Winter questions ..

[hensmummy]

Hi there,
We live in New Zealand and it's coming up to winter. We had our first eggs last week which was exciting! Not sure who out of the 5 is laying but we've been waiting since January - so as you can imagine, it's very exciting.
Anyway, today we had our first lot of sleet/hail and cold wind and it's getting down to -5 degrees Celsius over night. We put insulation in the coop roof, so hoping that will help over winter. Worried about them tonight though! Brrrrrrr it's cold! . We still got an egg today which surprised me...
SO:
1 - Will they lay throughout winter?
2 - If they stop laying as winter arrives, when would they start again?
3 - Is there anything I need to do to prepare them for the cold?

We are new to this so any help would be greatly appreciated! Also, we started giving them sunflower seeds..... Is it ok to give them daily or should we limit the amount. They have an automatic feeder with layer pellets in it ...

Thanks heaps!

 

[kbarrett]

Hi

We have cold winters here in Pennsylvania- US, this past winter was the coldest I can remember in a long time. Some chicken breeds are more cold hardy than others. I've had leghorns, minorcas, and golden buff hens. The first few years I provided artificial light- which consisted of a 60 watt bulb on a timer to extend their light hours to 14. I had good production all winter long. This past year I elected to not provide the extra hours of light and I noticed only a small drop in the amount of eggs per day- 5-8 out of 13 hens. The only thing I personally change for winter is I switch from daily feeding of the BOSS- black oil sunflower seeds to scratch or straight cracked corn to help them generate extra warmth. For this past winter which as I mentioned was exceptionally brutal with cold temps I did provide an extra heat lamp- I usually have 1 near the water to keep it from freezing.

Good luck and congratulations on your eggs

 

[bobbi-j]

We have extremely cold winters here in MN, too. It got down to the -20's and some -30's (not sure how to convert that to Celsius). I did not provide supplemental heat and they all survived. Keep them well ventilated and draft-free, well fed and watered, and they will be fine. As your temperatures get cooler, their bodies adjust by producing more downy feathers to help insulate and keep them warm. When they fluff up when it's cold, it's to help keep the warmth trapped close to their bodies. Adding heat for the winter does them no favors. To get an idea of what that does, put on your winter coat, snowpants, boots, hat and gloves. Go outside long enough to feel a little coolish inside all of those clothes, then go in. Leave the clothes on. How long does it get for you to be too hot? Now think about your chickens. They don't get to take of their little down coats to adjust for the weather. Yes, your chickens can go outside in the winter. Mine don't really like snow, but will go out if a path is cleared in front of the coop. They choose to stay in on the very coldest days.

 

[Mrs. K]

The first year laying you will see little drop in egg production, the next year, they may quit for several weeks, but this is due to the length of the day, rather than the cold.

As for the cold, I live in South Dakota, and we regularly get down well below 0 F. Which is WAY below 0 C. Dry is what you need to worry about, not heat. Chicken are very insulated with their feathers, but moisture decreases that insulation value. A well fed dry chicken can take VERY cold temperatures and not be bothered. The very old, or brand new chicks might suffer, but anything older than a month will do just fine.

The idea is counter intuitive, one thinks to keep the chickens warm, their coup needs to be tight and insulated, but that traps the moisture, and chickens roosting close together for a long period of time, create a lot of moisture. Think of how quickly a car fogs up, if 3-4 people are sitting in it, and it is cold outside. That moisture is where you get frost bite, and dramatically reduces their insulation value of the feathers.

Keep plenty of bedding on the floor, that can absorb moisture away from the birds, keep the poop cleaned out, as that is a moisture source. Do not close the coup up tight. It is important to have open air that the moisture can escape too. This year, I also lowered the top rooster, so that they are a little farther from the ceiling, and that kept them drier. They need a shelter out of the wind, but NOT closed up tight. It needs good ventilation.

And good food, food is where chickens get their heat energy from, I never add heat to mine or too their water.

Mrs K