Preparing Your Flock & Coop for WINTER

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Both welsummer and Wyandotte tend to one of the first breed to stop laying. Mine don't lay through the winter nor the summer. Neither is a high production breed.

I wouldn't put any lights in the coop at night as it will disrupt their sleep. A closed up coop isn't good no matter how cold it is. I would post a photo of your set up and start a new thread asking about the ventilation issue in the coop forum or even the managing your flock forum, you might get some great ideas.

 

[Goronson Chicks]

Both welsummer and Wyandotte tend to one of the first breed to stop laying. Mine don't lay through the winter nor the summer. Neither is a high production breed.

I wouldn't put any lights in the coop at night as it will disrupt their sleep. A closed up coop isn't good no matter how cold it is. I would post a photo of your set up and start a new thread asking about the ventilation issue in the coop forum or even the managing your flock forum, you might get some great ideas.

Yes, thank you! All of this is a wealth of information for us who are newer at keeping chickens & just starting out! We live about an hour north of San Francisco. No snow, but we do get frost on a few really cold nights, which for us is like 25 degrees! LOL! Nevertheless, I always worry about our girls when it gets even slightly cold & I've been bugging my hubby to help me figure out a way to keep them warmer at night, but now reading some of these posts where chickens do just fine in temps of -25 degrees, it makes me feel a little silly, but much better! Chickens seem to be much more hardy, adaptive birds than I gave them credit for! Currently in our coop, we use shavings inside & outside their enclosed area even though they are allowed to roam the backyard & even at times sneaking into the front yard! A couple times they must have been curious about how the "other side" lives & even went inside the house! At night they're all closed up inside their "laying" area where their nest boxes are. We don't leave any doors or windows open, but now that I've also been reading about humidity it makes me wonder about our set-up. Although, their food & water is never closed in with them overnight I wouldn't want it to get humid in there! Someone suggested putting Christmas lights in where they sleep. Anyone ever heard about this practice? Now it sounds kind of unsafe & we would never want to do anything to risk their safety! Our chickens are like members of our family & if anything were to happen to them everyone, but especially our children would be beyond devastated!
Also, while I'm here I might as well ask! Any ideas on how to get more egg production in these darker, colder months? We have 3 Wellsummers & 2 Silver-Laced Wyandottes. Right now we're lucky to get an egg or two a week! They did lay their first egg right as Fall was coming in, so they're still young. Could that have anything to do with it? We're adding to our flock as Springtime gets closer, but for now we want to make sure we do right by the 5 girls we have

! Any tips, thoughts, advice, all greatly appreciated!

We have 3-year-old Gold-Laced Wyandottes in our flock and they still lay at least every other day, if not every day, all through winter. We also have 3-year-old Polish girls and they are doing the same. (I mention these becasueI've read that they are not good layers, but this has proven to be different for us. I'm not sure why except that we do put lights on in the coops starting in the fall. (Our breeder actually recommended starting the lights in August, but we never seem to make it that early.)

We also use shavings inside the coops and clean out once per week and completely replace with new shavings. (Have never missed a weekly cleaning.) We use a Cozy Legs flat panel heater in the winter months and our ventilation is up high where it can't throw a draft on the birds. We use Poulin Egg Production with crumbles and also try to feed fresh fruit and veggies all winter, too.

I've just started putting grapefruit seed extract into their water and ordered oregano oil, which is on its way. It gets very cold here in Maine.

I've also just started keeping a daily egg production chart by egg color which is helping me to determine which birds are laying best.

So far these things are working and we get good egg production all year, although like everyone else the darker winter days and and freezing temps do reduce the # we get each day.

 

[sarandrew11]

How do the little silkie bantam hold up in the eastern pa winter?

 

[Blooie]

I'm not in PA, but if you look in the middle of the shot, among the first chickens out of the coop when their door was opened, you'll see how two of my Silkies deal with a winter in northwestern Wyoming, not too far from Yellowstone Park. It was 9 degrees the day this was taken. The rest of the chickens came out a few minutes later.

 

[e72071]

In reading some of the posts in this thread I'm starting to second guess myself. We are getting 16 chicks and have an 8.5x8.5 coop with a 24x24 run. Is that big enough for 16 birds?

 

[aart]

In reading some of the posts in this thread I'm starting to second guess myself. We are getting 16 chicks and have an 8.5x8.5 coop with a 24x24 run. Is that big enough for 16 birds?

It's the minimum coop space for 16 birds IMO....might be fine depending on layout, climate, and security and weather protection of run.

 

[e72071]

It's the minimum coop space for 16 birds IMO....might be fine depending on layout, climate, and security and weather protection of run.

We are going to try and make it as predator proof as possible. The coop will be safe and dry for them and we will be using hay for warmth.

 

[bigmrg74]

We are going to try and make it as predator proof as possible. The coop will be safe and dry for them and we will be using hay for warmth.

You mean straw?? hay is more expensive than straw.

 

[e72071]

You mean straw??  hay is more expensive than straw.  

Yes. I meant straw.

 

[aart]

Quote: But will the run be covered to shelter birds from weather
What is your climate/location?
Putting your location in your profile can help folks give better answers/suggestions.