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

[Ohhhdear]

Quote:
Be very cautious using aquarium heaters! If the level of the water in the bucket drops below the "safe water" mark on the heater the glass containing the heating element will crack and break into the water bucket. Exposed wires, broken glass, electricity and water are a very dangerous combination! Keeping the water level high in the bucket will be important if you use an aquarium heater.

My husband recommended getting a heavy duty 25 watt salt water aquarium heater and wrapping it in aluminum screen mesh so if the glass breaks it won't get into the water. Or perhaps looking for an aquarium heater which is encased in clear plastic rather than glass. There's an aquarium-keeper's supply catalog put out by Dr Fosters & Smith that has a lot of good stuff.

My coop's already insulated and the mesh-covered vents are near the roof, but I'm planning on surrounding it with old straw bales about 10' around to give them some exercise room and a windbreak. We can get a lot of snow in west h, and it's humid and cold (down to -10 sometimes).
Not sure what I'm going to do about water yet, though the nipple system sounded like the best option so far.

 

[Coreyboy18]

I'm in New Orleans. I'll put plexi over the windows and allow them to free range as much as they want. I have a vent at the roof that will stay open to allow moisture out, and I plan on using the deep litter method...which I already utilize. I have a heat lamp just in case, but I doubt that I'll need it. My coop isn't insulated, but we barely see below freezing here...so I shouldn't have to worry about their waterers freezing either. I think I am pretty ready for winter.

 

[MaureenL128]

We use a heated dog bowl for their water so it doesn't freeze. We plan on insulating the coop. And this year we will be putting tarps over the run. We got 2 feet of snow here last December and it was a horror to try to shovel out some room in the run for them. Better of covering it up so they can at least come out in their run.

 

[Happy Chooks]

Last year, this is what I did for my coop:
Put an extra waterer inside the coop.
Brought the outside waterer in at night if it was below freezing. I'd fill it with warm water and take it back out in the morning.
Hot oatmeal. (they love that!)
Scratch too.


This winter, I'll also have my new coop. (8X12) And I plan to do similar things to keep them happy. They will have more space if they need to stay inside for a while.

 

[Mrs. K]

I take down water every day, summer or winter, so I don't heat it in the coop/run. I use the rubber black bowl, and break out the ice, and put in the warm water.

I put a pile of old hay in a corner, the chickens will scratch it all over, and I pile it back up, especially if snow is coming. Then after it quits snowing, I spread it on top of the snow. My chicken love to be outside, even at well below zero, but hate walking in snow.

I also put an old window in front of a large black box. Instant sun porch, where they can get out of the wind. Even in the worst of winter, my girls spend very little time in the coop, but they will spend most of the day in the sun porch.

I pile the floor and North wall under the roost in deep hay.

I think feed should depend on the temperature outside. The colder it is, the more feed they need. If you get some warmer days, less feed. I have found, that mine do not like corn meal mush, but love corn bread!

Also, check your protection against predators. They too need more feed in the cold, and your chickens look good to them!

We can get pretty darn cold here in SD, well below -20. But I do not have heat or light to my coop. Last year, some got a little marks on their combs from frostbite, but it healed up in the spring. It was not too bad, just little freckle size. They also laid all winter without extra light. My problem can be eggs freezing before I get them.

MrsK

 

[FluffyColor]

Not much. They're in the house.

 

[grandmaof5]

It isn't unusual to experience -40 here occassionally, but my only preparation for winter is to make sure I have plenty of hot chocolate in...

Oh! You meant for the girls; well, for them I really haven't decided how to do it, but my priority will be some kind of water heater, I think. Water freezes here very quickly, and I don't want to have to run out with warm water every hour or so...

 

[Siler]

Quote:
Be very cautious using aquarium heaters! If the level of the water in the bucket drops below the "safe water" mark on the heater the glass containing the heating element will crack and break into the water bucket. Exposed wires, broken glass, electricity and water are a very dangerous combination! Keeping the water level high in the bucket will be important if you use an aquarium heater.

My husband recommended getting a heavy duty 25 watt salt water aquarium heater and wrapping it in aluminum screen mesh so if the glass breaks it won't get into the water. Or perhaps looking for an aquarium heater which is encased in clear plastic rather than glass. There's an aquarium-keeper's supply catalog put out by Dr Fosters & Smith that has a lot of good stuff.

My coop's already insulated and the mesh-covered vents are near the roof, but I'm planning on surrounding it with old straw bales about 10' around to give them some exercise room and a windbreak. We can get a lot of snow in west h, and it's humid and cold (down to -10 sometimes).
Not sure what I'm going to do about water yet, though the nipple system sounded like the best option so far.

There are steel aquarium heaters that have been on the market now for about 10 years. No exposed anything and zero chance of anything breaking. A good pet store can special order them for you. I used to work in one years ago and they are more expensive but they don't break and they're good in terrariums especially with turtles who smash them and dump their heavy rocks on them.

I have an open design like AccioSarah has except mine looks more like a refugee camp.

The west side we double coated in thick clear plastic and stacked up firewood halfway up. On the east side we also stacked up firewood. I like the straw bale idea so I think we'll get some bales and stack them up all the way around leaving a space to vent on the top south and bottom north. Our winds come from the west here. Our coop is downhill about 200 feet and I shovel through the grass from the door to the coop and make trails around the yard. We don't get as much snow as in the north(where I was born in northeast Ohio). We have a 30X20 foot shop up off the ground and I shovel a path to it so they can bathe in the dirt under than and I also shovel other patchways here and there that I would normally do anyways. Snow doesn't collect around the foundation of the house so they walk the perimeter and they can go in the garage which is also a dirt floor. We give them lots of extras that we collect from family as well. Nothing goes to waste in the winter. We pour hot water in their bucket to thaw and refresh the ice in the morning. Once a week or sooner we dumped the ice cube and refilled with warm/hot water. We worried fiercely at first but we're out to the coop at *least* 3 times daily. I never thought to give them oatmeal until I read it here and why not? They loved it! Whatever we didn't finish we gave to them as well.

We had no idea at all that they needed cracked corn so they could stay warmer on even colder nights until an aunt informed us. We'll be stocking up on that this winter. We have a large galvanized trash can that I used to mix wild bird seed in. We plan to mix cracked corn, scratch, layer pellets, and BOSS in it for them this winter.

 

[SportChick]

I am N. Louisiana, 7B for the gardeners, only get about 2 weeks total of freezing weather. We were much more concerned about the hot summer temps than the winter when we built the coop. We have a shingled roof with a ridge vent and it is hardware cloth on 3 sides. We were planning on putting plexiglass over most of the hardware cloth sides, leaving a bit at the top of the coop to leave about 6 inches all around to allow ventilation.

My question is this: We left even the floor of the coop, which is raised about 4 feet off the ground, with only hardware cloth because we wanted any breeze to get through in the summer. I had planned to put my compost pile under the coop so the chickens would scratch at it during the day and then in would provide a heat source from below in the winter. Unfortunately, since it's a new coop and the door to access the compost area hasn't been built yet by DH, can I still leave that open or should I cover it with shavings? We are typically in the upper 30's for a few months. Will they do Ok with that?

Do I have to have a light source? My chickens are only 17 weeks old, so are not laying yet, but I am counting on eggs eventually!

 

[sunflowerenvy]

at what temperature would you start putting vasiline on there combs for them so they don't get frost bite?