The First Big Snow - The Flock Chilling Out (Pictures)

[Shayna]

Well, it went from 50 degrees yesterday to a high in the low teens today, wind gusts up to 40 mph, and a wind chill around 0. We're under a winter storm warning, with snow totals expected to reach 5-7". With the high winds, this translates to a trace in some spots and 12"+ drifts in others. I knew our winters could be this way, so we planned for this when building the run that is attached to an old shed converted to a coop. This is our first big snow since building it, and I think we passed the test!

We put 6mm painters plastic around the run on the hardware cloth to block out winter rain, snow, and wind. There is a little ventilation at the top that allows a small dusting of snow to get in. The roof is covered by metal roofing panels, and there are 2' high base boards all around the run blocking any drifts that may form against it, but so far the drifts are forming away from it.
The silkies sleep in the coop but our guineas sleep in the run at night on the branches, so this extra protection is good for them. Due to the high winds and snow today, there was no ranging allowed, so the guineas had indoor recess in the run with the silkies. The guineas have been around silkies since they were tiny keets, so they've always done well together.
I went out after a couple inches of snow had fallen to see how everyone was holding up: (we still got 2 eggs!)

 

[NYChicks345]

Same weather here in Upstate New York....43 deg. and sunny yesterday ( which is very unusual for us this time of year) and we woke up this morning to 8 inches of snow 40 MPH winds and then freezing rain. My girls and boys have been in the coop all day...by choice...the coop doors are automatic but the chickens decided it was not a good day to be outside ... i like your enclosed run and have been thinking about getting guineas. Do you let them free range? Have you had problems with keeping them coming back to there house at night? I just read the book "Gardening with Guineas". I think i am going to try them out this summer. Any advise for a newbie to Guineas?

 

[Shayna]

Same weather here in Upstate New York....43 deg. and sunny yesterday ( which is very unusual for us this time of year) and we woke up this morning to 8 inches of snow 40 MPH winds and then freezing rain. My girls and boys have been in the coop all day...by choice...the coop doors are automatic but the chickens decided it was not a good day to be outside ... i like your enclosed run and have been thinking about getting guineas. Do you let them free range? Have you had problems with keeping them coming back to there house at night? I just read the book "Gardening with Guineas". I think i am going to try them out this summer. Any advise for a newbie to Guineas?

It's been unusually mild here in the midwest this year too - until now. It's good that the chickens seem to know what's best for them, but I don't let my silkies free range anyway unless I'm with them. The guineas I do allow to range, it was the whole reason I got them. We have a terrible, TERRIBLE, tick problem out here, and while the frontline kept them off the dogs, cats, and pigs, it was like we had to coat ourselves in bug spray to walk out our door. My husband got lyme disease last spring, and that was the final straw! I got the keets beginning the first week of July and I got that Gardening with Guineas book then.
The giuneas are obnoxiously loud - pretty much all the time. I've been told this will calm down after their first year, and they will only do that when there is danger.

that is true. As far as getting them back in, the lighter colored ones I bought from a different source than the darker ones, seem to be of superior intelligence as silly as that sounds. I raised them all from about 1-3 days old, and the light colored ones will follow me in when I call "chickie chickie chikie" (I haven't told them they aren't chickens) and throw some food. The other ones I have to herd up and sometimes toss something into the trees to get them out. I feel like a border collie most days herding them in. I stick with it and continue to make them come in all the time, so my hope is in time they'll learn. If not, I will be rehoming those and keeping the well mannered ones. I can hatch their eggs under my broody silkies and increase my flock with keets from well behaved guineas. Hope that helps!

Edit to add: If you decide to get some, I have no idea if the ones are better breeding or what, but I got them from The Guinea Farm. They ship eggs and keets all over and have a huge selection of giuneas. I just happened to live within driving distance. I was impressed with their facility.

 

[ChickenPeep]

We too got our first snow (that wasn't just flurries).
It went fro 40 yesterday to 22! I got a heat light for my girls just a few hours ago and now they're nice and warm!
Great pics by the way, thanks for sharing!

 

[Shayna]

We too got our first snow (that wasn't just flurries).
It went fro 40 yesterday to 22! I got a heat light for my girls just a few hours ago and now they're nice and warm!
Great pics by the way, thanks for sharing!

I guess this crazy weather is hitting all over! I don't have any electricity, but mine seem to be doing well with no light. I'm sure they would appreciate it though!

 

[NYChicks345]

Thank you for the information. We have a bad tick problem as well and that is the reason I have been looking into getting guineas. The chickens have put a dent in the bug population but they have also made huge messes of all the landscaping

 

[Desirai]

lol that's funny, they're all just hangin out! haha

 

[Kevin565]

I love all of your birds!

.

 

[Shayna]

Thank you! I'm so happy to see that with the 40 degree drop we had in a single day, they have adjusted well and hardly seem to notice it snowed.

BTW Kevin565 - I think your wolves are so pretty!

 

[Donna5]

Yup. Same weather change here in Northen Ill. I went out to check on the girls before I went to bed, one of them had a bit of snow on her back that blew in...I think it bothered me more than her. I love the big vertical branch in the run.