7 MORE Tips For Your First Winter With Chickens
This is part 2, a continuation of 7 Tips For Your First Winter With Chickens. Extreme winter weather can pose challenges to both you and your flock. Luckily there are many simple, affordable, and practical things you can do to help maintain the health and productivity of your flock even during severe winter weather. If you haven’t already, be sure to read and watch part 1 for additional tips.
- Check water sources frequently. Dehydration detrimentally impacts the health and productivity of your flock. Plummeting winter temperatures and severe weather can mean interruptions to regular utilities like water and electricity. If you’re anticipating a winter storm in your area, be sure to fill water dispensers ahead of time. Black plastic or black rubber livestock dishes helps keep water from freezing for longer. Even electric livestock dishes can freeze in severe temperatures or be ineffective in case of utility interruptions. Filling your black plastic or rubber livestock dishes with warm water in the morning, checking frequently, and then bringing the dishes into a safe place at night is a power free option for providing your flock with water during severe winter conditions. Test the water carefully with your hand, if it too hot to touch lightly with your fingers it is too hot for your chickens. Wait until the water is at a safe temperature before providing it to your flock.
- Provide your chickens with a dust bath. During the winter time, hard ground covered in snow and ice makes it impossible for your chickens to create their own bath in their pasture or outdoors area. Providing them with a dust bath allows them to groom themselves and is part of the prevention regimen for harmful pests. You can create a chicken dust bath from any chicken safe container they can easily step into and out of. I fill my chicken dust bath with clean fill dirt, coarse construction sand, wood ash from non-chemically treated wood, and food grade diatomaceous earth. Very important that is the food grade DE, not the pesticide kind. If you don’t have access to these components on your property, they are all available to be purchased by the bag at farm box stores and online. In severe cold I increase the amount of sand in my chicken bath to help prevent it from freezing.
- Provide a nutrition packed snack before your flock roosts. If you flock is going to bed and roosting with a full stomach this will help them naturally stay warmer overnight as temperatures reach their coldest. Feeding them a special treat approximately an hour before they roost when you are expecting your coldest temperatures helps your flock stay sated and warm overnight. I avoid moist treats with a moisture component during dangerously cold temperatures (single digits and below Fahrenheit) so moist treats don’t become adhered to sensitive waddles in my flock. This would be frostbite conditions for my area. My recipe for a warming snack is one scoop all-flock formula feed (20% protein), one scoop scratch grains, one scoop sunflower seeds. I don’t serve this daily but reserve it for times that I determine my flock will need the extra nutritional support. My flock has access to free choice complete poultry feed food dispensers during the day. Be careful to only provide rich snacks and treats 3 times per week to avoid accidentally creating a nutritional imbalance. You can also add healthy kitchen scraps to your flock’s regular complete feed as a treat.
- Check your flock daily for signs of distress. One of the most inexpensive and important things you can do as a chicken owner is to observe your flock daily for any signs of distress or abnormal behaviors. Indicators of health issues can include but aren’t limited to things like: lameness, lack of appetite, extreme lethargy, penguin posture, respiratory distress, signs of blood, unexplained feather loss, damaged or missing scales on their feet and legs, and other issues. Identifying and addressing any signs of issues early is important especially during severe winter conditions which already put additional stress on your flock. Observing your flock for even just a few minutes each day can help you spot signs of issues early enough to determine the appropriate next steps for treatment.
- Common kitchen herbs mixed with your regular poultry feed can provide a nutritional boost to your flock as well as other health benefits. Common kitchen herbs like basil, oregano, mint, lemon balm, and cayenne can be added to your regular poultry feed for additional nutritional and health benefits. Add 1 tablespoon of these herbs to your regular poultry feed and mix well. Be careful not to over spice your chicken’s feed. These herbs can also be added to your warm treat portions. Discontinue if you notice any adverse reaction to any herb or additional ingredient to your poultry feed. Do adequate research before adding any additional components to your complete poultry feed. Not all herbs are safe for chickens.
- Provide adequate poultry feed to your flock. While forage can make up a portion of your chicken’s diet, your chickens can’t survive on forage alone, especially in the wintertime when their foraging opportunities are greatly reduced or gone all together due to ice and snow. Provide a poultry feed appropriate your chicken’s age and purpose. There are different brands and sources of poultry feed including local feedstore providers, farm box stores, and online pet food stores. If you have had a negative experience feeding a particular poultry feed, try different brands, sources, and textures until you find one that helps your flock thrive. Food sources like cracked corn and scratch grain while wonderful treats for your flock do not contain the essential protein and calcium needed to keep your chickens healthy and should be fed as treats, not as their exclusive source of nutrition.
- Keep your chickens dry. Your chickens’ feathers provide excellent insulation for them naturally even in harsh winter temperatures but the feathers can’t do their job if they’re wet. Provide your chickens with a leak proof roof and plenty of options for escaping the cold ground like perches, roosts, straw bales, or other chicken safe climbing objects. Be sure any objects you provide for your chickens to perch on have no sharp edges to avoid conditions like foot injuries or bumble foot.
Be sure to check out part 1 of this tip series in addition to the tips above.
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Chuck and the Chicks 