How do you get ready for winter?

[Lazy Farmer]

Hi everyone! I was really curious as to what all of you chicken keepers do to get prepared for winter.

WE are prepped and ready.. god willing. Florida wise. Your personal info doesn't include your location. Are you prepared for your undisclosed geographical weather? My family in Ohio is is preparing. here in the south we have less worries. where are you? Sub zero there sometimes?

 

[Lazy Farmer]

alfalfa pellets

will make their yokes real dark!

 

[RodNTN]

WE are prepped and ready.. god willing. Florida wise. Your personal info doesn't include your location. Are you prepared for your undisclosed geographical weather? My family in Ohio is is preparing. here in the south we have less worries. where are you? Sub zero there sometimes?

I am in TN Yes, I am. And yes again, sometimes it gets below Sub zero. But I am well prepared (I believe )

 

[MPio13]

<< glad to have logged on today and find this conversation.
This is my first winter with (7) chickens. I'm in MA so it's already been as low as 10°F here. Without electricity in or near my coop, the frozen water situation is annoying. I've already cracked 2 buckets. For now I just plan to keep switching the buckets out every morning with fresh water.
One thing I'm dealing with is frozen, cracked eggs in the boxes. I think I'll add more pine shavings to make it deeper and hopefully better insulated so they stop freezing. (The only thing more frustrating than the cracked buckets is the cracked eggs!)
The cracked eggs, I assume shouldn't be eaten? I've been giving them to my dogs.
I briefly looked into solar power on the coop roof to power a water heater. But looks like it will cost $200 minimum for the entire set up. So...Maybe next year haha
My birds are spoiled and get lots of treats, leftovers, things like that. I went from 5 or 6 eggs a day to about 3 or 4 now.

What does everyone do with what the clean out of the coop during the winter months? I ussualy throw it in my compost pile and mix it in but that's frozen solid. Also, is there an easy way to monitor my compost balance of poop to leaves/grass? I throwaway from my fire in there too.... I know this is entirely another subject... Just curious.

 

[RodNTN]

You are correct, do not eat cracked/frozen eggs! It is a challenge for everyone in the winter, you can gather the eggs as soon as they are laid, if you don't mind going out in the cold that often. I tried putting very deep bedding in the nest, and that significantly helps.

I clean out my coop every two weeks in the winter, as usual.

Have you ever tried the deep litter method? It usually only requires biannual cleanings.

I don't compost my litter, so I can't give you an answer on that last question. But lots of members here do, so they'll help you with that one

 

[RodNTN]

Btw, my hens' egg production has dropped a lot too. It is normal for a hen to have her annual break in the winter

 

[MPio13]

Thank you!

 

[ChocolateMouse]

If they're not too dirty, frozen cracked eggs are actually generally OK for baking or other cooking processes where they will be cooked very thoroughly for a long time.

I use Deep Litter, so when I clean my coop it just goes into the compost pile, but I clean it about once a year. Just toss it on top of the pile and top with carbon. If you add a shovel full of poop, put 2-3 shovels of brown on it. If you add a 5 gallon bucket of poop, add 2-3 buckets of brown on top. Some brown is more "brown" heavy than others. Paper for example is more carbon than leaves. Just guess. Compost is a very loose art. When things thaw out in the spring, the compost pile will heat up again and very quickly break down the waste into soil.

 

[Grey's]

Hi everyone! really cold here minus high 30's with wind and severe frost bite warnings.
I use pine shaving (not sure about the straw as mentioned above) I use the layer method until I get a warm enough day and remove it all and put new stuff.
This year I decided to use a heated bucket and its works great, having to haul water all the time was hard.
I have a heat lamp on low to help keep them warm.
Plenty of ventilation, a door open to go out if they want, keep the water outside, too many accidents in past years with the water being spilled and freezing the floor.
My girls love hot oatmeal with yogurt and raisins lol
Also corn warmed up. i feed them organic feed.
So they seem to do well during the cold months.
A lot of good sugestions thanks everyone

 

[Grey's]

Btw, my hens' egg production has dropped a lot too. It is normal for a hen to have her annual break in the winter

I think its because of the light, less light in the winter, if you put a timer with a light bulb this will help.