Free ranging in snow?

[aoxa]

Well the icecapades came to our barnyard. Chickens slipping and sliding all over. Everything is ice.. and poop.. and feathers.. all frozen. Watch out! Roger the rooster was doin' the splits!

 

[debir1966]

Our chickens are doing just fine in the snow. They keep the area right in front of the chicken house tramped down pretty well. There is a big old shed that used to be the old chicken house right there as well that is being used for storage and hay, and then the goats are keeping it tramped down from there to the barn, so they have lots of paths and area to range over - and they still go up the tire tracks to get to the house and under the trees and peck at crab apples!

My young hens (hatched the end of June) are starting to lay! We are so excited because our old hens stopped laying in October! We are up to 2-4 small (soo cute!) eggs a day. Yesterday my son brought in one white (leghorns), 1 green (ameraucanas) and 1 brown (lord knows LOL) egg - just what I had dreamed of, Easter every day! One of our older ameraucanas is laying on and off (big green egg), but only maybe 2ish a week so far.

We have more snow coming, could get up to several feet, so we will see how the chickens do as it starts to pile up. Or it could be a mild winter where we only maintain a foot or so (which would probably be better this year since we didn't get our covered winter run built LOL).

 

[MsChickenMomma]

We got 3 inches of snow over night. I shoveled a path for my chickens and tried to get them to go out. I put one chicken by the door and kinda nudged her onto the ramp. She saw the white stuff, freaked out and ran back inside. The only chickens that have gone out today are my 4 hens that were hatched this summer and one of my roosters. I even tried sprinkling a few pieces of cat food on the ground and calling them for it, but they still wouldn't go out. My chickens are so stubborn... :/ lol

 

[chattykathy306]

Our last snow was 8-10" and the first one out in it was kind of by accident. When I opened the door to the run, our Easter Egger Charlotte got too excited about getting out and flew out to the woodpile. Then, as she perched on it and surveyed the surroundings, I think she was a bit taken aback. However, she hopped down and trudged through the snow back to the run and under the coop where the ground is clear. It was a funny sight to see her plowing through the snow. I just went out and found the expected brown egg from the Barred Rock. I got the green one from Charlotte earlier this morning. Not sure why, but she laid it in front of the coop door instead of in one of the boxes. The wild birds weren't eating the 3 assorted suet blocks and seed Christmas wreath that we put on the feeder, so I took them down to the coop. They have all gathered under the coop now and are busily devouring them! Merry Christmas, girls!

 

[addiewyatt]

My daughter with our hen "Hermonie" after 10" of snow- our girls prefer the coop as well!

 

[minpins99]

I don't know about you, but we just got a significant amount of snow. Not that I'm a big fan of the white stuff, you understand, but it gives me a good idea of how to plan for next winter with the flock. The fishing line is a great idea but I have to mow a pretty large backyard and would most likely choke my darn self to death on fishing line! However, I just had a thought. I can enclose a good portion of it for them to roam; they can do their own mowing! On the weekends when I'm home, I can let them have the run of the whole yard.
If you would be so kind, can you give me an idea of how you tend them each day? For example, what time do you get up to go out and let them out and/or feed them? Do you gather eggs at that time? In this kind of weather, do you leave the coop door open for them to go out if they want to? I work all day and can certainly clear them a path in the snow; I just wouldn't want to leave the door open and have them get too cold. Sorry for all the questions but I need all the wisdom of others I can get!

Thanks, Bruce

Mimi

 

[minpins99]

OMG! How cute are they marching through the snow! I'm in NH; you have it all over us as far as cold and snow go. Last winter, we didn't get snow at all. We just got nailed pretty good with it last night into today. I'm planning my first flock this spring, so this is the best time of the season for me to not only pick the brains of all you experts, but to formulate solutions as to how to plan for next winter.

Mimi

 

[themadchicken]

my whole flock has decided to stay under the coop also. if i do make a path to the front yard only the older hens will walk through the snow the the front porch. And they will sit on the porch all day soaking in the heat (and pooping all over the porch). My banty rooster has decided it is warmer in the coop then under it. Its kind of funny but only the silkies will come out in the morning to eat the wheat i give them for breakfast. It is still dark when i let them out but there is a street light right above the coop so as long as they are in the open they can see.

 

[aoxa]

OMG! How cute are they marching through the snow! I'm in NH; you have it all over us as far as cold and snow go. Last winter, we didn't get snow at all. We just got nailed pretty good with it last night into today. I'm planning my first flock this spring, so this is the best time of the season for me to not only pick the brains of all you experts, but to formulate solutions as to how to plan for next winter.

Mimi

You'll need a good shovel. They like paths. They do not like deep snow at all.

 

[debir1966]

If you would be so kind, can you give me an idea of how you tend them each day? For example, what time do you get up to go out and let them out and/or feed them? Do you gather eggs at that time? In this kind of weather, do you leave the coop door open for them to go out if they want to? I work all day and can certainly clear them a path in the snow; I just wouldn't want to leave the door open and have them get too cold. Sorry for all the questions but I need all the wisdom of others I can get!

Thanks, Bruce

Mimi

Just thought I could tell you our routine for some comparison

They get let out in the morning when my son gets up, usually about 8:30-9:00 a.m. He fills up there water and checks for eggs. We do have chicken doors, but we leave the man-door open because we have two hen turkeys who cannot fit through the chicken doors. All the chickens and the 2 turkeys come out in the morning, they don't seem to mind the snow at all. We do have a barn and sheds and misc. vehicles they can get under also. A couple of the little chickens (silkie hen, Jungle fowl hen, and a salmon faverolle hen) seem to stay pretty near the hen house, but all the rest wander all over.

We go out after lunch and feed (give them scraps if we have any - only produce or bread, no meat - if no scraps, then we give them a couple of handfulls of Black Oil Sunflower Seeds "BOSS", and a couple cups of scratch. Every other day they get their trough feeders filled with laymash - I am trying to make sure they clean it up versus wasting it, which we have been having a HUGE problem with when I let them free-feed out of a big gravity feeder), recheck/re-water, check for eggs again.

At dusk, my son goes out and check for chickens roosting in the old shed (only our younger hens do this - they are 5 months old. The older hens never roost anywhere other than the hen house), put any in the hen house who are in the shed and closes the door to the hen house. In the winter, he also dumps the water so it doesn't freeze over night. We have been letting the turkey hens roost in the shed if they do not go to the hen house, but they go back and forth alot, you never know where they might be!

I wish we could teach the younger hens to only roost in the hen house, but I think we are not going to be able to until we get a run built and lock them in for a week. They were put in the hen house at 2 months of age and not let out to free range for at least 2-3 weeks. They went back to the coop to roost every night until about a month or so ago when we started having 2-3 roost in the shed. Now we have 6-10 who are trying to roost in the shed! It's a huge PITA! I would block the shed off, but that is not an option (it is old and has many - too many! - good sized openings) as it also serves as a scratching area out of the snow for the chickens during the day.