It has been a long winter. A very long winter. I realize that the calendar has announced the coming of spring, but here in the valleys of Western New York, spring has not yet sprung. Cold weather arrived before autumn turned to winter…and is here yet. For many of us, plodding to and from, in and around, our routines have become just that…routine. Get up, do the chores, haul water, go to work, haul water, more chores, bedtime. Over and over –
And I’m not sure what happens to you when you spend many days in a gray, chilly world performing the same tasks over and over—but around here –we snap and snarl at each other over small things. Minor annoyances become major ones. We “pick” at trivial occurrences, until sometimes, they become large wounds.
The same thing happens in our hen house. This winter, the doors to the outside have often remained shut for weeks at a time. Even today, I check the weather report before deciding whether to hook back the door to the covered run. March breezes blow cold drafts. The routine for the hens has focused on eating, sleeping and staying warm. Over and over –
Just as in our world, close quarters in the coop often lead to picking. If you’re at all familiar with chickens, you’ll know that a small physical injury—whether caused by frostbite on a comb, a broken toenail, or a scrape from a rough edge on something—can quickly lead to a big problem.
If there is an injury that the other chickens are picking at, the first step is to immediately remove the injured bird and assess the damages. To me, that means washing away any blood spots and treating small injuries with an antiseptic ointment. Often a thick coating of ointment will heal the wound, as well as deter more picking. If the injury is more extensive, I segregate the hen from the flock (there’s a wire cage at the back of the coop for just this purpose) until she is healed.
As adult humans, we’ve learned to combat “cabin fever” by switching up our routines a little, by doing things a little differently. Taking a new route to work, for example, can show us new sights and give a fresh perspective. A new haircut, a shopping trip, a lunch with friends or even an old recipe prepared a different way can make just enough change in our lives to see us through until the grass is green again.
Prevention of “coop fever” works the same way. If you offer something different to your chickens’ routines, you’ll find they really do seem happier. Here are some ideas for you to try:
A new route –use a bale of straw or two to create paths, or even a maze, for your chickens to walk through. If you don’t have enough room for straw bales, you could even use cardboard.
New things to look at –try hanging wind chimes or sun catchers (I’ve seen them made of old CDs). Fasten them tightly and high enough that they are out of reach, but can catch the occasional rays of sun. Streamers or pennants hung across the rafters might be fun, too.
Toys and playthings– A year or so ago, I read about a hen keeper who had designed a scratch filled ball out of a round soda bottle. (You can READ ABOUT IT HERE.) The small holes in the plastic allow the grains to shake out as the bottle is kicked around the yard or coop –and it doesn’t take long for chickens to figure that out!
A head of cabbage secured to a rope and hanging from a rafter, just high enough that your hens will have to hop to get a taste, is another simple, yet entertaining idea. I’ve hung bunches of greens in a similar fashion.
This winter, I’ve seen several articles about building a swing for chickens. I haven’t yet tried it –but I would think it a great boredom buster. Here are simple instructions in THIS POST FROM FRESH EGGS DAILY.
An old recipe prepared a new way – well, why not? Just stirring some warm water into layer crumbles, adding some flax seed and a few raisins makes a tasty, healthy breakfast. My chickens love a pan of warm oatmeal, and leftover corn muffins are always a big hit.
I’ve made “cake” for my flock from suet and scratch grains, too. (READ THE POST HERE.) When hardened and placed in wire or a suet feeder, this cake gives extra energy by boosting metabolism. It’s something different for your chickens to do, too.
The idea is to try something new to divert their attention from each other. It really won’t be long before our coop doors will stay flung open, and the flock can forage in the warm earth once again, but in the meantime—maybe these suggestions can help beat “coop fever”.
How do you and your chickens handle the long winters in the North?
3 Comments
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Eleanor from Copake, NY Even though the temperatures have been brutal this winter, the coop door has been open. On very cold days they don’t go out but otherwise, they went out every day. They get feed sunflower seeds every day along with any other goodies we can come up with (bread, they love bread, peelings, leftovers that are time to go, etc). I do love the idea of putting seeds inside a soda bottle. I am tired of the winter!!
My wife and I have 5 Plymouth Barred Rock chickens. Every once in awhile, there is a skirmish but not much. What I like to do is spend time with the chickens. Give them some of our time and THAT breaks of their routine pretty much. I communicate with them too by mimicking them by the sounds that they make. By touching them and caressing them. They have their pecking order lined out so there is no controversy on that. I hate to say it but they act like spoiled kids now…lol. Anyway, they want my attention now pretty much everyday now, so I give it to them.