a british weather question!

[brigitte41]

Hi, im hoping some English people are on here to answer my questions!

question 1.......when it gets dark at 4.30pm in the dead of winter and light again at 7.30ish in the morning, do you shut your chickens in their coop all that time? or is it still ok to let them out till after dark?

question 2.....if they are shut away for all that time, presumably you have to put food and water in their coop with them at night? mine kick sawdust in their small drinking container rendering it useless after about an hour!

question 3......do they fight if they are shut in for all those hours together? or do they sleep all the time?

im not looking forward to my first winter with chickens, can you tell hehe!

thanks in advance

brigitte

 

[Imachicklvr2]

Hi, I'm not British but I lived in England for several years (and miss it terribly).

I would say that your flock will put themselves away at sunset so won't be wanting to be out after dark anyway.

I put my waterer on a planter turned upside down to keep my hens from kicking their bedding into it and it has worked really well.

As long as it is dark, my hens are pretty quiet and don't do much, I would just make sure they aren't too crowded and can get out as soon as it starts to get light.

 

[brigitte41]

thanks for that, i will try the upturned planter.

sometimes they are still out, but fast asleep at 9pm, i have to pick them up and shove them in their coop! and they stay asleep whilst im trying to put em in lol! its like their legs dont work, difficult to put them in and not let them land head first!

small child thats too tired to take himself off to bed springs to mind, they do make me laugh

 

[bops]

Im Irish, but the weather is practically the same here to there
1- My hens are all in bed before dark, which right now is about 7:30pm, if you did let them out ( well give them the option ) they wont in my experience, they always like to be in and settled on the roost before dark
2- I give them a bucket to drink out of, about a foot tall and half a foot tall, but still i sweep away any shavings from that area
3- As long as its dark they dont fight, they all sleep

 

[tblee]

Hi
I'm British I'm on the Suffolk coast my flock are taking themselves of to bed earler now and somedays they don't really come out much, my coop is a converted shed so it has a lot of room and light I have an attached roofed run but they still stay inside so I've been hanging up some greens for them to enjoy and keep them amused and no fights have broke out, I've also raked up fallen leaves and put them in their run to play about with as they have also turned down their free rangeing time but we have had a long hot summer so now the weathers changed I dont think they are used to it getting cold again but when I tuck them in for the night they are still spread about and not to huddled so I am just giving them time to adjust but its best if they make the decisions when to go in for the night to keep it more natural for them

Hope this helps you
X