Tricks To Get Your Chickens Through Colder Months

[NorthernHomestead]

I live in a colder climate. I know people with chickens that are fine with their flock taking a break from egg production in the winter. I give supplemental light (not anything I haven't seen often online as a winter booster) AND I feed cooked hunting offal on the weekends as a treat. They kept laying eggs deep into winter. Whitetail deer liver and kidneys isn't anything the people in my home enjoyed (I tried the online recipes and it was palatable but far less so than chicken eggs). My chickens LOVED it and kept producing eggs regularly into January on offal from two deer. After that, I tacked sardines and ramen on my grocery order to boost egg production til March when the ground started thawing and they could forage for treats beyond their feed.

 

[Debbie292d]

Good high high-protein treats and tips!

Another idea is to get a few pullets in the summer as they'll hit laying age by winter. New layers usually all lay through the winter in their first year. After that, they're usually back to taking winter off.

We do nothing but keep the coops to 40F, and these silkies lay all winter but only half as much.