The Backyard Flock: Protecting your chickens in winter

On Molting in Winter

“Heaven have mercy on us all - Presbyterians and Pagans alike –
for we are all somehow dreadfully cracked about the head, and
sadly need mending.” – Herman Melville – Moby Dick

I sit by the fire at night and wonder
about my friends in the coop.
Rocky, the barred rock, is on the molt
and Pee Wee, the little red hen,
is showing signs.

Will the flock huddle
and warm them despite
pecking order protocol?
I suspect they will,
for they are neither Republicans
nor Democrats,
Presbyterians nor Pagans.

***

As winter approached in the first year of my first flock, I began to worry how my chickens would survive. I didn’t have a clue. “What do others do?” I wondered. I had built a secure coop, with double-paned windows and vents that close, but still, it didn’t seem sufficient. It was just uninsulated plywood construction – kind of like a cabin in the woods, but with no stove.

I asked a farmer who had a flock of 100 that he raised for eggs. “You don’t have to do anything special,” he advised. “Just keep them out of drafts.” Another piece of good advice is to be sure there are no metal objects for them to roost on. A chicken cannot sense temperature with its feet. If they roost on a metal pole or rod, they are liable to get frostbite.

Chickens have hot bodies. Get a bunch of them in one fairly secure coop and they will warm the joint with body heat and chicken breath. On all but the coldest mornings, when I go out to bring them food and water, the water in their drinker won’t be frozen, or will just have a skim of ice on the surface. There are times, however, when I will find the drinker frozen solid. They remain unfazed. But I always bring them a fresh drinker filled with hot water. All they want is to go out.

The younger ones are especially adept at keeping warm. Last night, when I went to lock them up in temperatures that were hovering around the freezing mark, nine of my youngest were snuggled together on the roost in a coop designed for six. They barely fit. It is a sight that never fails to get a smile out of me. In the other almost identical coop, my four oldest birds stubbornly roosted apart from one another.

Sometimes I think I spoil my girls. I know people who have chickens that sleep in open coops year round. The only care they take is to keep them safe from predators. Somehow the chickens manage to survive. When it snows, I keep mine locked in the coop until there are bare patches where they can walk. Sometimes, I spread straw on the ground in chicken land so they can get from the door of the coop to the dry spots. If you keep them cooped up too long, they will get on each other’s nerves.

Last winter, I had a barred-rock get sick in some of the coldest weather of the year. I eventually brought her in the house in a big cardboard box, but she didn’t make it through the night. I’m still kicking myself for not having brought her in sooner. What I noticed about her when she took ill was that her comb had lost its color. That is something I will look for in all my chickens this winter. At the first sign of illness, they are coming to live with us - or in the garage, if my wife strenuously objects.