winter chicken care

  1. TreeStrepek

    Winterizing Coup in -0

    Hi Y’all! I am attaching a picture of a large cage I am thinking of putting insulation on the outside of this & protecting with wood. In Illinois- it gets COLD for about 1 month a year. I thought this might help my dozen hens. It is a very TRYING stressful month when they cannot go out &...
  2. Browniethechicken

    Can I raise chicks in Fall in Massachusetts? Risk of too cold?

    Is it a risk to get baby chicks in the fall weather? I would get them next week, September 1st. This puts them fully feathered at 6 weeks and brings me to mid October weather in Massachusetts. Which can be warm or chilly but not cold. Will they be too cold come December? Will they make it...
  3. E

    Wire mesh coop bottom

    Hello! So I adopted 3 chickens from a co worker (my first chickens) and they came with their own coop (sweet!) We are building a bigger coop in the spring to house all the incoming chicks I have planned, but I’m wondering, especially going into winter, how good is their coop now? The coop is...
  4. lasallefamily

    Are my chickens gonna die?

    I live in North Texas where we don't usually get snow/ice and "cold weather" means we have to layer and wear a jacket. However, Mother Nature is acting a fool next week. Right now it's 26F and tomorrow night it's supposed to be 8F for the low. It'll go up and down over the next few days just...
  5. H

    No Eggs+2 New Girls--Is This Normal?

    Hi Everyone! Hope you're all doing well. Our tiny flock (5 at the time) mostly stopped laying around Halloween. We had one hen who was still laying well, but everyone else pretty much stopped. We had a bit of a "perfect storm" of factors, so I wasn't surprised: 1. No supplemental lighting. We...
  6. spiritpots

    Adding heat to coop in winter?

    I live in Minnesota and last year was my first winter with chickens. After much reading about the pros and cons of heating a coop I decide not to add supplemental heat due to my heavily wooded property... a fire would be devastating. My coop is about 30 sq. ft. and I had four chickens last...
  7. UrbanHenKW123

    Heat for Canadian Winters

    Hi there - I'm thinking ahead to our Canadian winters. I'm near the great lakes area so we get a lot of damp cold reaching -20 C sometimes and even lower with the wind chill. I was thinking of either adding a heated water bowl or one of the heated pads from amazon like this one...
  8. spiritpots

    Change in chicken's behavior due to cold weather?

    This is my first winter with chickens and things have been going well despite the extreme cold we've had here in Minnesota. I have four chickens but one, Sophia, has been much less active than usual the past 2-3 weeks and her comb has become pale. I have also noticed that she does not seem eager...
  9. LunaMarieWolf

    Winterizing chicken coop?

    I know where I live in Arkansas, Winter is kinda mild here for right now. We have only had a few freezes but we have mostly had 40-60 F weather, some days it going up to almost 70F. My chickens roost in a large shed my great-grandpa used for storing tools and hay. It is a hand-built wooden barn...
  10. Rob Reintjes

    Woods Style Open air coop - Operating Instructions??

    HI folks, I finally finished my 8' x12' ft Woods Style Open air coop and will post construction photos FYI soon. In the meanwhile, I am looking for guidelines from other owners of Woods Coops regarding when to open / close various combinations of windows. I have a pair of "hand crank" monitor...
  11. sarahssilkies

    Is having a big chicken coop okay for small flock?

    Hi all, Right now my coops dimensions are: 76L x 28.75D x 44.25H in. This includes a lower level run and then an upstairs enclosure with roosting boxes (I’ve attached a photo). The coop is advertised as being for 4 chickens. I currently have 4 silkie hens (about 7 months old) and am planning...
  12. ktlady

    Keeping chickens warm

    Just looking for more input. I am in Anchorage, AK and want to make sure my flock of 5 chickens has the best chance of doing well this winter. I have an insulated, wired, ventilated 4x4 coop with an attached 8x4 covered run. I am planning to wrap the run in 6 mil plastic to give the girls more...
  13. P

    new to raising backyard chickens, help!

    We are wanting to to raise 2-3 backyard chickens. We have a fenced in area that we will be keeping the coop (that we made) in. As well as we will be making a small run to attatch. I live in Canada, Ontario and was wondering how the chickens are you going to survive the winters here. They drop...
  14. Mitsos Lamprogiorgos

    Winter Layers!!! It is said that...

    It is said that if we incubate in the winter months using eggs from hens which can continue laying in the winter and from roosters capable of fertilizing the eggs in the winter, we can hatch chicks that will be great winter layers. Let's discuss it.
  15. ssafehavens

    Need Help Finding Coop Plan

    Hello, all! I have been searching for a decent coop plan to hold my 4 chicks when they are full feathered. My husband and I were going to purchase one, but we know that it’s cheaper and sturdier if we build it on our own. We live in northern Maine, so our winters get pretty chilly up here. On...
  16. Runt of the Flock

    Bored Birds

    Hey all, Having problems with bored chickens in the winter picking on each other? I know I do!:barnieMy ladies seem to think it's so much fun to pull feathers out of each others neck and run around with it in their beak. They play a game, the goal is to get as many feathers and then run from...
  17. Rebecca dean

    Sick hen

    I need some advice. My girl Has moulted a few times in the past three months and now she's sounding little hoarse and cannot fully her usual shout to her little friend it sounds like deeper and breaky. She's eating drinking and doing her normal behaviour. I have separated her and brought her in...
  18. Lazy Farmer

    WINTER CHICKENS IN 30 Degree sleepy time PIX

  19. Naturegirl155

    Worried About the Weather

    As I head into my first winter with chickens in CT, I'm starting to get nervous that I haven't done enough to prepare for winter cold, especially after last night. I'll post some pictures of the coop, the modifications I made for the coop, the run, and the modifications I made for the run. Any...
  20. freedomlady

    Molting and winter

    I have 29 chickens and 24 of them are hens. 5 of them are this years babies. They did start moulting about two months ago. When should they pick back up in production? This means that I should have 19 hens laying eggs. I am lucky to get 1 egg a day right now. I was getting at least 10 to 13 eggs...
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