7 Things Your Flock Needs This Fall
While every flock and every situation is different, there are basics of care that apply to almost every backyard flock. These simple inexpensive practices protect your flock from harmful diseases and set you up for a safe and happy winter ahead. Whether your winters are wet and rainy or covered in snow, your flock is depending on you for these 7 things before the fall season is over.
A bedding, ground cover, and nesting box reset. Harmful pests and bacteria can take harbor in decaying ground cover and dirty nesting boxes. Decaying chicken bedding saturated with droppings can contribute to ammonia toxicity, mite infestations, and other costly conditions. Before freezing temperatures hit, give your flock a completely fresh cover of their ground cover litter, whatever style you’re using, and refresh your nesting boxes. Food-grade ditameceous earth (NOT the pesticide kind) can be added to litter, nest boxes, and roosts for additional protection from mites and lice.
Take advantage of seasonal and discount produce. Local farmer’s markets and discounted produce make great healthy treats for your flock. A squash or pumpkin cut in half makes a delicious vitamin-rich treat for your flock. As the season progresses perishable items will go on sale. It might be too ripe for your family to enjoy but it’s just right for your flock. Other chicken safe treats are things like: sweet corn, salad greens, and apples with the seeds removed. Be sure to offer treats in addition to a complete poultry feed, not as a substitute.
Be aware of molting. Support your flock with extra protein. Molt is the seasonal change when chickens shed their damaged feathers in order to grow an intact set of feathers to protect them during harsh winter conditions. Adding things like a 20% protein all-flock to your feeding regimen or supplementing your regular poultry feed with other high protein treats like fly larvae, grubs, and peas helps your flock progress through molt as efficiently as possible.
If you’re planning to expand your chicken area, now is the time. Winter in most areas makes construction projects impossible. Take advantage of the cooler fall temperatures to build out your chicken run or coop if it’s feasible to give your flock as much sheltered space as possible before winter hits.
Keep your ventilation high and your chickens dry. Whether you’re adding to your chicken facilities or not, now is the time to check for leaks, holes, and places where draft and weather could negatively impact your flock during the winter season. You can construct winter windbreaks from things like straw bales, plywood, or tarps. Address any leaks or hole in your coop and run to protect your flock from dangerous frostbite conditions. Your flock needs fresh air to circulate above their level, but they need to be protected from direct wind and elements blowing directly onto them. Wet feathers can’t keep them warm.
Now is the time to add extra perches and roosts. Giving your flock ways to get up off the cold ground is one of the easiest things you can do to prevent frostbite in your flock. A 2×4 placed with the flat, broad side down makes an ideal roost or perch. You can also use things like a thrifted chair, old shelves, a bale of straw, and natural branches at least 3 inches in diameter. Remove any sharp edges from perches and roosts to avoid bumblefoot, an infected laceration on the foot of your chicken. A chicken’s foot is one of the most vulnerable parts of their body.
Your flock will benefit from calcium and grit supplements during the winter. Grit in the soil which is normally accessible to chickens during the warmer months becomes impossible to access under ice and snow. Provide your flock with grit and oyster shell in a free choice dispenser or dish and refresh as needed. Calcium helps chicken’s have strong eggshells and boosts feather regrowth. Grit is essential to helping them digest their food properly and helps prevent conditions like impacted crop and sour crop. If your flock lives in partial or full-time confinement, these inexpensive supplements are essential for their health.
Bonus tip. Don’t skimp on biosecurity. You have the potential to bring pests and disease back to your flock by accident. During the winter months when flocks spend more time in their shelter they are especially vulnerable to pests and disease. You can provide a critical layer of protection to your flock by wearing dedicated livestock clothing, especially footwear like muck boots, only when working with your flock and at no other time. Don’t wear your livestock gear into public, in wildlife areas, or to other residences where chickens are kept. It is extremely easy to track unwanted pests and disease right back to your flock.
I hope you’ve enjoyed these tips about ways to support your flock during the fall for a happy a safe winter ahead. If you would enjoy more beginner friendly information about backyard chickens homesteading, check out Chuck’s other social media linked below.
Chuck and the Chicks 