Any advice for winter?

[Scrambled]

We've woken up to our first frozen morning and it's, of course, bitterly cold.

This will be my first winter looking after and I'm wondering what changes, if any, I need to make for them during the colder months.

They are, and always have been, fed on a diet of layers pellets which they can access all day and then they get a small amount of treats each afternoon (maybe a cherry tomato each or some veg scraps / nettles etc, always a little corn, sometimes some mealworms). They also forage around a bit when they are freeranging.

Does anyone recommend that their diet is changed or added to? I have noticed over the last week or so that they've been eating more of their layers pellets than normal.

Also - any tips for the coop, or should I just leave as is? They have sawdust in there, in the laying boxes (which they also sleep in, resolutely refusing to perch from day one ) and also sawdust on the base of the house, which is a pull-out drawer lined with a metal base. It's been suggested that I ought to line that drawer with cardboard or similar during freezing months, then add the sawdust, to make it a bit warmer when they are plodding about on it.

Any winter advice would be appreciated

[Willow]

Keeping chickens in winter isn't always fun..

You'll need - Wellies, a big warm 'something' to throw on during your morning treck to the chooks.. and a warm cup of coffee waiting for you inside

As far as your ladies are concerned - Get a good thick layer of bedding in the coop, make sure they have a constant supply of unfrozen water (that can be a pain in the bum)
If it gets horribly freezing & you have girls with big floppy combs you may want to consider rubbing some vaselene on the combs.
I always gave them a good few handfuls of corn in the evening to burn up over night, and have been known to give them warm porridge made with water & live yogurt.. also evenings.. ('warm' probably more for my benefit than theirs lol)

I found straw the best bet for keeping the run floor dry during the soggy months..

Its a pain but its worth it x

[Mad Chick]

You sound like you have it spot on

A little extra corn in the evenings before bed will help them to keep warm during the cold nights - I tend to make mine a bowl of warm mash and add the corn to that just before bed time

A little extra bedding in the coop - if it gets really cold I use straw in the nest boxes and it's really snuggly. Lining the metal drawer with cardboard sounds like a great idea otherwise their feet might freeze to it

Make sure the coop is ventilated but still draft free - I tend to move our coop into the corner by the wall in the winter where it is more sheltered and out of any prevailing winds

Generally, chooks do better in the cold than in hot weather. The main thing is to check their water frequently as it can freeze very quickly when it gets icy

[Chookaholic]

I give mine some warm cooked barley and some corn before bed , yesterday I also grated some carrot ... boiled it for 10 minutes so it was tender then gave them that which they loved (I kept the water it makes good gravy )

I have also put in straw now as the temperature has plummeted here. Im sure they dont need it but I feel better knowing they have the option of sawdust or straw ..some like the deep bed of straw some dont

[Mo]

As already said, the real problem is keeping the water liquid.
If you leave the drinkers out at night they freeze outside and inside, you can't get them open to refill, and the water inside is near freezing point even if you thaw the water in the trough, so it soon freezes again.
I bring the drinkers in overnight, and if I think it's going to be really cold I start them off with warm water from the tap, which gives them a few hours before they get down to freezing again. Usually starting off from indoors temperature rather than 0 is enough. But check during the day.
Someone here made a stand (barrel? brick construction?) that he could stand the drinker on with a nightlight underneath. Just enough warmth to keep it from freezing while he was at work all day. (I remember our landlord putting a nightlight in our outside loo when we complained that was frozen - my first shared house.)

[Scrambled]

Willow, the quickest learn has been that since having chickens, my welly boots live inside the utility, next to the boiler, so they are nice and warm and ready for action 24/7. Combined with an old boiler suit and a coat-for-when-with-the-chickens, I am the epitome of odd appearance first thing in the morning. All I need to add is a woolly hat for winter, and I'm determined to find the oddest one I can, to complete the outfit. Warm though

I'll get some cardboard sheets cut today to fit the drawer - yes, Perchy, you're the second person to say that their feet could get damaged by that metal base being so cold. I wonder why it's made with that? I suppose it's to make it easier to clean, but I wonder if plastic might have been better

I'll get some straw in there too, I think - I know what you mean, Chookaholic...I did worry a bit about them last night as I shut them up for bed. At least if they've got lots of straw in the boxes then they can snuggle in there or, if it's too warm, they can use their perches. That is, if they can work out what the perches are for

What a brilliant idea about the tea lights. I have their water dispenser on a couple of bricks anyway, because they kept doing VERY SILLY things in it, but I think I'll get a couple more, make a square and put a tea light in the middle. Absolute genius, whoever came up with that originally - thanks for mentioning it Mo. And if it was good enough for your outside loo, well....

[Linda S]

Great advice and as Willow said dont forget the coffee

Only my hubby dosen't wait till he comes in, he makes one to take with him Lindaxx

[lancashire lass]

I have their water dispenser on a couple of bricks anyway, because they kept doing VERY SILLY things in it, but I think I'll get a couple more, make a square and put a tea light in the middle

I have visions of chickens all standing round the drinker rubbing the tips of their wings together and holding them out to the warmed up bricks All they need are those hi viz jackets on as well to complete the picture.

My first winter too but not so much worried about dressing up for the weather (I regularly walked the dog in all weathers plus the allotment so am used to it) but not sure what to expect. That's a good point about lining the metal tray inside the coop with cardboard. I know the wood for my coop is also a bit on the thin side to be insulating enough should temperatures really drop and I'm sure I read somewhere about lining the walls of the coop and nest box with cardboard too

Also, a thatch/bale of straw on top of the coop as insulation (tied down with tarpaulin if out in the open) helps too.

[Mo]

What a brilliant idea about the tea lights. I have their water dispenser on a couple of bricks anyway, because they kept doing VERY SILLY things in it, but I think I'll get a couple more, make a square and put a tea light in the middle.

I don't know what your drinker is made of, or how hot it would get just 1 brick away from the tea light. Might want to experiment and maybe build it a little bit higher. Leaving enough gap to give air to keep it burning (we all remember those science lessons), but no draught to blow it out.

Mine drinkers are hanging from the run sides, but they still manage to get the water very muddy.

[Scrambled]

I don't know what your drinker is made of, or how hot it would get just 1 brick away from the tea light. Might want to experiment and maybe build it a little bit higher. Leaving enough gap to give air to keep it burning (we all remember those science lessons), but no draught to blow it out.

The drinker is a plastic one, so maybe I need to put four bricks in a square with an upturned small terracotta flowerpot, the same height as one brick, in the middle over the candle, and then the drinker on top. An amount of heat would get through the drainage hole and hopefully not be too much to risk damaging the drinker. Or I might forget about the flowerpot, but put a slate tile on top of the bricks and then the drinker on top of that - leaving little gaps where the bricks meet to allow air to get in and out. I think I'll try the second option first. I'm feeling quite scientific now

[chookmike]

Sorry to be a pedant, but warm water freezes more quickly than cold.

Just one suggestion - a bit of bubble-wrap over the metal and under the cardboard would be good for insulation.

Last winter was our first and I hated the idea of them up there in the cold but they were fine. I add timber to the side of the run that gets the wind and also put a piece of board into the ground on its edge to stop the wing whistling through the pop hole.

We favour straw. Last winter they all roosted on the usual timber beam but this year we have what we call the manger which is just a big bin of stored loose straw with high sides. They have abandoned the roost and now all snuggle into this straw, sometimes all you can see is 5 little heads in 5 deep nests! Down-side is that they poo in it but that's our job in the morning.

All the best and don't worry like I did. Stop the wind-chill and offer deep bedding plus corn/wheat to digest slowly overnight to produce heat and they'll be fine

Mike

[KarenE]

I've got cardboard on the floor and up the sides of the coop (mine is an old stone building) with a carpet and straw on the floor. The walls are lined with gardeners fleece and that silver stuff you get as emergency blankets. No idea if it actually works but they seem happy enough. When it gets really cold, they usually snuggle up in the smallest nestbox (with lots of straw in it)

I have my water in large marg tubs, which in winter I wrap in fleece and bubble wrap, and I also put it in an upturned cardboard box for a bit of extra insulation. It's not foolproof - it still gets frozen - but does seem to keep it liquid or just thin ice for a little bit longer.

The other worst thing about winter is the wet and mud so the other thing I would really suggest is roofing the run if you haven't already. My girls also have the run of my greenhouse in the snow and rain, so at least they can potter about and dustbathe somewhere outside (and they get the soil nice and ready for spring too)

[Mo]

Sorry to be a pedant, but warm water freezes more quickly than cold.

I really don't see how it can. Before it can freeze the tempoerature of the water has to reduce to 0, the lose the latent heat of freezing. Warjm water will stay above freezing for a while, then start to freeze, water at 0 will start to freeze at once.
The only way in which your statement might be correct is if a thin skin of ice forms quicker - and the hens would soon break that. But to produce an unpeckable ice block, warmer must take longer. Yes hot water cools to warm quicker (per degree) than cool to cold. Freezes quicker - that really must be a myth.

[Chicken drumstick]

The straw flooring on the Hen house floor is something i was thinking about , i can get it for £3.50 a bale so all good will get it changed over this week .

[chookmike]

Mo,

I know it is counter-intuitive, but true.

An easy experiment in your freezer this evening? The difference may be very short and you may miss it though (and waste lots of power)

I'll try and find the explanation later and you are correct that latent heat comes into it but I just can't remember the full explanation.

Mike