Chickens in the snow?

[Rileysixchix]

Hi everyone! this is our first snowfall with the chickens, the snow reaching about 3 1/2 inches and we were wondering if the chickens can come outside. Will their feet be affected by the snow? Their run has a roof over it so only about an inch got in there can we at least let them out in the run? Thank You!

 

[centrarchid]

They will tend to avoid walking through snow when they can but will do so to get to food. Try scattering some leaf litter, straw or hay on top of snow and scatter some scratch / corn / BOSS on top of that. They will then get into looking for eats and much of the concern about snow will be forgotten.

 

[vjbakke]

I agree, we are getting some snow right now and the girls are refusing to come out. We open the door to the run anyways. They were outside when we got them to come out with a snack as help. They let you know they are not happy about it, noisy noisy girls!

 

[Johnboy78]

Some of mine avoided it at first, my 2 hamburgs went for a walk in 3-4" snow while it was still snowing.
After it stopped they gradually started stepping on it.
By day 3 all of them were trekking around.

 

[Yashar]

Almost all my larger birds wanted to stay inside. i had to shovel a good area to show some ground and scattered scratch grain about to get then to venture out.
On the other hand some of my smaller breeds in another area were less hesitant. Although they didn't entirely like the idea.

But yesterday the temp went up to 45 or so and rained all night and when I got up this morning... it wall all gone!
I was not disappointed.

 

[sacrifice]

Mine like to stand by the door of the pen and look to see who is driving down the street or something. The area around the door gets quite a bit of snow, and the chickens seem to like to walk and stand on it. The only issue is that they also like to poop on the snow, so the poop gets into the snow and really smells. The borders of the pen also has a lot of snow and the chickens walk on it all the time. Then again, maybe it is simply that my birds are used to the snow.

 

[lolita117]

Here is my chickens first snow. They run out of the coop whenever I opened the door then I scattered some scratch grain and they never hesitated. It wasn't deep snow, but its a start for them anyways. Oh and the duck didn't mind it either.

 

[Chemguy]

If yours are like mine, there will be a meeting in the coop the first few times it snows. This meeting will last longer than any you've attended. Then, one will draw the short straw, spend the rest of the day getting up their courage. Once the first one goes out, they will all come out.

Like Centarchid said, a little temptation will help. First time, treats and sweeping did little to motivate. I even tried taking a hen out and setting her onto the snow. She freaked out and flew back to the coop. I moved food and water into the coop after a few hours. Second time, the delay was about 4 hours. There was no third time. They all come out right away. Their feet are fine.

 

[annep]

My girls like to hang out in our rabbit shed, which is clear across the yard..It's warm, and has tons of hay on the ground..So, we shovel a path for them..We do a big area infront of their coop, where the water and feed is, then just a simple path across the yard..They appreciate it very much..Told me so too! heheee