Southern chickens chicken about snow

[kelidei]

As a northern Illinoisan I found the only solution to get them outside after snow is straw--- they can't see the snow so they are happy campers... the spend all day scratching in it looking for goodies... they are silly aren't they?

 

[Cornychick]

Our girls like to eat it when it blows to where it will pile in part of the run. But when its REALLY cold, they just tell me to have a good day at work...they are sleeping in.

 

[Matt A NC]

Dot is 6 years old. He has seen snow every year, some alot less then others. Each year he absolutely will not touch the first few snows. This year he has gotten tired of not going out and is tolerating the cold white stuff to get where he wants to be.

Luckily, most of it melted today. This lite, dry snow melts quickly. Just hope Monday's misses us.

Matt

 

[Tala]

Mine came out of the coop, across the yard and went under the porch where it was muddy from house melt-off.

They refused to come back out on the white stuff until their evening pilgrimage back to the roost

It was to their delight that fetching the dog every morning created a "runway" of sorts where the snow melted faster, giving them a clearer path between the back porch and the coop area!! lol

 

[lambchicks]

We have had snow on the ground basically since Dec 20. Mine will stand in the door of the coop and fuss. Then when I wear a path to the coop from the house, or a path melts they will follow the path to the house and spend the day on the back porch that has been cleaned of snow. But then I have to clean it again to get the chick poop off. They are funny little creatures.

 

[DianeB]

Well, you can't really blame them for not wanting to walk through snow. It is cold, white, wet stuff they have never seen before in their lives. After our hard frost in December, my chickens wouldn't walk on the grass until mid-day (when it had melted). Their feet and combs were cold from being outside. It wasn't the wonderful expereince for them that it was for us humans. So, give them a break. Make them a nice warm bowl of oatmeal to heat them up.

 

[Big Red Hen]

We got 8 inches in my neck of the woods. My chooks didn't mind a bit....it was business as usual for them

 

[trunkman]

I live in SC too, my hens won't go anywhere near the snow if they can help it. They didn't go out till they saw my wife coming out with treats.

 

[Eliz]

Yep! My Georgia chickens wanted no part of the white stuff either. Not even their favorite treats would get them on the snow for some camera time.

 

[Jennygirl76]

On New Years eve we got a very quick two inches of snow. My chickens were all in the front yard when it started and stayed close to the house were there was no snow. I couldn't get them to move, they refused to step on the snow, and one was completely missing. Finally I had to shovel a path from the front yard to the coop, and they quickly ran to the coop.
We looked everywhere and couldn't find our missing chicken. Two weeks later after below zero weather, we heard a nervous clucking. It was our chicken, it had been living under my neighbors pool deck. Since the snow hadn't melted she stayed there all that time without food or water. It took me and my husband crawling around under there for 30minutes to catch her. Needless to say she was not happy. We had to leave a note on my neighbors door, explaining why there were foot prints in the snow around her deck and house. Oddly she never called us.
Through the winter they have gotten much better about walking in the snow, but are still not happy about it.
Even though we don't live in the south, I had to share my chicken snow story. So, its not just the south, mine are not to sure about it either.