Frozen Chickens- Caring For Your Flock in the Winter
I think most people were caught a little off guard by the freezing temperatures hitting North America this year. So how do you keep your chickens from freezing during these cold months? I'm following 3 simple rules to ensure my flock handles this brutal weather.
I'm certainly not the expert on this subject. After all, this is my first year raising my own chickens in the city. But I did pick up some surprising tricks in taking care of my chickens. I also learned that no matter how much planning you may do, it's so easy to overlook something.
Mostly, I made a ton of mistakes, had to do several experiments, and still doubted my abilities to care for my backyard flock. Despite my doubts, my chickens are healthy, happy, and productive.
The first important lesson I learned was not to believe everything you read. I guess for newbies, when you purchase a book that claims to guide you in raising your flock, you don't know how to judge the good ones from the bad. Even some of "the experts" led me down the wrong path.
I did a ton of research before I even got chickens to make sure I could care for them year round. I purchased books and scoured the internet for sound advise from trusted sources. Thankfully, I learned just enough to get by this year. I was able to adapt the knowledge and my chickens are doing well despite the freezing temps.
I just need to say beware if your experts are trying to sell you a product. Some of the advise I listened to in order to care for my chickens in winter were just flat out lies. Some were common sense. But most of them didn't really apply to my situation.
Another tip is to not be so trusting of everything you see working like a dream in YT videos. Sometimes, it never actually works. It was staged for subs. Yes, believe it or not!
OK, enough about how I learned things the hard way. I don't want you to have to experience that. I want to give you some solid advice from my own personal experience on things that will help you in your own circumstances. Let's get to caring for your chickens in winter!
I've come to learn that chickens need 3 basic things no matter what the season in order to survive. Shelter, from either predators or weather, nutritious food, and clean water. Beyond those 3 things, everything is negotiable. I should also note here that if you are thinking of getting chickens, picking a breed that fits your climate is so important.
Let's start with your shelter. If you live in the city or suburbs as I do, odds are you will never own a barn or a heated chicken coop. It just isn't practical for us. We have to make do with limited space and HOA's, not to mention laws and covenants that limit certain homesteading practices like raising backyard chickens. We need to get creative in order to accomplish what a farmer could do easily.
Chickens need shelter no matter where you live. But the shelter you have for your chickens is dictated by your specific conditions.
My chicken coop has no access to electricity. I built the coop myself with a floor made of hardware cloth and a large vented roof to allow my chickens to survive my humid summer climate. To sum it up, my coop has a lot of holes in it that are not conducive to freezing conditions. Fortunately, I did anticipate this as being an issue in winter so I prepared my coop ahead of winter.
I applied a simple sheet of linoleum to the floor of my coop. This prevents the cold air from invading the coop from below. I also added a layer of straw to the bottom to add a little insulation. I left the roof vented. It's important to have good air flow through your chicken coop at all times, and by having the roof vented, it keeps air flowing yet isn't causing drafts near the chickens.
I thought I had done my due diligence and my coop was ready to handle my winter. Unfortunately, we started experiencing a rather unusual drop in temps around my region. Temperatures dipped into the single digits for a few days and it's been well below freezing for over a week now. This is not the norm for my area, as we haven't had a day this cold in the last 8 years according to my local news channels.
This was an easy challenge to overcome. I got several bales of straw and lined the coop with excess it. I lined the walls and added a 6-inch layer of straw to the floor. The straw has 2 specific benefits in this case. The first benefit is that the straw will seal up any air gaps I have at the bottom of my coop and eliminate any drafts. The second benefit is that by using the straw as bedding, I can create a deep layer mulch that will provide a small amount of warmth as it breaks down. A huge bonus from using this method is that when temps warm up in the spring, I can compost and apply this mulch to my garden to make it more productive. Free compost is always a bonus.
I could check the #1 concern off of my list. My shelter was prepared. I had a little trouble believing that my chickens wouldn't freeze overnight in my self-built coop lined with straw, but they did fine. In fact, despite the freezing cold temps outside, they were eager to get outside and run around.
As a new chicken mom, it's hard to let your chickens be chickens. You worry and fret over every little thing the first time. I was no different. I was so sure that my chickens were suffering out in the cold. But their hardiness reminded me that people have been raising chickens in extreme environments without electricity for eons. I had modeled the deep mulch method used by farmers with stationary coops and barns and it worked as it should. My chickens were not suffering, they were actually thriving as evidenced by their continued egg production despite the freezing temps. When chickens are stressed, they will not lay eggs. My chickens didn't miss a beat. They continue to lay throughout this frigid winter.
Since the weather is so cold lately, it's important to provide your chickens with plenty of quality feed. Rule #2. It takes energy to stay warm, so when it's cold outside, your chickens will eat more.
Even if your chickens forage during the winter, they aren't finding the bounty they enjoyed in the warmer months. Bugs aren't as plentiful. The grass is brown or frozen in most spots. The weeds have long ago died. They need additional food during this season.
This was the easy part of caring for the chickens. I had anticipated the requirements my chickens needed for this cold season so far. And it wasn't hard at all. The chickens took care of themselves as long as I took care of my part.
The 3rd rule was the most challenging task I was hit with. Fresh water. If your chickens are going to survive winter conditions, they are going to need access to unfrozen water. This proved to be more challenging than I had anticipated. I simply had not planned for it.
In my area, we normally don't get below freezing for more than a day or two. I had prepared for this by purchasing some bricks that are used in pizza ovens with the idea of heating the bricks and placing them under the chicken waterer to keep the water warm. This probably would have been sufficient for a mild winter. I did not plan for 2 weeks of record freezing weather the first year I decided to raise chickens. So my plan was laughable. Just to be sure, I tried it, and it was a complete failure. When I went out to check the water, it was half frozen in just 2 hours. This wasn't going to work.
How was I going to keep the water from freezing throughout the day without being able to change it and with no electricity?
I sought advise from chicken people. Surely the experts had the answer. They did. They all had the answers but they just didn't fit my urban situation. For example, many people use heated dog bowls in the winter to keep the water from freezing. Or they used ever-flow waterers. If you live in an extreme climate, these options may be your only solution.
I don't have access to electricity outside, so I couldn't use a heated bowl. I don't have a stream or a well on my property, and my hose is a frozen mess, so the continuous water flow method is out as well.
That left me with some sketchy options. I tried heating rocks and putting it in the water, but this method just doesn't work well. You have to avoid scalding your chickens, and once the water cools off enough for them to drink it, and it's only a matter of a few hours before it's frozen solid again. I read many articles swearing that if you put a bottle of salt water in the actual waterer, it will keep it from freezing. I have no idea why I thought this method would work, but I tried it anyway. I was a bit desperate at this point.
Did I call my idea laughable before? This idea was hilarious. Now, I have a frozen salt water filled bottled stuck in a frozen waterer. Ridiculous. I feel a little dumber for even trying it.
Lisa Steele had a great idea of using an old tire and insulating it, then placing the waterer inside that in the sun. This is a great idea! Only, I didn't have an old tire on hand, and one would probably not fit in the chicken run. So, I improvised on her idea.
What ended up working for me was simple. I purchased a large, black, rubber feeding pan. They are really inexpensive and durable. I simply placed warm water from my tap in the large tub and filled it up all of the way. The concept is that it will take longer for that amount of water to freeze. I placed the tub in the sun so that the black tub could absorb the heat. Success! The water stayed thawed for 8 hours. I was actually a bit surprised that it was so simple, yet worked so well. Chickens can survive on that supply until I get home to change the water.
I suppose that the water may stay thawed even longer if I added the warm bricks to the scenario, but I don't think I am to the point where I need that extra step yet. We may get there next week though!
Remember to try new things, but works what's best for you and your flock! I hope you learned a tiny tip from me or at least smiled at my trial and errors.
