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

[Rick589]

My flock seem to be a bit less active here and there in winter and when it is really cold, they look even more quiet. I make sure to give them vitamin drink, extra heavy duty protein, garlic and apple cider vinegar to bring them through winter.

Our winter here is mild, no snow, but there are a handful of night that the temperature gone to to 9C=48F, that is not that cold compare to other part of the world.

48 is a cool evening

 

[SkyAJK]

48 is a cool evening

For us is cold because we used to a warmer weather, our state is known for being sunshine and our winter is mild.

 

[dawg53]

Anything below 60 degrees is freezing to me. I bundle up. I'm used to the heat and high humidity. My chickens love cooler, occasional cold temps. We might have a couple of days of below freezing temps and it's important to keep their water from freezing over.

 

[KmKmuLu shoes]

别让泥球沾到它们的脚趾上。这真是个永无止境的故事。只要丝羽乌骨鸡能找到泥土，它们就会沾满泥巴。

我!!! PLEASE REPORT THIS IMMEDIATELY !!!为这些鞋子可以帮到我

 

[TOMTE]

They're predicting a particularly rough winter coming up for Michigan. This past winter was pretty mild, spring came early. Now they're calling for a lot of snow and cold from the Alberta clippers and the polar vortex going kind of crazy. I wonder how my girls will handle their first "real" Michigan winter?

I'm not too worried about keeping water thawed, we have a heated waterer that's supposed to work down to -20°F or something like that. It worked well last year even when we did get low temp dips. Hopefully it stays working.

Now we only have 4 hens instead of 5 to keep locked in our crappy little coop at night so that's a tiny bit less poop build-up. We should have a nice thick layer of bedding in the coop by the time winter rolls around though. Deep bedding method got us thru winter without having to change out the bedding at all. Going to have to collect tons of leaves for the run to keep the ground in there from freezing. And build a roof over the new open portion of the run. And winterize it. And add a lot more clutter since they're going to go stir crazy. Preparing for winter is a lot of work.

I have to worry about frostbite more this coming winter since the girls' combs and wattles are full size now. Fingers crossed it won't be a wet winter.

 

[Beau plus penny]

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!

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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!)

we will see when winter comes

 

[BigBlueHen53]

I did not check off any items on the poll. We have all those items covered. We are prepared for winter! We have heated water dishes... ventilation is good, no drafts ... small-combed birds so no worries about frostbite ... hoarding eggs until mid-February when we will start supplementing light ... the coop stays dry, and I clean poop trays daily ... predators are no more of a problem in winter than any other time, which is to say, not at all ...
Managing feed consumption and weight maintenance, not a problem ..
Handling snow or icy conditions in the run, they usually don't come out in the snow so we scatter wood chips on top of the snow ...
Preventing respiratory issues from dampness or ammonia buildup, the coop door is open all day so that doesn't happen, we're well ventilated ...

So basically it's a well-run operation, we've been doing this long enough that we've covered all bases and resolved all issues. We anticipate no problems.