by Melissa Caughey of Tilly’s Nest
As the calendar turns another page and September rolls around, the smell of fall begins to fill the air here in New England. I love fall but soon enough winter will be upon us. It is often difficult to predict how harsh Old Man Winter will be each year but it is never too early to begin preparations.
1. Inspect and Repair– Take a peek around your coop and make repairs that are necessary. Fix that draft. Improve ventilation. Be sure that windows are operational. It is much easier to do these things now than when temperatures and the weather are less forgiving.
2. Re-evaluate Your Predator Proofing– Predators have the most difficult time finding food in the winter, especially right before spring arrives. Inspect all of your locks. Look over your coop’s hardware cloth. Consider taking extra measures this fall if you have not already. Bury an 18″ apron of hardware cloth around your coop and run to deter digging predators. Try covering the run with bird proof netting/wiring.
3. Cover It Up– Ensure that the run is partially or entirely covered, allowing the flock a place to go outside when weather takes a turn for the worse. Temporary covers can be created from thick sheets of plastic or tarps. These can be opened or removed in better weather. Keeping the run dry from mud and puddles is very important to prevent your chickens from becoming sick.
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| A make shift plastic tarp covers up the run in stormy weather. |
4. Share the Leaves– Chickens love scratching in the leaves. Try tossing some piles of leaves in the run to help with boredom. They will spend hours looking in all the leaves’ nooks and crannies. Sometimes, I toss a handful of dried meal worms on top of the leaf pile to get them started.
5. Chickens and Snow– Now is the time to also get those tools ready that you might need in case of an early snow storm. Chickens are snow blind and will not journey out into a run covered with inches of snow. They prefer to be sure of their footing and pathways. Take time now to devise a plan. Make a plan for the first snow storm. How will you get to the chickens?
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| Oyster Cracker, our Buff Orpington, on leaf inspection. |
6. Cold Weather Dining– If you keep your feed and water outside will this still work for your climate in the fall and winter? Should you consider relocating their food and water inside the coop? Will the water freeze and how will you manage that? Explore all of your options.
7. To Heat or Not To Heat the Coop– This is one of the most controversial issues in chicken keeping. This post might help with your decision.
8. Artificial Lighting– Will you add artificial light to stimulate egg production through the winter? This is another hot topic. We do not light our coop. Instead, we have a few windows in the coop. We have found that despite a dip in the girls’ egg production we have yet to purchase eggs from the store since keeping chickens. If you do decide to add lighting, please put it on a timer. Have the light turn on earlier in the wee dark hours of the morning instead of having it turn off later in the evening. In the evening, if it is already dark outside and the coop is lit, the chickens will still be milling about inside the coop not knowing it is bed time. When the light suddenly turns out, your flock can become injured from trying to find their way to the roosts in the dark.
9. A Chicken First Aid Kit– Now is the time to put together or replenish your chicken first aid kit. Take a peek at the things in mine to give you an idea of what you can and should think about including.
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10 Comments
I live with my son and his wife in Washington state. My daughter-in-law started our chicken family about 4 years ago. I had a little log cabin chicken house built for her. It is up on concrete blocks. The outside area of the pen is completely fenced in and over the top. The problem is there is no covered or roofed area for any of their outside space. And it’s all dirt, well muck in the rainy months. We added 3 ducks this year to our flock and they have no coop area. The one duck sleeps underneath the chicken house on bare ground. The other two are fairly new and still in a crate with a light. Ive tried to get them to build a raised floor area that is covered so the chickens and ducks aren’t knee deep in mud and muck for the next 8 – 9 months. My daughter-in-law says they are fine. I throw straw under the coop for the one duck and keep the crate clean and dry for the other ones. Is there anything I can put in the outside area to help with the soupy nastiness? I am going to try to get some heavy plastic and cover at least a portion of their outside area, possibly around the outside of the fenced area too. Any suggestions or ideas would help. It’s kind of a delicate situation, but I have to do something it breaks my heart and I feel guilty that they are being treated like they are just for eggs. I love them and want them to be happy and healthy
You have very kind impulses. The chickens really do better if they aren’t standing in deep mud for long periods of time. If you don’t mind the look of tarps, you could set up a three-sided area of chain link fencing and then stretch tarp over most of it, leaving them an entrance on one side. If you dig a trench around it, or slope the ground inside toward the entrance, some of the water will drain away. You could also scatter a heavy bed of straw on the ground inside to help control the mud. This shouldn’t be too expensive and fairly quick to set up.
In the spring, you should be able to rake out the enclosure and use the churned up and well-manured straw/dirt as compost for your garden.
I have 4 buff orpingtons and 2 barred rocks and they didn’t seem to mind the snow last winter. I just shovel out spots for them in the run when we had a decent snow storm. They also have a lean to to go into when it’s cold or windy. My chickens do go in the snow. I just put vaseline on their cones and wattles so they don’t get frost-bite. It seemed to work. I also do not put a light in my coop. it’s not very big. I still had a decent amount of eggs through the winter.
Wonderful tips! Sounds like your flock is very lucky to have you.
I’m dealing with Chantecler chickens for the most part but there are Basque who join them. They will travel all over the place if the ducks go ahead and make footprints. Otherwise, they follow my footprints when I stand close to the coop to shovel the snow when opening the coop door. But, it’s Canada so the chickens go out every day for sun. I guess I’m just saying I don’t think they are sun blind and I can’t find any research supporting that so on my farm they go out every day. Of course, different chickens will behave I different ways though.
Hi, I just got 3 Peking ducks that needed a home. Any advice for the coming winter months for the ducks. They don’t want any part of the chicken coop, we tried that. So at night they stay in the run. Thanks. Lemarje
I don’t keep ducks so I don’t have any suggestions to offer from a personal stand point. I do have a friend who keeps ducks and they have a separate mini house of their own away from the chickens, but that is the way she does it.
SOME of my chickens will venture into the snow a little ways (if it’s only a few inches). The cochins won’t. I’m sure the snow would create ice blocks on their feathered legs and make a wet mess of the coop.
What I do is take the soiled straw up and pitchfork it into a path as far as I can stand to do it (usually a path about 50 feet) and a small ‘area’ about 12′ around that I’ve cleared as much as I can. They really appreciate getting out into the sun so the effort’s worth it to me.
Chickens will go out into pasture on snow. I will send pictures if you like. They don’t venture far but they eat snow, scratch and perch or sit in the sun.
That is great! They don’t seem to mind a light snow, but when we get more than a few inches of snow, the chickens will not venture out unless we shovel paths for them. I especially feel badly when we have a foot or two of powdery snow. They are smart. I think they realize that they will sink right down in.