BYC members in Massachusetts?

[liljunie]

My biggest problem last year was not anticipating the amount of snow. I made piles too close to the coop and my door couldn't open. Chickens do not molina the cold. If you can afford a heated dog water bowl I would run it to the coop. Works great.

 

[tjs19]

I'm in Westborough so only a couple towns away. I am also wondering how our girls' first winter will go. I just got a water pail warmer off Amazon for the bucket we have fitted with chicken nipples and need to get it rigged up so we don't have to keep de-icing on cold mornings.
We have already lined up some neighbors for chicken care around Christmas since I haven't settled on an automatic coop door opener yet.

 

[Jujubara]

Same here. I can't wait to see how they act with the first snow.

 

[Lozuufy]

Chickens seeing their fist snow is so hilarious, they have no idea what all the COLD WHITE STUFF is.

Some chickens refuse to walk on snow for a few weeks, so I spread a layer of hay on it and they love that, I also add hay to the coop on really cold nights for some of them to cuddle in. As long as the coop has good ventilation then moisture won't build up and cause frostbite.

 

[Jujubara]

 Chickens seeing their fist snow is so hilarious, they have no idea what all the COLD WHITE STUFF is.

Some chickens refuse to walk on snow for a few weeks, so I spread a layer of hay on it and they love that, I also add hay to the coop on really cold nights for some of them to cuddle in. As long as the coop has good ventilation then moisture won't build up and cause frostbite.

I can't wait to see it.

 

[KrisCVT]

I'm still trying to perfect the water thing. Having 2 pekin ducks in with my chickens (they live below the coop in a winterized section) and they all have access to the run. But of course the ducks are messy with the water. Right now I have a fortflex black rubber bucket placed inside of a heated pet bowl- seems to work and at least the ducks don't go through all the water. My worry when I go on vacation is that I am super anal-retentive about my coop and run….I am raking it constantly (sand) to keep it dry and fluffed and neat. I don't think anyone else understands my obsession. That is the main reason I can't have my nearby family check on them for me..they would literally just look in on them and not do any sort of coop maintenance. Maybe I am just being paranoid…worried that my pet sitter is going to think I am crazy. Definitely going to talk my hubby into a separate duck enclosure come springtime.

 

[Jujubara]

I'm still trying to perfect the water thing. Having 2 pekin ducks in with my chickens (they live below the coop in a winterized section) and they  all have access to the run. But of course the ducks are messy with the water. Right now I have a fortflex black rubber bucket placed inside of a heated pet bowl- seems to work and at least the ducks don't go through all the water. My worry when I go on vacation is that I am super anal-retentive about my coop and run….I am raking it constantly (sand) to keep it dry and fluffed and neat. I don't think anyone else understands my obsession. That is the main reason I can't have my nearby family check on them for me..they would literally just look in on them and not do any sort of coop maintenance. Maybe I am just being paranoid…worried that my pet sitter is going to think I am crazy. Definitely going to talk my hubby into a separate duck enclosure come springtime.

I completely understand the obsession. You want them to be clean and healthy. I hardly ever go on vacation for the same reasons!

 

[Janice123456]

This is my first year with my Chickens I am going with recommendation from somebody else on byc I have a 5 gallon water bucket with side nipples on it and I have a cow bucket heater to keep the ic:e away for the winter I am planning to use a snow blower to keep open to the door of the coop and I have wrapped the run with plastic sothe snow will not get in and I'm going to put some hay down on the run. My worst problem is my chickens are so used to going outside and eating all kinds of bugs and they do not really like pellets. I was talking to somebody about how they sprout lentils to give them fresh green through the winter I'm planning to try that. They are a little fussy they like grass bugs and anything else if they can find they were feral chickens I just happen to find them running around my neighborhood so they are adopted have a nice safe place to live now for the winter. Will be interesting because last winter they were actually running around on their own and they manage to survive they lived under a neighbor's porch. There are Rhode Island Reds so I'm assuming they're pretty hearty. they are still.eating out of my garden when I let them run around the yard and still finding bugs under the leaves.

 

[SillyRooster]

Hi all. We're in Attleboro with our 6 adult hens & 2 younger Rhode Island Red roos. Watching others in our neighborhood & interacting with their chickens made us want some of our own. We've had them about a month & all is well. The hens started laying again this weekend (we got them with our coop in Providence & we think the hens were a bit traumatized by the move & suddenly having roosters in their lives).

 

[CountryGeorge]

The first year I had a base heater for a water fount in the coop and kept that full all the time and added a second metal fount outdoors during the day. That worked okay but last year my coop setup did not let me put the base heater in so I just brought the feathery bunch out water in the morning and then brought in the founts and thawed them and brought them back out for the latter part of the day. They learned rapidly to grab what water they wanted before it froze. I also saw them eating snow regardless of how much water was available for them. Mine are gong on their fourth winter now and doing well.