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

[BYC Project Manager]

Winter brings a unique set of challenges for chicken keepers, from freezing water to protecting your flock from the cold in extreme weather. Each of us faces different hurdles and develops creative ways to manage them.

What’s the most challenging part of chicken keeping for you during the winter, and how do you tackle it? Share your experiences and pick up tips from fellow chicken enthusiasts in the community!

Further Reading:

• Winter-Coop-Temperatures
• Winter Chicken Keeping
• Caring For Chickens in the Winter
• Winter Chicken Predators To Look Out For
• Insulating The Chicken Coop for Winter

(Check out more exciting Official BYC Polls HERE!)

 

[Debbie292d]

*Keeping the coop clean and dry -- the horse bedding pellets in the coop keep that clean and dry, but the breeding pen had poop piles on the railing in front of their nest box, frozen solid!

We put a cozy coop underneath the nest boxes and set it up so it hits the bottom side. A two-fold bonus...the poop softened so I could scrape it out, and their eggs didn't freeze for once!

We left it out there and found one silkie likes it as for the past two nights we've had it that way, she's been sleeping next to it instead of up with the rest of them.

 

[K0k0shka]

I live in a cold climate and have covered my bases well enough that winter isn't actually challenging for me and my flock (especially now that we get less and less snow). So the biggest hurdle for me is to muster up the willingness to actually go out there in person I have a large heated waterer that holds about a week's worth of water, their feeder holds several weeks', they have a covered, predator-proof run that they never leave, an automated coop door, and cameras both inside and outside. They don't lay in the winter, so nothing to collect, and my setup is such that I clean the coop twice a year. The idea was to work smarter, not harder, and bring human labor to an absolute minimum. So technically, I don't HAVE to go out there every day... I can keep an eye on them on the cameras, and the setup runs itself for quite a while. I must admit, on especially frigid days I skip the trek. Sometimes for multiple days at a time. So my biggest hardship is battling the guilt of staying in my nice warm house...

 

[rosemarythyme]

Handling snow or icy conditions in the run - The birds won't come out if there's snow, so gotta shovel pathways to food and water and to give them outdoor space. We don't generally get too much snow, but if it's actively snowing a lot during the day that means I need to make multiple trips out to shovel shovel shovel. And to knock snow off the netting.

Other - If wind driven rain/sleet gets in around the coop door, and mingles with dirt/bedding debris there, the door freezes shut . I've gone as far as taking a blow dryer out there just to get into the coop, if I haven't been inside in a few days.

Thankfully the pop door is much better sheltered (installed inside not out) so I've only had it freeze once.

Latches to run door have frozen shut too but those I can just pour warm water on to loosen.

 

[21hens-incharge]

Keeping water from freezing is challenging.
This year I have finally purchased enough heated water dishes. I am also only running 2 coops which helped a ton. In years past I had 3 coops and the duck house to deal with.

Keeping the coop clean and dry means kicking myself enough to get out there and just grit through the cold while cleaning things.
Having enough space in the coop for the number of birds really helps keep things cleaner.

 

[tripletfeb]

My girls stay in the coop if so much as one snowflake falls. Then they refuse to come out for days. Their food and water are in the coop, heated water buckets and enough food to last for a week. But I feel bad that they don't come out and I envision them picking on each other out of boredom. Tomorrow, I'm going to put straw out in the run to cover the snow. Hopefully they will come out then

 

[KyCoop]

I gave my girls (and boy) chopped kale and spring greens yesterday as they have not had any "grass" for over a week now. I found it helps a little with egg production and they really like it.

 

[Rick589]

Feeling guilty that they’re out there and we’re in here.

 

[Debbie292d]

My girls stay in the coop if so much as one snowflake falls. Then they refuse to come out for days. Their food and water are in the coop, heated water buckets and enough food to last for a week. But I feel bad that they don't come out and I envision them picking on each other out of boredom. Tomorrow, I'm going to put straw out in the run to cover the snow. Hopefully they will come out then

That will probably work!
How much snow do you have? Ours will come out if we make paths. If it’s light and fluffy, a leaf blower or broom can make quick work of it. If it’s more, we shovel them an area, and eventually snow blower paths.

 

[TOMTE]

This is my first winter with chickens and I haven't noticed any issues so far— we wrapped the run with landscaping cloth and greenhouse plastic (we get some nasty winds in winter), got a heated waterer, and have switched over from layer feed (which they shouldn't have been on anyways yet, but it's what my aunt bought) to 20% protein all flock feed. There isn't as much clutter as I'd like in the run, but there are leaves to scratch in, branches to get up on, things to get on and under and behind, and the ground hasn't frozen in the run so they take dirt baths regularly. So there's plenty to keep them busy.

Egg production isn't something I'm worried about. At 6 months old, only Sybil is laying so far but she's laid one egg a day since the end of November. Any breaks my hens end up taking from laying are welcome in my eyes; less of a chance for reproductive issues down the line.

Only thing I hate is the coop. Small, cheap, drafty prefab. But with the run wrapped for winter, drafts aren't really an issue. I worry about ventilation but no problems so far.

Since they're stuck in the run for the winter we don't have to worry about hawks, which I see around all the time. When the girls were still free ranging (up until sometime in October or November) there were 4 or 5 hawk attacks that I know of. Never lost a chicken but there were a few close calls. I do worry a bit about ground predators because our run isn't the most secure, but again, no issues so far.

But this is just my first chicken winter. There are plenty of winters left for problems to arise. I love threads like this for the advice that's given!