Preparing Your Flock & Coop for WINTER

[mainechicklet]

Beekissed, I agree with you. But in the middle of winter, the local sanctuary was called to a local farm animal hoarder who had 60+ chickens (plus 20 sheep, goats, rabbits, horses).....every breed in the mags. I adopted them from the sanctuary. I didn't know what breeds they were until I got home and started researching. And it didn't really matter because they would've lived either with me or 20 miles down the road at the crowded sanctuary. They seem to be fine with the exception of my one who shouldn't be molting in Jan anyway. I really prefer not to kill her because she's very cold for one month and fine for 11 months. Btw: some of them are missing toes from their past hoarder life, including my NN who has no toes at all. Sad.

 

[Beekissed]

Boy, you got that right! When he was hatched, it was in the upper 60s and I stupidly thought there should have been time for him to grow and feather before winter set in. Who could have foreseen going from almost 70 degrees on Halloween night to 17 below zero less than 26 hours later! Never again! As much as we liked Scout and as well as he did, it's MY responsibility to keep the flock in a way that allows every member to have the best shot, and looking back at it now I see that my enthusiasm and inexperience made one of the critters I was responsible for suffer. Never again!

Same here, Miss Blooie...I too am guilty of flock mismanagement when I hatched in the fall as well. That was the first time I'd ever had birds taken by a hawk in my free range history, simply because I stepped outside what is natural. Never again. It's ill advised to have young stock on the ground when migrating hawks come through hungry and on the move and there are no other young animals in the woods for the taking.

We live, we try and we learn. There's no shame in it, only shame in doing the same thing over and over again, expecting different results. That speaks of a stubborn, willful ignorance that bodes no good for the chickens in our care.

 

[Beekissed]

Beekissed, I agree with you. But in the middle of winter, the local sanctuary was called to a local farm animal hoarder who had 60+ chickens (plus 20 sheep, goats, rabbits, horses).....every breed in the mags. I adopted them from the sanctuary. I didn't know what breeds they were until I got home and started researching. And it didn't really matter because they would've lived either with me or 20 miles down the road at the crowded sanctuary. They seem to be fine with the exception of my one who shouldn't be molting in Jan anyway. I really prefer not to kill her because she's very cold for one month and fine for 11 months. Btw: some of them are missing toes from their past hoarder life, including my NN who has no toes at all. Sad.

Sad, but you have the power to correct the wrongs. I'd cull all of those birds missing digits and that are unsuitable for your climate, giving them a quick end instead of a lingering, uncomfortable life. Two wrongs do not make a right and our "compassion" can get in the way of common sense and true compassion towards the animals in our care.

Whether in your home or the sanctuary down the road, the fact remains that keeping an animal alive that is going to continue to suffer in one way or another in their lives by living there or living without all their toes is rather cruel. It's an effort that makes one appear to be very kind and compassionate but it doesn't take the quality of life into consideration at all.

Birds that are crippled often suffer in social aspects within a flock, either from getting picked upon or being unable to adjust to their weakness. Their owners claim they "seem happy" and "are doing fine" but, in reality, they tend to be isolated quite a bit due to their deformity. They can either react to that in developing defensive, aggressive tendencies or they will self isolate so they won't be pecked upon so much. There's exceptions to every rule, it's true, but for the most part it's instinct on the flock's part to drive weak birds from the flock.

Blooie found that out when she kept her cockerel with the crippled feet....soon he was engaging in behavior that was decidedly unnatural, showing abnormal aggression towards his own hens and hurting them in ways that a rooster should never do to a hen.

As for those not suited for the environment, they may do just fine but as you've already noted, they aren't exactly comfortable. My hen that was bald during winter didn't show any signs whatsoever that she was any more cold than the others. I placed my hand on her as she roosted and the skin was very warm. If it had not been, if she had been noticeably shivering, I'd have taken mercy on her and culled her. It's not a kindness to let an animal suffer, nor is it a great solution to heat a coop and overheat all the other birds for a single bird's benefit.

Of course, that's just my opinion and another can take it or leave it, as they see fit. Everyone has to do what is right in their own world and minds and will answer for that and give their own accounting, so one cannot dictate to another how to proceed.

 

[Blooie]

For any of you who aren't familiar with the Scout that Bee and I keep talking about, here is a link to his story.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/frostbitten-feet-the-adventures-of-scout

 

[NTBugtraq]

My (then) sole rooster lost his toe and comb last winter due to my mismanagement of their watering solution. It failed 5 times (iow, it leaked 5 times, two very significantly), causing a lot of water on the ground. That was my first winter with chickens and the thought of frostbite never even crossed my mind. Even missing a toe and comb, he consistently provided ~80% fertility rate for some 300 eggs I set this year. I guess I've been lucky. Five weeks ago he's managed to allow 2 18-week-old cockerels to mix into the flock plus 30 odd new pullets...and still keep his role.

I guess we will see how well I've done in terms of young birds. Right now I have 69 birds of various ages (from 4 weeks-4day, to 16 weeks-5day) in my other pen, plus another 36 chicks who are 1 week-3day old today. I move birds from the brooder to outdoors at 4 weeks, so we will see how they fare.

 

[cicknmama]

For any of you who aren't familiar with the Scout that Bee and I keep talking about, here is a link to his story.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/frostbitten-feet-the-adventures-of-scout

Thanks for posting that link. What a great rescue. Don't know if I would have had the patience. I do have a question? I recently hung a bucket waterer with nipples on the bottom. It drips when the girls drink and there is a wet spot on the ground. Reading Scouts story made me question if this was a good idea for winter. The hens and Roo's wattles get wet and they stand on the wet ground under the bucket. I plan on spreading down hay in the run which will help with the wet ground, but should I be concerned about the wet wattles? I can make a bucket with vertical nipples if that will help any?

 

[Blooie]

Thanks for posting that link. What a great rescue. Don't know if I would have had the patience. I do have a question? I recently hung a bucket waterer with nipples on the bottom. It drips when the girls drink and there is a wet spot on the ground. Reading Scouts story made me question if this was a good idea for winter. The hens and Roo's wattles get wet and they stand on the wet ground under the bucket. I plan on spreading down hay in the run which will help with the wet ground, but should I be concerned about the wet wattles? I can make a bucket with vertical nipples if that will help any?

What happened to Scout was, I still believe, a fluke - a combination of many things that probably wouldn't have been noticed had they happened singularly, but when they all happened at once the result was his frostbitten feet. The adult chickens were never once bothered by the slight, occasional drip of the horizontal nipples we had. Any rogue drips went into the deep bedding and sank down to be absorbed slowly in the bottom layers of the litter. But Scout was tiny, and he had to stand on the bricks to reach the nipples. There is where any water puddled rather than sink down, and our temps went from a very balmy upper 60 degree day to minus 17 in the course of 26 hours. It wasn't predicted by the weather service, nor did my old hip know it was coming! We believe that standing in the water on the brick in the coop, then following Mom outside into the run was Scout's downfall.

No other chickens had any issues all winter, even during our sub-zero days and nights. We had issues with the nipples freezing a couple of times, but Ken hit them with the heat gun for a few minutes while I did morning chores, and by the time I was done the water was again flowing for the girls. I use vertical nipples for new chicks for the first few days when I brood them in their outdoor pen, and they do drip significantly more than the horizontal ones do. With the horizontal ones, sometimes water gets caught up in the tiny little cup and when temps plummet that drip freezes...followed by another the next time one of the chickens uses it. If they don't drink those little cups almost dry, the little bit of water in them freezes and so on, until there is enough ice to form icicles. The vertical nipples, however, drip every time a chicken drink, or bumps into one with her back, or bumps into the hanging waterer can even be enough to send a few more drops out of the nipple. For that reason, as soon as I see that the chicks know how to trip the mechanism, they are switched to horizontal nipples. Those just keep the area drier all the way around, I think.

 

[cicknmama]

What happened to Scout was, I still believe, a fluke - a combination of many things that probably wouldn't have been noticed had they happened singularly, but when they all happened at once the result was his frostbitten feet.  The adult chickens were never once bothered by the slight, occasional drip of the horizontal nipples we had.  Any rogue drips went into the deep bedding and sank down to be absorbed slowly in the bottom layers of the litter.  But Scout was tiny, and he had to stand on the bricks to reach the nipples.  There is where any water puddled rather than sink down, and our temps went from a very balmy upper 60 degree day to minus 17 in the course of 26 hours.  It wasn't predicted by the weather service, nor did my old hip know it was coming!  We believe that standing in the water on the brick in the coop, then following Mom outside into the run was Scout's downfall.  

No other chickens had any issues all winter, even during our sub-zero days and nights.  We had issues with the nipples freezing a couple of times, but Ken hit them with the heat gun for a few minutes while I did morning chores, and by the time I was done the water was again flowing for the girls. I use vertical nipples for new chicks for the first few days when I brood them in their outdoor pen, and they do drip significantly more than the horizontal ones do.  With the horizontal ones, sometimes water gets caught up in the tiny little cup and when temps plummet that drip freezes...followed by another the next time one of the chickens uses it.  If they don't drink those little cups almost dry, the little bit of water in them freezes and so on, until there is enough ice to form icicles.  The vertical nipples, however, drip every time a chicken drink, or bumps into one with her back, or bumps into the hanging waterer can even be enough to send a few more drops out of the nipple.  For that reason, as soon as I see that the chicks know how to trip the mechanism, they are switched to horizontal nipples.  Those just keep the area drier all the way around, I think.

Thanks Blooie!!! I don't like how the nipples drip so much, but my goal was to try and give everyone as much space this winter as possible. Trying to keep everything off the ground. I will keep a close eye on them and see how they do. We are expecting our first snow this week...

so not ready for winter!

 

[Blooie]

Thanks Blooie!!! I don't like how the nipples drip so much, but my goal was to try and give everyone as much space this winter as possible. Trying to keep everything off the ground. I will keep a close eye on them and see how they do. We are expecting our first snow this week...

so not ready for winter!

You are so very welcome. You know, you can hang a bucket with horizontal nipples just as easily as the ones with vertical nipples. We put a stock tank heater in ours and the water never froze - just the occasional freezing of the nipples with some of the purtiest icicles you ever saw!

But I'd still far rather they have access to clean water at all times and just use the heat gun to thaw any icicles that form than haul water out constantly. It didn't happen all the time - seemed if we hit below that -17 mark then we had issues, but other than that we were fine. This year we are putting in a new bucket with the nipples located up a bit higher on it and putting it in the run. The run is covered with plastic, ala greenhouse, and it's usually warmer than the coop.

 

[FlippingHills]

This is my first year having chickens and I'm trying to figure out sizing for this winter. They are currently in pens that I move daily but this winter, I want them in a non-movable structure. I am planning on building a hoop house for them for the winter with plastic covering (then we will use it for a garden in spring).

My big question is how much space do I need for 52 hens (28-11 month old layers and 24- 2 month olds who will begin laying in Jan/Feb)? I plan on putting them in the same hoop house but with a divider between the two groups.