Don't loose your flock to fire, feeding & bedding tips for the winter months.
I can't stress enough the importance of having a coop that has air flow. No matter how cold it gets here in WV, chances are the lovely downy feathers will keep your poultry nice and warm. Drafts are bad as it can cause some issues but fresh air is essential. When chickens breathe out they expel a certain amount of moisture just like humans do. If your coop is sealed nice and tight it will cause the moisture to cause frost bite if you don't provide supplemental heat.
Another cause of frostbite can come from having a damp winter like we did this past winter in WV. It would rain nearly every 3 days and then when it would have a hard freeze... it meant my poultry had issues with keeping their legs from freezing. I did have one pullet who got frostbite on her toes and lost them. I gave her a shot of penicillin and she went on to be a productive member of our flock.
Supplemental Heat: I can not stress enough again that adult chickens that have their full feathers do not need supplemental heat in most of the US. At the very least it is an unnecessary expense and at the worst it can cause massive destruction and death due to fire. It never fails, as soon as it starts getting chilly out you start hearing about coop fires on the news. Not only can it cause a fire in your coop but if it spreads and catches your home or a neighbors home on fire... you won't forgive yourself and it will be too late. Standard brooder lights with a "heat" bulb are dangerous! There are safe alternatives to use if you must provide supplemental heat to your poultry. All if this is regarding adult poultry that is fully feathered! I will cover chicks later.
Here are a couple of SAFE alternatives you can use to make yourself feel better. I bet... if you set it up in your coop you would notice that your birds would prefer to not go under the heat! Maybe if we lived in an environment where it was -35 for an extended period of time I would consider heat in the coop. Sweeter Heater or Eco Glo are safe alternatives to the traditional heat bulbs.
I also change their feed a bit. I buy layer pellet and mix a bag of scratch grains or cracked corn to give them a bit of extra energy to help them stay warm. You can also throw in a hand full of cracked corn at night to give them that boost of internal heat. When the snow covers the ground I still open the coop every day. They decide if they want to go out or not... They ALL go out even on the worst day. When they don't have access to "green living" food I will do things like toss in a head of cabbage to keep them entertained and give them some living food. We are lucky enough to have a lake here and there is always fresh meal worms around for a treat.
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| Pine shaving bedding |
This is also the time of year that I change their bedding. I use a deep litter method in their coop that is low maintenance and helps to keep the coop smelling fresh for months at a time. I only "clean" my coop twice a year but I do wind up having to add extra bedding once every month or two. Hay is not a good bedding as it does not absorb well unless it is chopped. I find that the larger pine flake works best for my coop. Cedar is a no no as it can cause serious respiratory problems for your flock. If starting out for a first time with pine shavings I fill the coop with about 8 inches of it then sprinkle Sweet PDZ around. http://www.sweetpdz.com/ It is promoted for use with horses but I find it is amazing for my poultry. It helps absorb ammonia in a safe environmentally friendly way. I don't have to worry about adding it into my compost as it is a natural enzyme.
If I am doing my bi-annual clean I leave a light scattering of the old shavings in the coop as it is filled with good bacteria that is already helping to break down the waste. Then I add the bags of pine shavings & Sweet PDZ. It is less work for me and helps the new stuff kick start the process. All of this said, I have a free range flock. I do not keep my birds locked up year round so for those that do, you may need to change more than twice a year.
This last year we made a "run" for the times I do need to keep them contained. This allows them access to the outdoors in a safe way so that predators can't get to them. My experience was that they ate down every blade of grass in about 10 minutes. I was left with a mud pit! This is my project this fall, to get that changed so they aren't standing in mud if we have another wet winter. I've had some folks say they use sand, crush/run etc.... I think the crush & run will work best in my situation as they will have access to "grit" to eat the odd time they are locked up, it will help to drain the water & give them something to scratch which they love.
This year we added turkeys to the farm. I have two males and one female. I will be using the largest male this Thanksgiving for food. I have to make a decision soon... do I put him in a large pen to "finish him out" or do I let him continue to free range? There are pros and cons associated with each thought. If I pen him up he will be more tender as he won't have 40 acres to walk around. It is a large dog crate so he can roost and walk around fine but he can't fly or run. The down side with that is he will need to be fed grain the last 30+ days. That is an expense and a not natural diet. At the moment, he is organic. If he wants to eat, he has to catch it!
What are your thoughts? Would you or do you pen your turkey/chickens up to finish them off before processing them?
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