Official BYC Poll: With Winter Upon Us, What Preparations Have You Made For Your Chickens?

[WingsysRoost]

Do u concern yourself with the type of dried leaves? I use oak and read they are poisonous to chickens! I filled my run with them for our winter ground cover

I just tossed whatever was on the ground into the run - mostly maple and oak, some catalpa, probably some honey locust if any leaves made it to that portion of the yard. They scratch in the oak leaves while free ranging, too, since part of their portion of the yard contains a large oak tree.

They don't appear to be having problems after free ranging with them and having them in the run for almost a year. That’s just my personal experience.

I could definitely see them having issues if they tried to eat them, as my dog once became very ill from eating too many acorns as a puppy. I tried to stop him and didn't realize how many he had managed to get. My chickens thankfully don't appear to have much interest in eating them, though. I believe the tannins contained in the leaves and acorns are the main issue when they are eaten, but my chickens are more interested in scratching in them and pulverizing them into soil.

 

[3KillerBs]

Do u concern yourself with the type of dried leaves? I use oak and read they are poisonous to chickens! I filled my run with them for our winter ground cover

They don't eat dry, brown leaves.

 

[My Very First 6 Chickens]

I've cleaned both their coop and their run out thoroughly. The run got a nice new layer of fall leaves for them to scratch in and the coop got fresh bedding.

I'm slacking a bit on other winter prep, though in my defense there has been a lot going on the past few months. Chaos as usual! lol Everything is just getting done a little bit at a time now.

I still need to get a heated waterer prepped, and I'd like to prepare a winter area (other than their coop) so they have a bit of variety when snow prevents them from free-ranging fully. I also need to windproof the coop since it gets very cold and windy here in January and February.

Do u concern yourself with the type of dried leaves? I use oak and read they are poisonous to chickens! I filled my run with them for our winter ground cover

Just tarped the bottom 4 feet of our run today. High winds and a little snow are coming through (probably the edge of what Buffalo has been dealing with). The girls were all huddled in the corner of the run this morning. Now they are moving about and scratching around. I could feel a difference with the tarp up…I’m sure they like it better now too. Still cold, but no wind directly on them.

Same weather! Just let them out and my poor, molting Patient was shivering! I quickly brought her inside for a warm meal and random curiosity about how she is. I dont know if she was shivering in the run with the 4ft tarp wrapped all around. I sure hope not. Its not even that cold yet. Maybe they just have to get used to it a bit more. Last winter they were 30 wks old and breezed through winter it seemed. This year it takes a bit more to get them goin' in the morning, lol. Good luck Flock <3

 

[My Very First 6 Chickens]

They don't eat dry, brown leaves.

yeah, but, the way they peck stuff on the ground, and when I throw scratch down in the run, I gotta assume some leaves are getting eaten. I'll continue with my watchful eye for concerns. Witnessing molting for the first time, and my gal Patient has taken it pretty hard with weight loss, super pale comb, loose poop for awhile, very thirsty, and sleeping in the nest. I just hope that those symptoms are not from eating the leaves. The learning curve is for real! Shes got normal energy and poops and eats normally too.