How to Prepare Your Flock For Winter 101 *Official Thread*

[augustmomx2]

Just a few things I'm doing differently this year and what worked for my flock last year:

*I'm definitely having dh make me one of these: https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=107951
*Insulation board installed on the w-side of the open overhang
*Deep litter method (stock up on DE for the winter)
*We had a covered, hanging heater, light combo that was set on a timer for the light
*Scratch only fed in the winter
*Adding a tarp near the entrance of the coop...to keep snow from piling near the entrance of the closed coop & to have an area that is for the most part, snow-free-ish

*The girls loved a hot treat of oatmeal in the morning too

 

[Mrs. Fluffy Puffy]

We also had a Cold Front hit today! Yesterday it was 100 + and today it was 80 something!

 

[GrandmaAnn]

We give them mostly the same egg mash in the winter as in the summer. Tonight we stopped by a feed store and saw a 25# block of scratch. It is recommended for free range chickens. I'm thinking I'll get one of them in the coop just to give them something to do. We use a little cracked corn in the winter and sprinkle a handful or two on the bedding just to keep them turning it.

 

[chickfamilyonsleepyhollow]

So much great advice ... thanks so much

.. We've been pondering what to do since the weather around here has become chilly and rainy (lots of mud in their run) ... at this point we've decided to put a heat lamp inside for chilly nights and plan to get a heater for their water ... just the thought of them being out in the cold gives me the shivers

... I like the idea of a diaper for bitter cold nights

 

[MakNugget]

I bought this honeywell thermometer to keep tabs on the weather.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000EX83RU/ref=oss_product

For 23 bucks, you get a nice big readout of temp and humidity. It also tracks min/max temp for the day. It also comes with a standalone wireless temp/humidity unit that can be placed elsewhere. It takes 2@2xAA batteries. I believe the manual suggests lithium bats so that's another 10 bucks.

 

[Turkeyrangler]

Quote:
I'm in North Eastern Minnesota and we get the same kind of weather, Haven't seen -40 here for a few winters, but we have seen -56 with no windchill back in the mid 90's. That was feakin cold. I have an old insulated playhouse that I'm using for a coop. I don't really see them getting out much after the end of November. They will probably be cooped up until the end of march at the soonest since we usually get about 5 feet of snow. I have half the run tarped, but I'll be taking that off after November 1 this year. We did have a storm on Halloween 1991 that dumped 37 inches of snow in two day. That storm moved east and became mixed up in a part of the storm in the movie "The Perfect Storm" that sank the Andrea Gail loosing all hands. To say we get some nasty weather is an understatement. I plan to use the deep litter method. I'm rigging up a heater to use when it gets really nasty in the -20 range. I'm running electrical out there in the next month. I don't trust extension cords. Then I can have the heater and a heat lamp if needed. I plan to use the deep litter method and a heater under the waterer. Guess I also need to make sure that snow blower is in tip top shape because the coop and run are about 100 yards from the house. All of my birds are from local stock that have been proven to make it through our winters, even my peachick who's parents have spent the last two winters in an unheated, but very well kept coop just south of here a bit. My only issue was venting since most of our storms come from the west, but we do get northeasters that come off Lake Superior and really hammer us with high winds and snow so we can get bad winds from any direction. Thanks GrandmaAnn for the newpaper tip. I'll be using that this year.

 

[karen]

YourLinkGoesHere
Quote:
Grandma Ann:
I love the block of scratch! I used the seed cakes from the feed store-
and Overrun-I do the oatmeal too- I think I like it as much as they do!
Their food is their best heating fuel!
The DE (diatomaceous Earth-food grade) Is essential with all of the bedding.

 

[GrandmaAnn]

Turkeywrangler, the newspaper does work great. If I wait to put it in until we have several hard frosts, the mice have already found homes and we don't get very many mice in it. I will also save up feed bags and use them. We are usually scrambling before the first big storm hits. I don't remember the year, but I do remember a Halloween storm that gave us about 1 1/2 feet of snow in just a few hours. Our coop is down in the bottom part of our property, but above the veggie garden - everything here is on a slant, so we have good drainage, and we put the sacks of feed on sleds and bring it to the coop that way. Getting up the hill when it is icy is sometimes very difficult. This year may be much harder with 9 children packing the snow into runs. Our birds don't get out in the winter either.

After a 15 year absense of chickens and now starting over, I went with breeds that are winter hardy. My daughters raised several Grand Champions with their bantams and regular birds, but it was very difficult work in the winter. None of that for me.

Karen, I am glad you like the blocks. I had never seen that before and assume it is something new. Sometimes I think the birds get bored and they could use something to do so they aren't picking on the runts.

I should add, this year I plan on leaving the cage doors open inside the coop. This will give the birds a little more floor space and places to go to get away from each other. We will keep a bale of woodshavings aside to freshen up a cage if someone gets injured and needs to be separated.

 

[sunflowerenvy]

how do keep the water from freeze inside a coop?

in south tenn ,yes it is getting cooler this week i got my windows in the house open now

last week the temp was 100+ and night time was in high 80s
today temp will be 89 and the low will be 65 friday it get down 58 yeah and my girls start laying again

 

[oldchickenlady]

I will only have to close the 2 windows an add more shavings. I plan on using an extension cord to run a light bulb out there to keep their water from freezing. If it gets really cold (have had some 0 and minus temps before) I will close up most of the vent at the top of the front wall of the coop. I also plan on getting one of those electrical plug in things that only turn on when it is a certain temperature, if it isn't too expensive, so the water heaters (I will have one in my horse trough, too) will only come on when it gets cold enough to freeze. My run is already covered with a tarp, I may extend it farther down to the ground on the north side to block the wind. I also plan on getting one of the flock blocks, too, and hang stuff like cabbage heads for food and entertainment. Since we rarely get snow, mine will still free range, but I am sure the supply of bugs will be greatly reduced.