In the Chicken Coop

Approximately five years ago, I got my first chickens. As much as I wanted to do it, I was hesitant. My experience with any kind of bird was limited and I didn’t like the idea of an animal living outside all year round. In the winter, I still struggle with it despite the fact that the chickens seem to be quite content. Of course we have a very nice winter setup for them.

It has turned out to be wonderful. Chickens are awesome pets and the fresh eggs are fabulous. I currently have four hens that are two years old. They are Rhode Island Red and White Rock hybrids. I purchased them from a hatchery when they were a day old. I chose this breed primarily for their personalities and tolerance of cold weather. Their names are Eve, Heidi, Liesl and Abby (pictured above).

Preparing your Chickens for the Cold Weather

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Winter is just around the corner. It’s time to prepare your chickens and their coop for the cold weather. Here are the things that I do to get ready for winter with my girls.

I live in the northeast where the winters can be extremely cold. Because of this, I purposely chose a cold tolerant breed of chicken (Rhode Island Red and White Rock hybrids).

It has taken me a while to accept that my girls actually do better in cold weather than in the heat. I do not provide any supplemental heat for them for two reasons. The dangers and risks of using heat lamps are not worth it to me and my chickens have not needed it.

I use greenhouse plastic to enclose the chicken pen. This keeps the wind out and heats up the pen when the sun is shining on it. It keeps it nice and cozy inside and the chickens are comfortable. The difference in temperature inside the pen as opposed to the outside is significant.

Below are a few pictures of my coop and pen during winter.

You will notice that I have a removable door for the front of the coop. This is because proper ventilation is incredibly important to the health of your chickens. I can’t stress that enough.

I take the door on and off depending on the weather. On nice days, I take it off so the girls can get more fresh air and enjoy looking outside. The door always goes on at night. By having the ventilation at the top, the chickens don’t get caught in any drafts. The way my pen is built, there is also quite a bit of ventilation on the sides of the roof. During storms, I place a towel over the top to keep the wind and precipitation out. This still allows some air through and there is plenty of ventilation on the sides of the roof. The towel comes off after the storm subsides.

Now it’s time to talk about a few additional things they need in the winter:

1) Water – Access to fresh, unfrozen water is extremely important. I use a heated dog bowl to provide this for my chickens and it works very well.

2) Bedding – In the late Fall (usually November), I take all of the bedding out of the coop, scrub the whole thing really well and put clean bedding several inches thick in. I scoop my coop daily and replace bedding as needed throughout the winter. I use aspen wood shavings. Because chickens have delicate respiratory systems, you should never use pine shavings.

3) Scratch – I only use scratch in the winter. The energy it takes for the chickens to digest it causes their body temperature to rise and heats them up a little. I give my girls some scratch before bed on cold nights to warm them up while they digest it overnight.

4) Straw – I keep a box of straw in the coop that the girls love to get into. Be careful if you decide to spread it on the ground because straw can become moldy which will make the chickens very ill. I “fluff” the straw in the box daily and replace it as needed. I also put straw on the top shelf I have in the pen and change it daily. The girls like to lay on the straw on that shelf.

5) Toys – Chickens need things to occupy them while they are “cooped up” over the winter. Generally, they are motivated by food. I hide different greens, vegetables and treats around the coop for them to find. I have shelves, perches and stumps for them to walk and perch on. It keeps them active and helps keep them from getting too bored. They also still get out to roam free every morning for about 30 minutes while I clean their pen and longer on the weekends when I’m home during the day.

6) Sand or Dirt – Chickens still need to dust bath in the winter. Make sure you provide unfrozen sand and/or dirt for them. Because I use the greenhouse plastic to enclose the pen, it keeps the dirt from getting frozen on the top. Every morning when I clean out the coop and pen, I use my rake and shovel to keep the dirt loose.

I hope these tips help you to prepare your chickens for the cold weather. It took me a while to adjust to the fact that my chickens actually like the cold weather and I struggled with that greatly. There were so many sleepless nights my first two winters worrying about them being outside and going out to check on them in the middle of the night. However,I have observed their behavior and realized that they are happy and comfortable. I will admit that I still don’t like it in the winter but have come to feel better about it.

Good luck!

Jen

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Happy Halloween from the Chickens

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On Thursdays, for the month of October, we are posting Halloween pictures that feature some of our pets. Just a bit of fun!

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Chickens – Housing

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So, you’ve decided to take the plunge and get some backyard chickens. One of the most important things you will need to decide and address, before you get your chickens, is housing. There are a few things to consider before you start purchasing or building.

1) They need a protected area to sleep, eat and exercise.
2) Proper ventilation is essential to the health of your chickens.
3) Placement – Where you live and how much property you have to work with.
4) How many chickens you plan on getting (leaving room to expand).
5) Type of chickens (size, breed, weather tolerance and behavioral characteristics)
6) Size of the coop and/or pen you need. Build bigger than you need.
7) Do you want it to be a movable or permanent structure.
8) The potential predators in your area.
9) Your neighbors. Will having chickens cause problems with them?
10) The laws of the town you live in.

We live in a rural area, on several acres of land, that has a field and a wooded area. However, we do have neighbors on either side that could potentially be bothered by noise or smell. Hawks, raccoons, stray cats, dogs and foxes are our potential predators. We have four hens with room to expand to six. Here is what we came up with for our situation.

Due to the predators in the area, we chose to put the chicken area close to the house. We also decided to make them an enclosed exercise pen that has the coop inside of it. This way they have plenty of room to exercise and explore. The girls get out to roam every day for about 30 minutes in the morning and up to an hour in the evening (depending on the time of year and the amount of daylight I have after getting home from work). They are only out of their pen when someone is outside to supervise them. Fortunately, we were able to train them and they stay close and will come when called. On the weekends, they can roam free while I’m working outside.

Because we knew that they were going to need to be confined most of the time, we made the pen large with plenty of room. Keep in mind that you need to have plenty of room for everything the chickens need as well as the chickens themselves. They need an area to take dust baths, perches, food, water and an area with nesting boxes. Our coop has a nesting box and perch inside. All four of my girls use one nesting box.

My Dad designed my chicken pen. What he came up with is made of wooden panels with double layers of chicken wire. The chicken wire is extended past the panels and buried two feet in ground. It’s buried to prevent predators trying to dig under to get in. The structure has a permanent roof on it. However, as you can see in the picture below, before the roof was added, the entire top of the pen has chicken wire on it as well. It also has predator proof latches and a padlock on the door.

Below is the roof that we added (with a cute little squirrel in the forefront).

In the spring, summer and fall, the pen is completely open. In the winter time, everything except the door is enclosed in greenhouse grade plastic. The plastic is attached to the enclosure and rolls up to store near the roof when not in use. For the door, we use a separate plastic covered frame that can be removed daily. This is for ventilation and can be taken on and off as needed. We also have areas for ventilation on the sides of the roof. I will talk about winterizing the coop in a separate article. The point is, you don’t want an air tight enclosure.

This system has worked really well for us. We live in the Northeast, so the winters are cold. Our location was the deciding factor when choosing the type of chickens to get. We decided on Rhode Island Red and White Rock hybrids that are large, cold tolerant birds that lay a lot of eggs.

Inside the pen, we used an old picnic table to set the coop on top of. This works out great but I hope to eventually buy a small shed to attach to the pen to use as a coop instead. We also put shelves, stumps and made a perching ladder to keep it interesting and increase the surface area they have to exercise. Chickens are curious and love to get up on things like stumps and the shelves. I already had the white plastic shelves so I used them instead of buying or making something. It turns out, they work very well. One big plus is that they are very easy to keep clean.

In one area, I have a sand pit. Chickens need an area to take their dust baths and mine love sand. The picture below was taken in the winter when the plastic was down.

We bought the coop and my Dad designed and built the pen. It has worked out really well for us. When it comes to design, your options are pretty much unlimited, especially if you are handy. There are many already made coops and pens you can buy as well.

Jen

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In the Chicken Coop

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