Winter Chicken Care

As any faithful reader will know, the number of animals on the farm is slowly decreasing. This past summer bustled with animal activity - feeding, watering, occasionally chasing and riding - and the barnyard was filled with their noise - contented grunts, silly gobbles, stately crows. But as the cool weather came, so the animals left. By Monday morning all that will remain is a dog, a cat and 45 chickens. With the chilly fall air and recent frosts our thoughts and tasks have turned to preparing the place for winter. Of chief concern is the health and well-being of our chickens during the long winter months. It is no small difficulty for a hen, accustomed to ranging over the barnyard and field, eating bugs, grazing and soaking in sunshine, to be shut up in a coop for several months in the cold of winter and expected to produce an abundant supply of eggs. However, with a little research and planning we are confident of keeping our flock healthy and content during the frigid months ahead.

Space: Although the existing coop is delightful (an original structure to the farm), it is not big enough to house 45 birds over the winter. Thankfully, expanding the coop will be quite simple. The coop occupies the South-west corner of a large out building. Adjacent to the coop on the North is the pig pen, and running the full length of the building to the East is the stock barn. The three pens each have their own door and are not accessible to each other. However, a small chicken door cut into the interior wall of the coop would allow chickens to access one of the other pens. Our plan is to allow the chickens access to both the coop and the stock barn during winter.

Light: As mentioned, the coop is one of the original structures on the farm, built in the 1920's. The homesteaders, Chris Christiansen and his family, certainly knew what they were doing when they laid out plans for the farm. The coop is perfectly situated on the South side of the barnyard, with big windows to capture all available sunlight. Like humans, chickens also need sunlight for vitamin D. But an added need for sunlight is that a hen's egg production is based on the amount of light she is exposed to. As days got shorter egg production decreased. Of course, once electricity came to the farm the concern with shortened days disappeared, but the health and well-being of the chickens is still well served by the big, South-facing windows. Additionally, the South exposure helps to keep the coop warm, even in the cold of winter.

Feed: A well balanced diet is perhaps the most important part of keeping chickens healthy throughout the winter. Currently our chickens have access to the entire barnyard, where they feast upon bugs, grubs, worms, frogs, toads and any vegetation that catches their fancy. They also get a steady supply of high quality organic feed, fallen apples from our tree and green beans (the beans are left over from the field behind our house, planted by the farmer that rents the land. Although they were harvested a few weeks ago, a few plants still have beans on them and we've been picking buckets full every few days for the birds). Obviously, once winter arrives the bugs, grubs, worms, frogs, toads, vegetation and green beans will disappear from their diet. What to do? Cold weather crops! Thankfully many very nutritious crops can withstand frost and, with a cold-frame, even snow. The cold-frame is currently planted with crops primarily for the chickens - a wide variety of lettuce, cabbage and turnips. We also have several mammoth kale plants in the garden, that seem quite impervious to the frost and a pile of pumpkin and squash. Of course, the garden and cold-frame can only get us so far with the severe cold of our winters. But, greens will remain on the chickens menu, by means of seedlings and sprouts, started indoors under grow lights. We have stocked up on last years seeds and will be serving trays of broccoli, cabbage, alfalfa and bean sprouts along with spinach, lettuce and various other leafy greens come this February.

Spa: The final key to maintaining healthy, happy birds during winter months is to provide them with a full-service avian spa - which consists of nothing more than a sandbox. Chickens love to take dust-baths. It soothes their skin and prevents mites from finding a home. Plus, watching a hen kick up dirt into her feathers and roll in dust like a dog is perhaps one of the most enjoyable parts of keeping chickens.