Hmm, my dad always stored the trap in the shed. So it smelled like fire wood!
Washingtonians Come Together! Washington Peeps
- Thread starter Nifty-Chicken
- Start date
Hmm, my dad always stored the trap in the shed. So it smelled like fire wood!
I hope this is the right place to post this question. I have four chickens in a chicken coop. 1 layer, 3 pullets. this is my first experience with chickens and this will be our first winter in Washington State. Im at the 1500 foot level generally mild winters but we have had cold nights dipped in the teens and two winters with more than 2 feet of snow. I'm thinking about getting one of those army cotton tent cloths to drape entirely over the chicken coop. I do have a heat lamp too. Im not really sure what more I can do to winterize. Your suggestions are welcomed.
I live at the foot of Mt Baker. Winters here are usually pretty bad. Feet of snow and below zero temps. I've used a heat lamp and just made sure they were protected from the wind and they've been fine. You'll probably want a good heated water dish though or you'll be breaking ice 3 times a day. Also, the more birds you have in the coop, the more there are to cuddle up to share warmth. I have 3 coops with 28 birds total so lots of body heat to go around 
@catface a heated water dish is something I don't yet have. Ill have to get one. how much food does a chicken generally eat per day? is it one cup per chicken per day?is it 2 cups per chicken per day?
I haven't ever measured how much my birds eat. I have hanging gravity feeders that I keep full at all times and they eat as much as they like. They also spend their days in the yard eating bugs and weeds/berries and table scraps.
My first winter up here I made a heated water dish by attaching a heating pad made for reptiles onto the bottom of a metal mixing bowl. Worked like a charm.
My first winter up here I made a heated water dish by attaching a heating pad made for reptiles onto the bottom of a metal mixing bowl. Worked like a charm.
@catface you have so many chickens to care for wow. I just found something that said 1.5 lb of feed per layer per week. So thats not much and I may be setting out too much food. I wish I could free range like you! But I am expanding thier run soon. Thank you so much for your ideas! God bless.
I am like catface and don't measure. My chickens free range on .5 acre during the day, get dinner scraps, freeze dried meal worms and we also give cracked corn. We fill up a metal gravity feeder and have it out in the run all day and it is put up when they put themselves to bed at night. We use 80 lbs ($25) every three weeks or so. We are feeding three cockerels, eight pullets, and four tom turkeys.
The turkeys eat the most.
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@Rainier my neighbors are doing something similar with their chickens except for the free range part. So far the only table scraps I have fed my hens are leftover rice and scramble eggs, and some mashed apples from my apple tree. I like the idea of giving them hot oatmeal during the winter. since I enjoy eating oatmeal in the winter I'm probably going to make extra for them to.
Thank you!
Thank you!
Not sure if you are new to chickens or not but make sure they have grit if you are feeding them scraps. They don't get it very often but give mine spaghetti noodles (cooked only) and watch them play keep away. Hours of entertainment!
Today I gave them a loaf of stale french bread and they were afraid of it silly birds. I had to break it up before they would go near it
Quote:
You mean that this face just doesn't call out to you to snuggle?
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