Little Ladies

heatherb47

Hatching
Aug 21, 2016
7
0
7
3 buff orps and 3 red sex
400


The cage here is temporary until the coop arrives on Wednesday.

I'm wondering about fermentig their feed and what I can do to keep them comfy this winter.
 
A lot of what your chickens will need for winter depends on where you are located.

The main thing is protection from the weather while keeping good ventilation.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/...-go-out-there-and-cut-more-holes-in-your-coop

This is a very good article on ventilation.

Your chickens are young yet and probably wont be roosting for a while. Adding more pine shavings during winter is a good idea.

Adding heat is not such a good idea. Many people lose entire flocks each year to heat lamps and fires. The chickens will need to be acclimated to the cold which will help them grow the extra feathers they will need. Then you need not worry if the power goes out or a hen knocks a heat lamp down.

I see many people using heat lamps in a VERY confined space which can also cause bad burns on the poor hens. When a chicken sleeps they are super out of it and wont move even if they are getting far to warm.
 
Thank you so much for taking the time to reply. I will read up thank you. I am in Northern Utah and a decent winter is predicted. Snow as early as 1st week of Nov.
 
I ferment the feed for my flock, including chick starter. It's easy to do, doesn't take much time/effort on a daily basis, and provides benefits that I am in favor of for my chickens. For one thing, it prevents the wastage of feed that I can see in your photo. :)
 
I, too, ferment my feed, including the chick starter, except this last time with just a single chick, she got the fermented all flock feed and did splendidly.

The only drawback with feeding FF to very new chicks is that they have a strong drive to get into their food and wallow around in it. I've even heard of chicks drowning in very wet FF.

I have solved this by using very, very small cups to feed FF to chicks in the first couple weeks. I take those plastic icing cups that come in ready-to-bake breakfast sweet rolls, and I glue something heavy to the bottom such as a heavy metal washer. This weighs them down so they aren't tipped over.

By the time chicks are two weeks old, you can begin feeding them from a larger dish, such as a heavy ceramic cat bowl. They've gotten used to eating their food by standing in front of it, not in it.
 
I feed ff also but when I have a mama who likes to scratch in her feed for her chicks wait till they are about 2 weeks before starting ff.I just have the ff moistened enough mama doesn't dig in it like she does dry.
 
Thanks for everyones reply I did a quick search on how to ferment feed and I'm going to get started. These gals are old enough. I bought the older chicks so theyd have time to grow feathers before winter. If you guys see this can you provide any advice on how to stop them from picking on one of the girls? All of them seem to go after one of the little reds theyre pecking at amd ripping out her tail feathers. I isolated her with another for 24 hours and it stopped. When I put her back in she seemed to have more fight in her but they are still going right to it. Shes able to eat no other worries but owie theres blood on her little tail feathers.
 
Go get a product called "Blue kote" and apply it to the wound. It's an antiseptic but also will mask the presence of a wound through the blue dye (use gloves when applying or you will have blue hands). Chickens will not leave wounds alone, pecking the affected animal to death so it's important to address quickly. You may want to isolate her again until then.
 
Thanks for everyones reply I did a quick search on how to ferment feed and I'm going to get started. These gals are old enough. I bought the older chicks so theyd have time to grow feathers before winter. If you guys see this can you provide any advice on how to stop them from picking on one of the girls? All of them seem to go after one of the little reds theyre pecking at amd ripping out her tail feathers. I isolated her with another for 24 hours and it stopped. When I put her back in she seemed to have more fight in her but they are still going right to it. Shes able to eat no other worries but owie theres blood on her little tail feathers.
I like this one.. https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/no-strain-hot-water-easy-fermented-feed-method-w-video Blue kote is the best stuff out there for masking wounds.
 

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