winter

Hi! I'm a new chicken owner. I have six 9-week-old silkies. I just put their coop/run together. Can I leave the floor just as is, or should I put something down like mulch or sand? I heard straw is suitable for the winter. It gets pretty cold here in the winter. The picture below is of the...

Winter is coming and fast for New York. I have a heater and water heater getting set up but i want to know when i should generally take my chickens inside because their health and safety are at risk Of course i will be taking them in if there is a blizzard, or sudden freeze. But what chickens...

Hello all! Last mid winter, I moved my ladies roosting area into another section of my barn. Mainly to give them another room to get away from one another. I currently have 34 hens that share this barn space. I live in Buffalo New York, and our winters are fairly cold and snowy. (My run was not...

Hi guys! I was wondering what people do about geese in winter? Do you still let them access their ponds? Mine sleep in their kiddie pool (in an enclosed run) and I'm not sure if I'll have to introduce them to a building to sleep for winter. I'm in NC usa so we don't get super harsh winters by...

Has anyone ever kept a rooster completely separate from the hens? I introduced a 20 week old black Australorp rooster to my 8- 4 yo hens and he was doing great. It's been about a month he's been with them. Usually does the kittle wing dance for them to "ask permission". I have been introducing...

Title pretty much says it all. Do I need to have vapor barrier on plywood, purlins, then foam closure strips, and then roof? Or will birds do just fine with just the metal roof on purlins. It will have very good insulation as it is a Woods Open air coop. Thanks in advance for any answers!

Thinking ahead to winter...I know its not even summer yet but Im a planner :-) What do you do for water when its freezing and below? Normally we just unscrew our hosed from the spigot and dont think about it again until spring but now I need water at least for the water container if not...

We live in NW Wisconsin, where we had over 70” of snow this winter (it’s still there, btw). With winter temps dropping to -30F air temp, we’re considering insulating our coop. The insulation would, of course, be covered with wood sheeting. Anyone have experience with this? Looking for advice...

One of my girls has been molting a couple weeks. It started with just her head, now her entire head and neck are bare, along with a spot on her back down near her tail. It gets pretty cold here, about 30 degrees F during the day and down to 20 degrees F or even colder at night. Should I be...

Just some photos of my chickens and ducks wanting human attention or food haha. My Silver Appleyard Duck has an addiction 🫣🫠😅 A snow addiction..

Hello! I am new to chickens(going on 6 months) and I have a small flock of 7 chickens. I'm looking for some suggestions regarding ventilation--I am the second owner to this coop, and have started renovating it. The inside has all new walls and floor but I noticed it doesn't seem to ventilate...

Hi there, I'm a newbie at raising ducks. I have 6 ducklings. 4 of which are 8 weeks old, and have been living outside for about a week now. The others are *almost* 5 weeks old, and are going crazy inside because they miss the others. Is it safe to move them outside with the others? They're still...

Hi all! This is our first winter with our backyard flock up in Vermont. We are approaching a cold front with temperatures at -25°. Because of the cold temperatures I do have a small radiant coop heater from tractor supply store in with them at night however they Are out in a runner most of the...

I've been reading through posts and I think I've decided what I might do. But if anyone is in a similar climate or situation, I'd love some advice. I've brooded chicks outside during the spring twice with success. I used a small coop and a brooding plate. This was the plan again for this year...

Been in the low 30's for weeks where we live in PA. While cutting nails, I noticed some of the girl's scales lifting. From what I've read, scaly leg mites aren't usually active in freezing temps. Is this not true? Could there be another reason why their scales may be lifting? The girl in the...

We have part of your yard fenced for our chickens to give them the ability to 'free range' outside of their run. We let them roam in the yard every day and didn't have an issue with wet or muddy ground during the fall and summer because it was pretty dried out from the hot months. This is our...

Hello! This is just a curiosity question. :) All my hens stopped laying in October and November and I decided not to do additional lighting this year and let the hens have a break. We get 8 ½ hours of daylight here, currently, and three of my hens just started laying again consistently. I was...

Hello, I don’t have much experiences this is my first year having chicken and I could use some help, I want to learn and provide best life possible for my flock. My flock is one rooster and six hens. My 2 and half years old rooster changed in behaviour quite suddenly. At first I thought it is...

The temperatures are expected to go below 20 degrees tomorrow, How can I keep my ducks warm for the cold?

Hey there! We got an automatic coop door this past summer and it was working great, however, now that winter is here and the sun is lower in the sky in the northeast, we are having issues with the door having enough light in the morning to open. It closes at night fine but for some reason the...