the food and waterer up off the floor of a coop in the winter as the girls are much less likely to kick up straw and whatnot into the waterer that way. Plus it saves on floor space. Plus with the bottom rails there, it should give somebody a spot to be able to put some distance between them and whoever it is that is on her case.



One of the buffs checking it out today. and the bottom of the legs are spray painted to keep them from rotting out later. alternated red and blue for a total of 4 coats for that.