Article From SubmitYOURArticle.com: Your Hens in Winter

A hen's feathers keep the cold out when the air
is dry and still, so they don't mind the cold.
But draughts can get under the feathers, and wet
feathers don't work as well, so keeping hens dry
and draught-free is vital

1. DRAUGHTS AND COLD

Chickens don't mind the cold but they do mind
draughts and the rain at night so these are a top
winter priority for them. The chicken coop, or
house, should be tight enough to keep the cold
wind from blowing through the walls.

Ventilation should be above head height and there
should be no draughts coming through the coop.
The waterproofing needs to be checked and any
areas that are dripping water into the housing
need to be sealed quickly. Wood should be used
for roosts and should never be made of metal
poles or plastic.

Wood roosts will help to keep your hens feet warm
whereas metal or plastic will stay cold all the
time and cause their feet to become too cold.
Imagine stepping on a sheet of tin with your bare
feet in the winter and then having to remain
there for hours.

Some sort of litter such as straw should be used
inside the coop and around the coop. This will
help by keeping the hens feet off the frozen
ground while they scratch around during the day.
The entrance to the coop will become muddy and
frozen if no bedding is put down. This can make
the hens reluctant to come out during the day.

Keeping the straw clean is extremely important.
Check it daily, rake out and replace when it
becomes soiled or wet.

2. WATER AND FOOD

Hens need fresh clean water in the winter just as
they do in the summer. They will die more quickly
from lack of water than lack of food. You may
want to give your birds warm water periodically.
In cold weather, chickens appreciate water which
has been slightly warmed. A rubber dish can be
used which will expand when ice forms and will
not break like plastic.

Water will freeze more quickly in metal
containers. It is very important to check water
containers several times a day when temperatures
are at their lowest because ice will form on top
and chickens may not be able to break it.

Hens need more feed in the winter to keep their
body heat up. We give ours a well-balanced pellet
feed and scratch grain in the winter to keep them
healthy. We also increase the grit in their food
to help break up the pellets in their gizzards,
because they get less grit from scratching the
ground when much of it is frozen.

Adding vegetable peelings, greens and cooked
vegetables also helps. By varying their diet,
they receive the protein and calcium needed to
raise their body heat which keeps the hens laying
more frequently than they would otherwise. (Even
so, they lay far fewer eggs than they do in the
summer).

Going outside. Hens prefer to be outside even in
very cold weather, but can be leery of taking the
first steps out of the coop. If snow collects in
the chicken yard, shovel it out so they can walk
around without sinking in the snow.

3. FOXES AND PREDATORS

Shortage of food supply causes an increase in
predation during the winter months. The predators
try harder.

Losses to predators, such as foxes, are
preventable, if you keep your hens in a secure
coop and run. During the summer, foxes will try
and break into a coop, but won't put a lot of
effort into it - and will stop their attack when
startled by the least distraction.

But during winter, when they are hungry and there
is not much food available, they'll try much
harder to enter the coop, and won't be put off by
a minor disturbance. Having got into the coop,
a fox will kill a couple of chickens to take away
... but will then carry on killing, seemingly for
sport, the majority of a flock in a single night.

Mink are much rarer but harder to stop. They can
fit into small openings and are hard to deter.
Like foxes, they usually kill in night-time
rampages that seem more for sport than food. The
wild mink found in the UK are the descendants of
mink which escaped form mink farms 30 years ago.

Domestic dogs can be a problem all year round,
but - being fed at home each day - are no worse
in the winter. There are many products on the
market designed to deter predators.

One of the most effective for night predators is
the Sentry, a motion activated LED light that
senses predators from a distance and flashes on
for a few seconds, often scaring them away
permanently.

However they are expensive, and most useful to
commercial flocks. For chickens kept in a coop in
the garden or back yard, your money is probably
better spent on other things.

In winter, taking more care of these three tasks
-- draught-proofing, watering, and securing your
flock from predators - will ensure that you still
have a happy, healthy flock when the sun returns.

----------------------------------------------------
Roy Preece of 'easyhens' has kept hens in his
back garden for over 5 years. To learn the
quickest and easiest way to keep hens and
chickens in YOUR garden or back yard go to:
http://www.easyhens.com/

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