what do you all do to keep your birds from being too bored all winter?what do you feed for treats?

[deacons]

Hey deacons, how many chickens do u own it looks like 10 or so, am I right?

Hi Bunny- we have 8

 

[farmgirl02]

To keep my chickens active and happy, I hammer a nail in the hard part of the cabbage and tie a string to it. Then I hang it in the middle of the chicken coop and watch them peck it slap to death. This keeps them from pecking each other. You will find it quite interesting to watch. I spend an unreasonable amount of time hanging out in my chicken coop watching them have all that fun! Also,I get in the habit of sticking raisins in my pockets, to give to my chickens usually on Saturdays. They only get a couple a week- too much treats could make them sick.

Hope this was helpful! So long!

 

[BunnyLover44]

Hey farmgirl02,
I like the idea of how you hang your cabbage but wouldnt the nail be a hazared to the chickens when they finished the cabbage?

--- BunnyLover44

 

[farmgirl02]

Hey BunnyLover44,
I keep a close eye on them while they peck the cabbage, and take the scraggly green pieces off the nail when I see that the cabbage is almost gone. Then I throw the leftover pieces of the cabbage on the ground for them to putter around with.

 

[deacons]

I put mine on a large bolt that hangs from a chain. I need to add a washer or something to it though, because this is what happens when they get overly exuberant towards the end:

 

[Jutiapa]

Use a heat lamp to keep them comfy and you will get more eggs as well I'm from Washington and it really is good to keep them dry in the winter agin the heat lamp helps if they are warm they will spend more time in

 

[beverly evans]

Jutiapa, I see you have silkies. Are they more delicate than normal chickens? I had 2 and one died one day without being sick in any way noticable. The one left is about a month old now and has developed runny eyes that get stuck together several times a day. She doesn't seem to have a runny nose though. I spray her eyes with Vectricin (sp) and have put some duramycin in their water. Don't know what else to do. Any ideas? THX

 

[icedog05]

I got some pumpkins from a neighbor not carved out that I slice in half that they go after and eat the pulp. Still not laying, got them as chicks in Sept. Temperature has dropped to 10 - 12F below zero. Inside coop temp got to as low as 8F above zero. Running a 125W heat lamp off and on. West Central WI. They did go out of coop earlier in Winter but don't stay out long. Now they just peek out the poop door. I am slowly cutting back on the heat lamp because they don't seem to be suffering at all. Eating well. I do have a CFL bulb on a timer with 12 hours on (daytime) and 12 off (nighttime). 12 chickens (unknown hens and roos). 30 sq feet of coop, insulated.
.

 

[MaPa26]

I got some pumpkins from a neighbor not carved out that I slice in half that they go after and eat the pulp. Still not laying, got them as chicks in Sept. Temperature has dropped to 10 - 12F below zero. Inside coop temp got to as low as 8F above zero. Running a 125W heat lamp off and on. West Central WI. They did go out of coop earlier in Winter but don't stay out long. Now they just peek out the poop door. I am slowly cutting back on the heat lamp because they don't seem to be suffering at all. Eating well. I do have a CFL bulb on a timer with 12 hours on (daytime) and 12 off (nighttime). 12 chickens (unknown hens and roos). 30 sq feet of coop, insulated.
.

People are probably pretty occupied with holiday stuff right now. I happened to see your post. I started throwing scratch out for my hens, about two three hours before sunset. Last week, it snowed. The FIRST measurable snow we have had. The girls decided they didn't like it and would hardly step out of their pen/run. My husband got a chunk of wheat straw to put in with them because mine will go nuts if they can't forage or play in the dirt. I think a sparrow was watching him, because I have been using scratch ever since it got cold but this is the first time sparrows tried to get in the pen. It is a dog run, so there is a gap around the door. One or two were brave enough to hop on through it. The next day, I left the door open, hoping the hens would get out and get some more exercise. A flock of sparrows decided to fly in. Now the hens aren't getting their scratch treat until dark, with a light on in the pen. It's still only 5:30 or 6pm; too late for the sparrows but early enough for the hens to get some grains before roosting for the night. I keep the coop warm enough to keep a bowl of water from freezing, but next year I will get a heated container. My two leghorns go in the coop at night buy my four Red Stars roost in the pen unless it is below 10 degrees F.

Next, when the straw is dirty, I am putting in a large bag of leaves and a flock block. I have a large galvanized bucket that I can place over the block during the day, so they can't eat on it until evening and early morning, when I open the pen. I am hoping that will discourage the sparrows! My cat has been keeping a closer eye on the pen. He tried to stalk and get one of the sparrows, but when he went in the pen, one of the leghorns chased him out! Those leghorns are bullies, compared to the Stars. Only ONE of my Stars stands up to them. She won't let them intimidate her. If they try, they get their little white heads pecked back about three times. That puts them in their place!

As far as eggs go, I got my chicks in March and they began to lay when they were about four months old. We have been getting five a day for the last couple of weeks. It stayed six per day even through that first Arctic Freeze. One day we only had three. I'm not worried as long as the girls act healthy. I don't know if heat and light make that big of a difference. In my research on this website, I have seen that the majority of people who comment do not heat or use supplemental light. Some are not getting eggs (but don't mind if their hens "rest" for a couple of months) and some are still getting eggs. I wouldn't worry about it as long as your chickens are active and healthy. Keep on doing your research on here. If any particular question is bothering you, use the "Search" feature and you will find many forums on any subject you want. Just enter a keyword. It has helped me a lot, since this is my first year with chickens. I have six hens with a forty square foot, insulated coop and a 10X10 foot run. We recently put windblocks on two sides and a canopy of opaque plastic panels. They LOVE the upgrades! We are second shifters and don't get up in the morning NEARLY as early as the hens do, thus the importance of having their water warm enough. We often do a "last call" check on them very late and they often wake up and have a snack. We used to turn the overhead flood lights on, but that REALLY woke them up. They'd hop out of the coop, thinking it was morning! We'd have to get them back in so WE could turn out the light and go to bed. So now I just use a flashlight. lol!

 

[Triplell]

People are probably pretty occupied with holiday stuff right now.  I happened to see your post.  I started throwing scratch out for my hens, about two three hours before sunset.  Last week, it snowed. The FIRST measurable snow we have had.  The girls decided they didn't like it and would hardly step out of their pen/run.  My husband got a chunk of wheat straw to put in with them because mine will go nuts if they can't forage or play in the dirt.  I think a sparrow was watching him, because I have been using scratch ever since it got cold but this is the first time sparrows tried to get in the pen.  It is a dog run, so there is a gap around the door.  One or two were brave enough to hop on through it.  The next day, I left the door open, hoping the hens would get out and get some more exercise.  A flock of sparrows decided to fly in.  Now the hens aren't getting  their scratch treat until dark, with a light on in the pen.  It's still only 5:30 or 6pm; too late for the sparrows but early enough for the hens to get some grains before roosting for the night.  I keep the coop warm enough to keep a bowl of water from freezing, but next year I will get a heated container.  My two leghorns go in the coop at night buy my four Red Stars roost in the pen unless it is below 10 degrees F.  

Next, when the straw is dirty, I am putting in a large bag of leaves and a flock block.  I have a large galvanized bucket that I can place over the block during the day, so they can't eat on it until evening and early morning, when I open the pen. I am hoping that will discourage the sparrows! My cat has been keeping a closer eye on the pen.  He tried to stalk and get one of the sparrows, but when he went in the pen, one of the leghorns chased him out!  Those leghorns are bullies, compared to the Stars.  Only ONE of my Stars stands up to them.  She won't let them intimidate her.  If they try, they get their little white heads pecked back about three times.  That puts them in their place! 

As far as eggs go, I got my chicks in March and they began to lay when they were about four months old.  We have been getting five a day for the last couple of weeks.  It stayed six per day even through that first Arctic Freeze.   One day we only had three.  I'm not worried as long as the girls act healthy.  I don't know if heat and light make that big of a difference.  In my research on this website, I have seen that the majority of people who comment do not heat or use supplemental light.  Some are not getting eggs (but don't mind if their hens "rest" for a couple of months) and some are still getting eggs.  I wouldn't worry about it as long as your chickens are active and healthy.   Keep on doing your research on here.  If any particular question is bothering you, use the "Search" feature and you will find many forums on any subject you want.  Just enter a keyword.  It has helped me a lot, since this is my first year with chickens.  I have six hens with a forty square foot, insulated coop and a 10X10 foot run.  We recently put windblocks on two sides and a canopy of opaque plastic panels.  They LOVE the upgrades!  We are second shifters and don't get up in the morning NEARLY as early as the hens do, thus the importance of having their water warm enough.  We often do a "last call" check on them very late and they often wake up and have a snack.  We used to turn the overhead flood lights on, but that REALLY woke them up.  They'd hop out of the coop, thinking it was morning!  We'd have to get them back in so WE could turn out the light and go to bed.  So now I just use a flashlight. lol!

I am in the north central part of MN, and use no heat. The use of heated dog dishes is all the heat they get. I do keep lights on for 14-16 hours to keep those in lay. I do have some that are molting and are in the same barn. We have been getting extremely frigid temps down to -30 plus wind chill of -30 to -45. I do have pullets and cocks too. Only the young and those in a heavy molt get a heat lamp and only on the coldest of cold nights. They do get a heated mash twice a day for added warmth. All of my chickens are in an od dairy barn that is drafty. I do plastic only the north, east walls and windows. The west and south sides I leave alone for added ventilation, on the south windows I only plastic half the window to keep the draft off the chickens and prevent the snow from coming in. This is my 3rd winter with them and have learned they are very hardy creatures. Out of 60 chickens roughly 10 will venture in the snow for about 5 minutes. The rest just fight to eat the snow off my boots. LOL