Winter is Coming! Checklists, tips, advice for a newbie

[LadyCluck77]

Thank you for all the excellent cold weather tips!
I am fortunate that my father built a sturdy chicken house (coop) for us. Dad is no longer with us but I often tell him that I am taking care of his chickens   We do use a small ceramic heater to keep the coop at 40 degrees.  This probably costs more than the worth of the eggs, but it is a hobby and all the hens have names and are more like pets.

Does anyone know why chickens will not go out in the snow?  I live in NE Ohio and sometimes if the chickens who are free range go outside in the morning when there is no snow on the ground,  and it snows hard during the day, I come home to chicken "statues".  They simply stop where they are in the yard and I go around picking them up and taking them back to the coop.

Are they unable to determine the depth?, feet too cold? why do chickens have such fear of the snow? Thanks for your insights!

I hadn't heard about this but I will watch for it with my flock. Thank you for writing about it. Cold feet possibly, or like you said it might make them nervous, it sounds like either the breed of chicken or some other factor. A guy I was talking to at TSC on Thursday was telling me his chickens dig around and play in the snow, but he has Chanteclers, a breed I'm told has amazing cold hardiness.
My leghorns won't even leave the coop when it's below 40 outside, they are already very unhappy with the weather. So I can tell who my statues are going to be.

 

[K Epp]

The one time we had enough snow to cover the ground last year my Leghorns and EE wouldn't go out in it until the Australourps got brave and went out. The rest eventually followed. Seems like I read some where about chickens being snow blind.

 

[LittleBits]

Quote: If you get wood shavings from a sawmill or another source, would you need to worry about termites or any other little critters that take refuge in wood? Wondering because right now I buy pine shavings for $5/ compressed bag of about 3cu feet. One bag covers quite a bit of space, but not very deep. Right now, w/ the cold settling in (24 this morning in KY) I have 2 bags of it in a 6x6 coop.

 

[Folly's place]

I buy the bagged pine shavings because some wood types aren't so safe. Don't want walnut or cedar for sure, so getting pine only is worth the price for me. Termites would be really bad too! Mary

 

[Alaskan]

[COLOR=0000FF]If you get wood shavings from a sawmill or another source, would you need to worry about termites or any other little critters that take refuge in wood?  Wondering because right now I buy pine shavings for $5/ compressed bag of about 3cu feet.  One bag covers quite a bit of space, but not very deep. Right now, w/ the cold settling in (24 this morning in KY) I have 2 bags of it in a 6x6 coop.[/COLOR]

Well, I don't think there are any termites up here....i would think the chickens would eat them, the only problem would be if you brought in the queen, and she started a colony in your house (horrid thought).

You can always ask them what wood they saw, if you are worried about the kind of wood.

For wood workers you have to ask, since they might be using anything, and you also have to ask, if they sawed any varnished or treated wood into the bag you are getting.

Up here, almost the only wood that goes through a saw mill is spruce (just like pine), and I guess they could maybe mill something else, but we don't have any walnut or cedar anywhere around here.

 

[QuietPony]

This was such an informative thread!!

Since the chicks arrived in March, I have been dreading the winter months and getting them through the cold. I'm no longer afraid of the big chill. I still dread it, because I'm more of a spring into summer girl. But I don't fear for my bockers in the cold anymore. Our coop has a great roof with proper rooftop ventilation (with ability to add more if needed), insulated walls, better windows than our own house and straw bale wind break to go around the base of the raised coop which will take the brunt of the northern winter winds. Our to-do list will be complete on Thursday when we finish the caulk and paint job on the outside of the coop, insulate and drywall the roof and wrap the run in plastic. I use large chunky pine bark mulch in the run (raking it over a couple times a week to let the poo fall through) and will throw in a couple more bags once the big snows come and also a partially broken down bale of straw for their scratching enjoyment. In the spring, I plan on using the run materials (bark and straw) as mulch in the flower beds. I'm all about reusing things, which drives my SO crazy. lol

Where water is concerned, I have decided to keep that in the run instead of in the coop, to encourage them to go outside. I have already woken to our first water freeze here in WI. I decided then (while trying to thaw the ice enough to twist the hanging water unit open so I could refill it with warmer water..lol) that I had to come up with another plan and quick. As it is now, we plan on bringing the water unit inside each night and taking it back out each morning. We are going back out that way anyhow to open the coop, and figure this mundane task of lugging the water will save us money and water. We plan on doing this until the novelty wears off, or until the big arctic deep freeze comes. At which point, we will have most likely invested in another hanging water unit so we can just have water ready to go when it eventually freezes in the run midday in February. haha

I am opting out of heating the coop. I have learned that the tragedies can often times outweigh the pros where that is concerned.
Instead we will just manage the cold by trying to keep the wind off them, keeping snow out of the run and offering warm breakfasts of leftovers, oats and occasional eggs; and scratch (with corn) with wheat grass fodder salads for dinner. I also have started tossing some of the guinea pig pellets in their snack bucket for some added greens. I spend some time just sitting in the coop yesterday as is was a very windy day and I wanted to gauge the drafts. I was surprisingly warm in there!

Whoever mentioned the covered bucket of hot water idea is a god send. That idea is sheer brilliance!
That idea alone, has left me feeling like I can rest at night with my decision not to run power to run a heat lamp. Ha!

Way to go BYC Community, for putting together your ideas in such a great thread!

 

[coop-er]

Whoever mentioned the covered bucket of hot water idea is a god send. That idea is sheer brilliance!
Where is this post? ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^. Anyone know?

 

[mrchicks]

QuietPony, we are in WI too. Hubby solved my popsicle water problem with a nut tin with a light bulb inside. I can keep my plaster water fountain on top with no problem at all, and it's out in the run. Food and water are always outside, which forces the girls to actually go outside. We're putting a dog kennel cover over the run this year, and plastic around it. Last year we didn't do that, and we had to shovel for them. ugh. We don't heat the coop. Just make sure to check for eggs often so they don't freeze.

 

[QuietPony]

whoops. forgot how to quote for a minute there. lol

 

[QuietPony]

Whoever mentioned the covered bucket of hot water idea is a god send. That idea is sheer brilliance!
Where is this post? ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^. Anyone know?

It's somewhere in this here thread. The idea is to take a 5 gallon bucket, fill it with hot water, cover then lug it out to the coop and it will radiate heat.
It's gotta be covered though or the idea will work against you by filling the coop with moisture.