Official BYC Poll: What’s the most challenging part of chicken keeping for you during winter?

[gtaus]

Cold is actually painful to me. So my biggest problem, or challenge, in winter, is motivating myself to go out and do my chicken chores, which I normally enjoy. I just have to dress warmly and bite the bullet, so to speak, take my courage in hand and go out there and do it.

The older I get, the more the cold weather affects me, too. Although I am native to Minnesota, I damaged my lungs many years ago while I was in the service overseas and now, I cannot handle prolonged exposure to cold. I not only bundle up with layers of clothes, but when it gets really cold outside (-30F to -40F) I have to cover my mouth with a scarf to protect myself from breathing in the cold air directly.

I try to pick the warmest time of day to go out and throw a little scratch, clean the poop trays and gather eggs.

I use the dry deep bedding method and have no poop trays. I just toss on fresh bedding on top of the old bedding all winter long. I only clean out the chicken coop twice a year. Late in the fall before the first snowfall, and then again in spring after everything thaws out and can be cleaned out. Frozen poo is rock hard like concrete. I just cannot imagine cleaning poop trays in the winter.

 

[AGeese]

The main issue for me is when the goose bucket freezes to the floor.

 

[Debbie292d]

I grow barley fodder every winter in the snow months. It is the only greens that my chickens get for about 6 months out of the year. They love it. Plus, my egg yolks are a much darker orange color than if they only had commercial feed for the winter....

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I think if you use a 2X4 laid flat as a roosting bar, the chickens can tuck their legs and feet up into their feathers and keep their legs warm and free of frostbite. I have not had any problems with frostbite legs or feet in the 4 winters I have had backyard flocks. And we get temps as low as -30F to -40F in the dead of every winter for about a week or so.

I've been using some store-bought plastic trays and hard red winter wheat and growing that. Once I let it get out of hand and it was about 7-8" tall. They love it all the same. Just then the roots get thick.
Same here about the only greens they get for about 6 months unless we stop and pick up a bunch of kale at the grocery store.

 

[Debbie292d]

Comb frostbite is always the biggest one for me, specifically with temperatures below -10F paired with humidity of about 98%. On those max humidity days, my nostrils start filling with ice as soon as I step outside. That's in the best ventillated environment (the outdoors) and in still air. For my flocks, a lot has ended up being down to the invidiaul bird and whether they are able to keep good circulation and therefore warmth in their comb, so thick combs do better than thin, etc. Birds that get purple tips in milder chilly weather are more likely to get toasted tips if they can't get the comb far enough into their feathers.

Sometimes water is another big one for me. I haven't had to worry about it for a while, but I was recently reminded of it because I had to take up a couple extension cords to let vehicles through the area for a few days in nasty temps. So much hauling water...since if you want it to stay thawed it has to be a pretty decent volume, and just breaking the ice on top only keeps the liquid accessible for a quick sip - it hardens up again quite fast if the water isn't warmer. I've got my heated bases plugged in again today and very much appreciate them.

If the humidity is that high where you are, and in your coop too, we had issues when we first started about 9 years ago. The windows would weep and ice over and the walls ran it was so bad. We had zero ventilation, doh, and hubby didn't believe me in the beginning until he saw that. I am surprised we didn't kill any chickens as mold can start growing at 70% humidity, and higher than that, they'll be susceptible to URIs, plus the ammonia that builds up will cause those too.

So what we did is put in a 5-gallon nipple waterer, so no open water. That's heated with an aquarium heater on any sub-zero days as the coop is heated to 40F, so normally it won't freeze. We put horse bedding pellets on the floor and in the nests. That absorbs the poop, thus the moisture of it that causes ammonia buildup is gone, so no odors. That took care of most of the humidity problem right there, but to get a bit more, he refused to cut a vent in anywhere, so took out a window and installed a digital exhaust fan, and a vent in the human door. That fan is the only actual ventilation which rarely runs.

Right this minute, I checked. The humidity outside is 85% (Shawano, Wisconsin), coop is 61%. It's been this way for about 8 years, and never a sick chicken that lived in this coop.

 

[Debbie292d]

The main issue for me is when the goose bucket freezes to the floor.

How big is it? A wonder if you found or cut a board for it to sit on, it wouldn't freeze to the floor, but if it froze to the board, at least you could get that off of it.

 

[AGeese]

How big is it? A wonder if you found or cut a board for it to sit on, it wouldn't freeze to the floor, but if it froze to the board, at least you could get that off of it.

It freezes to whatever I put it on and then that freezes to the floor too. It's like a 5 gallon.

 

[Debbie292d]

I've heard about snow blindness in chickens— something like, if the ground is covered in snow, the world may as well not exist. I wonder, if you gradually work on coaxing them out, if maybe they'll realize that there is ground to step on and get over it. And then teach future chicks the same thing!

I'm sure of this snow blind thing as a couple of times every single winter, we have to pluck a few chickens out of the snow because, for some unknown reason, they freaked out on the path back to the coop at night and flopped up into the snow, then got stuck. (Silkies flop, they don't fly too well, if at all).

Last winter, it was during a blizzard at nightfall, and we bundled up to go lock up the coops. I saw something odd to my right and trudged over to it to find a black hen, then heard the others and found three more. They were already getting snowed on so harder to see, plus it was almost dark. All four were stuck where they were about three to four feet from the path. Makes no sense, and we blame it on silkies not being the smartest chickens out there, but actually, they were blinded and scared.

 

[Debbie292d]

It freezes to whatever I put it on and then that freezes to the floor too. It's like a 5 gallon.

Would it maybe fit into a large kitty litter bin? It's too late for me to run out and see as we have their dust bath in one of those bins. I think a 5-gallon bucket should fit in there. Then most of the water mess they make should splash or run down the side of the bucket into the bin. Maybe that would work?

 

[AGeese]

Would it maybe fit into a large kitty litter bin? It's too late for me to run out and see as we have their dust bath in one of those bins. I think a 5-gallon bucket should fit in there. Then most of the water mess they make should splash or run down the side of the bucket into the bin. Maybe that would work?

The geese drip so much the entire thing becomes a great bucket of ice. I have a potiential solution which is to switch back to a heating stand. I'm using a heated bucket that I spent decent money on. The water inside is fine, but the outside gets completely iced over.

 

[2rbeal]

Hi Everyone,
I am new to this forum and chickens. I don't have severe cold weather in my area, I would say it can get down to about 32 degrees, very rarely colder, but does happen. I get up every morning before work and feed my chickens veggies, scratch and meal worms or fly large. At night I give them a little veggies, plus they have their normal feed. Sounds like my chickens are spoiled from what I hear. Am I doing to much for them. They have nice thick shells & bright yolks I am guessing because of how they eat. They don't free ranch because i have concerns of predators and the new dog we just got, but they do have an enclosed run they go in. I change the water every 2 days roughly depending on how it looks, but I also put pro & prebiotic or ACV in the water. None the less I am averaging about 2-4 eggs per day. Although my 2yrs ish EE is not producing now for some reason. Maybe she is getting older and it is stopping. So far things have gone well, but there are always challenges.

Any tips for integrating my 2 new hens? The others all pick on them. How long does it take to get everyone in a rhythm? I have them separated for the most part, but do allow them together during the day which is worrisome to watch. Any thoughts are appreciated.
Thank you and Happy New Year.