Winter thread:Chickens

[Chicken poppy]

Hey! I would like some people to do suggestions for winter in chickens, like bordem breakers, health, and overall wellness! Thanks, id love to hear your suggestions and ideas.

 

[aart]

like bordem breakers, health, and overall wellness!

Pretty much the same as in summer.
Lots of space and ventilation, always have good feed and fresh liquid water.
Electrolytes once a week during extreme temps.

 

[Chicken poppy]

Pretty much the same as in summer.
Lots of space and ventilation, always have good feed and fresh liquid water.
Electrolytes once a week during extreme temps.

Ah alright, i was just curious on peoples thoughts on it Is all. i am intrested in peoples thoughts on bordem breakers, ive seen many genius designs for those and their pretty cool.

 

[3KillerBs]

Ah alright, i was just curious on peoples thoughts on it Is all. i am intrested in peoples thoughts on bordem breakers, ive seen many genius designs for those and their pretty cool.

If the chickens have plenty of space and their area is set up to allow them to be chickens doing chicken things then they won't be bored.

 

[Chicken poppy]

If the chickens have plenty of space and their area is set up to allow them to be chickens doing chicken things then they won't be bored.

Okay! Thank you Its going to be a bit difficult here because although the weather isnt freezing, it snows quite heavy, before it snows ill put some umbrellas up in the yard so they can walk that path and ill just sprinkle hay on top so they can walk better.

 

[aart]

Its going to be a bit difficult here because although the weather isnt freezing, it snows quite heavy, before it snows ill put some umbrellas up in the yard so they can walk that path and ill just sprinkle hay on top so they can walk better.

You don't have a run...that's weatherproof?

Um, don't think umbrellas will hold up to heavy snow.

 

[bruceha2000]

Just shovel them a path in the grass If you have a snowblower and room, blow them a bigger area.

 

[Mrs. K]

One of the most important things to do for winter is to count heads, and measure the coop/run. They need to match. In the dark nights of winter, chickens can be roosted up for 14-16 hours. This is the time that space really becomes an issue, and very ugly behaviors can develop. People want to think that an occasional free ranging can make up for a too many birds in a too small coop/run, but it does not work. The best way of fixing this is to reduce your numbers.

I do make mini haystacks, when a storm is coming, I rake up the bedding into a pile. This lets me flip the hay on top of the snow, and that encourages them to come out.

The best boredom breakers for me is clutter, stuff they can walk around and disappear from sight, get on top, and get underneath. Pallets, roosts, wind shelters out in the run are very important in the winter.

Chickens need fresh air, a lot of it. Ventilation is important and outside time.

MRs K

 

[rosemarythyme]

Um, don't think umbrellas will hold up to heavy snow.

x2, and if the umbrella goes down while chickens are underneath, you'll have flattened chickens.

Snow shoveling (or a blower/plow/etc) is the best way to provide outdoor space if you don't have a weather proof run and the flock just won't step foot in snow (mine won't). During snowy days/weeks I have to shovel 1-2x a day to open up some clear areas. Mainly I want to make sure my birds can get to their water, as well as covered shelters in the run, as they naturally want to huddle up in there during cold weather.

For light snow, I'll dump a bag of dried leaves on the ground from the pop door to the waterer and call it a day. The chickens will spread it and make a snow-free zone themselves.

 

[Chicken poppy]

You don't have a run...that's weatherproof?

Um, don't think umbrellas will hold up to heavy snow.

yes. we do actually. but we already shovel our entire yard so why not sprinkle hay down on the main parts anyway?

(our umbrellas dig into the ground, a bit different from normal umbrellas, they are semi-light and if it were to fall, wouldnt be completely flat to the ground. and our snow is heavy but not very deep here) i will be removing the umbrellas after heavy snow,

i did now just realise that i said “run” but it isnt apart of their coop, its just in our yard where they patter around sometimes, sorry about that!
my plans just to save some steps shoveling and put umbrellas in places, after the heavy snow it wont be completely in the area if that makes sense, dont know if that will work but its worth a shot (not in their coop)