What prep work or changes will you be making as winter approaches ??
I plan to switch to those big rubberlike black bowls that Tractor Supply has for water.
I also hope to have one electrical outlet hooked up this fall so I can put a heat lamp in for ONLY the most bitter weather.
I did see some pics on another website that someone had used the plastic sheeting to encase the sides of their run to keep most of the wind off the flock. They also put in several bales of hay to give the chickens stuff to tear apart and scratch about ....seemed like a good idea instead of just putting straw or pine shavings in the coop/house itself.
I'm also looking at putting solar lights up. (I have some on the perimeter of the run now at ground level...but they only glow softly) I'd like either wall mounted or a post type near the backdoor I use and I think on either side of the front window right above the hen door to the run. I want more visibility when I look out at the coop/run at night. But I will need something stronger then the soft glow I normally see or it will be a waste of money.
I do have a telephone pole that use to have a nice bright yard light that would have shined nicely on the run. I could put the light back there and that would solve that problem, but I can almost hear the ducks now ALL NIGHT LONG...lol. It would be worse than the full moon effect they have now ....lol
I know they will spend a lot more time inside and we will have less daylight, I am toying with stringing some red rope lights inside (maybe) so they aren't in complete dark for so many hours.
It will already be dark in the evenings when I get home from work once winter comes. I will have to get my son into a routine of feeding the poultry their evening treat and locking them up before I get home I guess. I'm gonna miss that to be honest.......
~Julie =0)
Depressing I know but...
I put christmas lights on a timer in the coop. It cheers all of us. I also do the bale of hay thing and hang heads of cabbage or outdated veggies from a string so they have to work to get at them. It seems to keep them entertained. I use a birdbath heater in the water dish. On really really cold nights I hand a photographers lamp over the roosts. (Not as hot as a heat lamp and way cheaper).
I may try the plastic on the windy side!
Now that you mention it I recall seeing somewhere (I think it was u-tube) a bunch of chickens/roosters jumping up to get grapes that were hung up just out of reach. I think that would be a good idea as well.
I would prefer to avoid a heat source/lamp or even a heated bowl because I have visions of somebody pecking thru the cord or getting hung up in it etc....
I never provided heat when I had poultry before, just a nice cozy draft free and dry coop. I hope to be able to go that route again to be honest. But I like the idea of the little lights on a timer....
Julie
I don't have electric to my coop but this might help some of you that do. Last year before Christmas they had these special timers at Walmart that automatically switched the lights on at dusk and gave you the option of them staying on for 4, 6, or 8 hrs or from dusk till dawn. I thought it would be perfect for a chicken coop. Maybe get two, one with a regular light bulb and set it to four hours to simulate longer days and keep the hens laying, the other set dusk to dawn for a heat bulb. I use mine for my Christmas decorations and for when I'm out of town. I like them because a regular timer goes on at the same time every day so if a thief was watching your house they'd be able to tell it was a timer but these change the time they switch on with the setting sun. I bought one before christmas but waited for the after christmas sale for the rest, way cheaper that way.
I've read artificial lighting for the continuation of heavy laying in the winter months is bad for your hens. I can't attest to it since I have never tried it myself and I know a lot of folks on the forums do it.
The timer sounds like a great idea though!!!
~Julie
Yeah, I know what you mean Julie, I've heard that too. I've been going back and forth about whether I'll do it or not once I have electricity and my chicks grow up. Probably not though, I have enough chickens that I'll have enough eggs even if they're laying a quarter of what they're suppose to.
For the most part I've tried to pick winter hardy breeds some of which are suppose to be good winter layers... we'll see. I've got enough hens that I'm sure I will have more than enough eggs either way.
I dread winter coming.......it's such an all around inconvenience...lol
Julie =0)
Hens are sensitive to day length-the optimum day length for laying is 14 hours. The good side is that more hens will lay through the winter if you provide an extended day for them using artificial light. The down side of heavy laying is the hen's body must catch up sometime...and in my experience of providing extended day or not is that my hens are healthier over the long term without artificial light. My hens usually are productive for 4 - 5 years. I have never used auxilliary heat but I have always shielded at least two sides of the coop from prevailing winds. Here in NW Georgia, it means the north and west sides are covered with plywood in the winter. I also provide bales of straw or hay for any girls who'd rather have a nest to bundle up in and also bed my nest boxes with the hay in winter. One Barred Rock girl chooses a nest box for her snooze year round! In my observations, vitamin A seems crucial to egg laying longevity, along with D and E. I top dress some grains weekly with cod liver and flaxseed oils to help provide the fat soluble A, D and E. I have also discovered my hens respond amazingly well during cold weather to additional fat and protein in their diet. Good body condition in cold weather means more eggs. When one silly girl sat and hatched 5 eggs in January, I used several bricks and heated them late in the evening, then buried them in layers of newspapers and pushed it all under the hen's nest to help them stay warm through the night. Babies and mom did fine through a week in the teens. Hope some of this helps someone. Happy egg gathering!