winter months

[dblea202]

This might sound silly but if you live in an area that gets pretty cold weather and a lot of snow, are there certain things you do to keep the chickens warm when they are out and about? would you consider chicken sweaters??

 

[americana-lover]

you could get a chicken lamp installed. I'd consider this before a chicken sweater. I dont think a chicken would want to wear a sweater, and it would be really hard to get it on them. Usually chickens have a ton of winter feathers, so theyre ok with hanging in the snow. You just have to be careful of them getting frostbite.

 

[dblea202]

Haha thanks..we were looking for something more of when they are free ranging in the yard. My fiancee's mom is really into knitting/crocheting and made one real quick jokingly...and you're right the girls didn't like it. Lol but we modified it a little and they don't mind it because its just a piece of string under their wings. Just wanted to know if anyone else would try it. although I don't think the sweater would last long if they actually wore them

 

[MeatKing]

As a Canadian speaking here.. We were down to -22 Celuis, which is only -8 fahrenhiet. (sounds so much better in fahrenhiet)
Anywhoo, yesterday/last night we were down that low. What we do, protect aganist drafts, number one, a heat light num two, and num three, a heated water bowl. So they don't have to drink ice cold water.. I'm sure it's still cold, but not frozen at least.

I think protecting against drafts a must, we also picked breeds that are cold hardy. Knowing that at some point, winter is a coming!!

At some point we will reach -40, it's expected, and we will repeat the same steps as above...

I would never do the chicken sweater thing, but I also would never do the dog sweater thing. I have a german sheperad, thier pretty tough in the cold. I would never have a little dog, that couldn't take the cold either. Cause I know our lifestyle, The most I would do for a dog, is put booties on them, and this wouldn't be to protect against that cold, but the salt and ice that will harm thier feet.

Good luck!! I love winter!! Oh also a must, shovel the way to the chicken coop.. Way easier to get to!!

 

[EweSheep]

And a great invite for lice and mites when you see your chickens' skin so horribly bad. Not a good sight!

Chickens have been outside sheltered for eons and it is up to us to protect them from the elements, like a barn, shed or a straw house but they did fine without heat lamps and so forth. What if you get a power outage or lamp burned out, then it would be awful for your chickens to shiver all night when they had fall to get acclimated to the colder weather to come. Silkies on the other hand, they do need some protection but they will be fine without heat lamps as long they got a "box and bedding" to snuggle up in. They like to pile like tribbles and they do keep themselves warm.

 

[MeatKing]

Sorry just saw your post about worrying about them free ranging, hmm, I don't think it would hurt them.. If you have the time and resources to accomlish this, why not!!

 

[duckluck]

The idea of a Call duck going nuts with a sweater on just about made me *snork* my drink all over my keyboard! They'd be doing the below action, WITHOUT the smile!