How do you manage?

[Folly's place]

Me too! We don't have the new section of horse fencing done, or the stock tank moved, and it's got to be finished this weekend.
Never mind the firewood for the wood stove!
Winter always seems to arrive way too soon, and this year is no exception. The plastic sheeting also needs to go up around the run this weekend, and a few other things. And I'm working tomorrow...
Mary

 

[moniquem]

I have feeders that are large enough to last for two days or more, and also waterers that don't run dry in one day. Everything gets topped off as needed, so that's not an issue. Locking them in at dusk can be a problem with my work schedule, and sometimes they stay in so it's not a problem.

My daughter works swing so doesnt have to leave until about 2pm so she locks them up in their run. When I get home around 5:30 I take in their food and lock the coop pop door after making sure everyone is fine. So far so good!

 

[MissChick@dee]

It’s not often mentioned when people get chickens that responsible care is likely to inconvenience you either in time, or in money.
Oh but the chicken puts itself to bed I’ve heard people say. They put themselves up a tree here if I’m not there at dusk.
They need to go to roost with a full crop to remain healthy. In a run you might be able to leave enough food down, but free range lots of other creatures eat chicken food, even the sheep here.
There is a descriptive term for people who don’t take holidays, rarely have free days, rush off in the middle of a social meeting at strange hours and are often covered in poop; they’re called farmers.

Wow I think you just offended a lot of people. I’m not even going to ask what you meant by all that. I guess it’s responses you’re looking for. I don’t need to know thank you.

 

[llombardo]

Me too! We don't have the new section of horse fencing done, or the stock tank moved, and it's got to be finished this weekend.
Never mind the firewood for the wood stove!
Winter always seems to arrive way too soon, and this year is no exception. The plastic sheeting also needs to go up around the run this weekend, and a few other things. And I'm working tomorrow...
Mary

Yep, I start work at 6 am tomorrow. Im not even letting them out until I get home. I'm so glad that I slowly put up the tarps and the plastic already. I had good timing with the duck shelter too. Tomorrow I just have to add stone and mulch to the runs, change the rabbits litter boxes, add flax bedding to the the rabbit runs, chicken coop and duck house, add straw as a top layer in duck coop and make a cozy straw area in one area for ducks and switch the water bowl in the coop. I was looking for chopped straw, can't get it, so I'll be chopping up a bale of straw. I'm pretty sure I will be working tomorrow and Sunday to get done

I was not expecting the cold to hit this fast. We bypassed fall completely. The snow this morning really messed with my day. It was t to hard to knock it off, but it did stick pretty good. The good thing is that it prevented the run from haveing pretty much anything in it.

The heated roost bars seem to be working well for them. They are all using them

 

[Lady Lionheart]

This is my set up. The waterer holds 3 gallons. Food lasts for over a week for 12 chickens. (But right now I am giving them water in separate containers because of freezing. Didn't think of that when we built this)

 

[GC-Raptor]

I open the coops and turn the lights on at 5am year round. . I add water to the outside pail, rubber bowl in winter. They have feed and water on heated base in coop too. I check for eggs.

Around 9am I give them a treat of Scratch Grains scattered in their pen. Check for eggs. Dump out frozen water in rubber bowl and refill. Check and refill feeder if needed. Don't need to add daily. Feeders hold 12 to 15 pounds each. Waterer's holds 2 gallons each and don't need filling daily. I do lift and tilt to clean shavings from trough if needed.

In freezing weather I check for eggs and refill rubber bowl around 1pm.

An hour before sunset I let the Adult Chickens out to free range. This time of year it's dark or nearly dark when I get home so they don't free range or have just minutes to range. I do let them out to free range on my days off, weather permitting. I check for eggs again when I'm done driving around 4:30. There are little to no bugs this time of year and grass is slowly disappearing and will be covered with snow. . I lockup the coops after sunset.
I clean coop weekly or biweekly and feeders and waterer's as needed.

My job as a driver allows me to come home between 9am and 1pm. GC

 

[chicken1234]

I don't like the time change either cause I feel like I miss out on my chicken watching time. I added a light so they have more daylight and I have a bucket of water and full feeder hanging so all I need to do is close the door.

 

[MissChick@dee]

I open the coops and turn the lights on at 5am year round.View attachment 1586060. I add water to the outside pail, rubber bowl in winter. They have feed and water on heated base in coop too. I check for eggs.

Around 9am I give them a treat of Scratch Grains scattered in their pen. Check for eggs. Dump out frozen water in rubber bowl and refill. Check and refill feeder if needed. Don't need to add daily. Feeders hold 12 to 15 pounds each. Waterer's holds 2 gallons each and don't need filling daily. I do lift and tilt to clean shavings from trough if needed.

In freezing weather I check for eggs and refill rubber bowl around 1pm.

An hour before sunset I let the Adult Chickens out to free range. This time of year it's dark or nearly dark when I get home so they don't free range or have just minutes to range. I do let them out to free range on my days off, weather permitting. I check for eggs again when I'm done driving around 4:30. There are little to no bugs this time of year and grass is slowly disappearing and will be covered with snow.View attachment 1586067. I lockup the coops after sunset.
I clean coop weekly or biweekly and feeders and waterer's as needed.

My job as a driver allows me to come home between 9am and 1pm. GC

Sounds like you’ve got a great system. I used to dump and replace water just like you. This year I got a heated bowl. So far so good. You have power do you think you could use them too? Frozen water was always my biggest chore in winter. I think I’m gonna love the heated bowls.

 

[GC-Raptor]

Sounds like you’ve got a great system. I used to dump and replace water just like you. This year I got a heated bowl. So far so good. You have power do you think you could use them too? Frozen water was always my biggest chore in winter. I think I’m gonna love the heated bowls.

Yes I do use a heated base in both coops. But I like to provide water outside too in a 60 oz pail in warm weather and a 2 quart rubber bowl in the winter. GC

 

[jreardon1918]

We have a 4x8 raised coop in South East Mass. It is dark when we go to work and almost dark when we get home. I open the pop door at 5am. Shut it after dark. The run is secure enough (knock on wood) to allow the poop door open 24x7. At some point I might setup an automatic chicken door to the auxiliary run which is not secure. We'll see. Anyway, the one feeder and one waterer are in the secure run. The feed stays dry and the water has a stock tank de-icer. GFI outlet in the run. Here are a few pictures.
The water never froze last winter. Although the top of the bucket would have some frost. The horizontal nipples are a few inches above the bottom of the bucket. The heater sits on the bottom of the bucket.