Tag: chickens in winter

Winter Storm Stella 

~ debc ~ 2 Comments

At the beginning of this week, the east coast of the United States braced for the biggest snow storm of the year.  Winter Storm Stella.   It was compared, pretty much, to the Blizzard of 1993, I remember, because I was just turning 18 and preparing to spend Spring Break in Florida with my favorite aunt, who just happens to share the same birthday as mine.  I spent part of it being snowed in and the other part stuck at the airport with my grandfather, hoping my flight wouldn’t be cancelled.

It was.  He wound up getting me a new flight, so I could spend my 18th birthday with my Birthday Aunt.   I miss my grandpa.

Flash forward 24 years and here we are – Winter Storm Stella.

I feel like we were well prepared.  I bought extra chicken feed, wood chips and we had half a bale of straw.  Given that our coop is actually inside a retired dairy barn, they had plenty of buffering against the wind (which was considerable at times) and the most part, the chickens had all they needed.

This is the view of things Tuesday Morning, BEFORE it really got bad outside.  Snow had maybe only been falling a few hours.

Yikes! I know, right?

 

Our friendly neighborhood turkeys? Spent most of Tuesday hiding in the lilac bush. They have a roost in their owner’s barn, but that really didn’t seem to matter.  They did some wandering, looking for food in Mom’s bird feeders, and kept returning to the shelter of the lilac bush until the day started to turn into evening, and then they switched to the evergreen bushes on the other side of the house.

For a while there on Tuesday, I was afraid we were going to have to bring them into the garage overnight, but during a lull in the wind, they left us, flying off towards their own farm, and we did not see them again for the rest of the storm.

My chickens, spent the same two days safe and warm in their coops.  They got extra BOSS, warm spaghetti, and other good things to keep them happy… although, I did have to explain to Abby what was going on.  You see?  Abby is the boss and everyone knows it.  So when I showed up LATE on Tuesday morning, and didn’t let them outside, she started to scold me.  So I had to pick her up, carry her to the door and let her see the wind and the snow and after she’d seen enough, and was satisfied that I wasn’t just slacking my duties as a Chicken Mom, she stopped scolding and told the others to be calm about it, too.

Abby is a really good hen.  Smart.  I don’t know what she told them, but it worked and there really weren’t too many incidences to speak of. They even kept laying eggs, which I was concerned about, given the circumstances.

Here’s what it all looked like this morning, after 2 days of snow and wind and more snow.

And here are the chickens, safe and sound after being cooped up for two whole days.

I normally given them the option,but the way the wind was blowing, opening the door would have been a very bad idea. Very bad. So they were very pleased to see the light of day, feel the sun on their feathers and the wind in their feathers.

 

 

Dashed Hopes?

~ debc ~ 3 Comments

I have this spot in the pasture. It’s an old water trough that’s been buried in the side of the bank for God only knows how long. I’ve been dumping black oil sun flower seeds there, in the hope that some of them will get buried in the snow, and maybe germinate. I’d love to grow them for chickens without actually growing them. As you can see, the chickens have other ideas!

The Flock Update

~ debc ~ 3 Comments

Well, I promised an actual flock update, because I haven’t given one in a while.

There’s not much to say about the old ones.  They hate the nasty Cold White and some of them are still in various stages of molt.

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Like Amy,who waited until the week of Christmas to drop all her feathers at once.  You can’t see it from this picture,but her entire underside is BARE NAKED.  It happened over night.  She is currently in the prickly ‘porcupine’ stage.

Is this normal molting?  I envisioned them losing their feathers in October/November…not January! And yet, aside from Amy, I know I have at least four more hens who are in the midst of a slow molt.  Does it always take this long?  I’m so glad we haven’t have negative temperatures, because they would freeze!  Especially Amy!  I mean, look at her!

I’ve been feeding them Feather Fixer  mixed in with their regular food, because I heard it helps them molt quicker/get over it faster.  Whatever.  I don’t think its working. Or else it is working and they would be molting until June without it???  Again, is this normal for it so long???

Seriously,because I feel so bad for the poor cranky things!

Now…since it is cold and windy today, and the flock all opted to stay inside and bug me while I attempted to clean their beds and fill the feeding tubes, I did manage to get pictures of Ashley’s Babies.  They are eleven weeks old. as of yesterday.

The tricky part is that all the white ones – Max and the Dalmies – kind of remind me of Eugenie at that age.  She was big,had a slightly pink face, which stood because she is white, and I wasn’t sure at first if she was a henny or a slow-developing roo.  Keep that in mind as you look at the white chicks.  Feel free to click the pics to make them bigger.

Miracle Max

Max looked like a boy when he/she was little,but now I see inklings of a little hen.

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Max on the right.  Dalmie # 1 on the left. A behind view.

Dalmie #1

I think this is the same one I named Dalmie #1 in previous pics. Not sure.

Dalmie #2

Dalmie #2.

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Dalmie #2 (center) with Felicia and Pip

A gentle reminder that as per Twiglet’s comments on prior posts, we think Pip is the father of the Dalmies.

Felicia 

So… I’m betting anything that Felicia is really Felix.  If this chick starts laying eggs in the spring, I will be so surprised.

Well, that’s the scoop on Ashley’s Babies.   If you’re up for a game of “Henny or Roo?”  Feel free to take your best guesses in the comments.

ETA:  If anyone is interested in comparing these chicks to Dani and Eugenie at roughly the same age…

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Eugenie,of course, is the white one!

 

And now… here’s a special treat… Abby’s baby Easter Eggers.  The will be 8 weeks on Thursday.

These chicks don’t have names.  I’m trying not to name them until I know what they are.  That, and Little Dude wants to name them after Sith Lords.  And I don’t want an Easter Egger named Darth Maul.  *sigh*

The darker chick is smaller, really skittish and mouthy. Based on behavior alone, I think she’s a hen.  She is curious about me, but afraid to come close.  She likes treats and will eat out of my hand and then yell at me for more when I walk away.

The yellow/buff-ish one is bigger and less skittish, but standoffish.  Like a little rooster-in-training.  He also likes treats but doesn’t demand them, like his sibling.

Now… these chicks are staying.  When the other 2 vanished without a trace, I told DH that under no circumstances were we sending either of these to Freezer Camp if they were roosters.   Why?  Because he told me I could keep Esther if I really, really wanted, but I flip flopped, and then he said “well, you do have Abby’s 6 eggs.”  So I aired on the side of Abby having potentially 6 new EE chicks.

This is why you don’t count your chicks before they hatch, people.  Pavel hasn’t forgiven me for sending her favorite brother to Freezer Camp… and Abby only has two chicks.

So…unless the little yellow/buff one has major dominance issues with Dots and Pip, these chicks are here to stay.  No matter what.

I’ll end this post by pointing out anew section of the blog I’ve just started working on.  Meet The Chickens, a series of bio pages for my flock so that when I say  Dots, Abby, Jolene, Wilda… you know who I mean.  I’ve been meaning to do this for a while, but for various reasons, I just haven’t.  Mostly because I have over 30 birds at any given time and it’s hard to pinpoint their personalities at a glance.  Look for me to do a page or two a month, highlight each bird. Hopefully by the end of 2017, I’ll have gotten them all on there.   Right now, it’s just Dots.  🙂

How are your Chickens Handling the Snow?

~ debc ~ 6 Comments

I only ask because half (or more than half) the people on the eastern coast of the U.S. are getting a ton of snow this weekend.

How are your chickens handling it?  Do they like snow?  Cold weather?

Or if you’re like me and NOT getting a bunch of snow, how do your chickens like it when you do?

Do you do anything to help them get outdoors on the cold days?  Or do your chickens mostly stay inside?

Everyone does ‘chickening keeping’ differently, so I’m curious.

Mine are, as frequent readers know, semi-free range.  They have a coop, a run, and a fenced in pasture that keeps them away from the road and out of the top of the barn, but doesn’t not prevent predators.  They have room to wander and eat grass/bugs/whatever, but not room to hurt themselves trying to cross the actual road.

I chose supposedly ‘winter hardy’ chickens when I was buying breeds, but I’ll be honest, that term does NOT mean that they LOVE winter.  Or even like it.  In fact, my older birds are downright chicken when it comes to winter.  The big babies huddle inside  where the Cold White isn’t and make a fuss if I try to get them outside.

My younger group from last spring’s chicks?  Actually pretty adventurous.  Or maybe they are too afraid of spending all day in the coop with the cranky older girls to be afraid of a little snow?

Pip doesn’t like it.  He’d rather be inside with the older ones, but since Dots does, too, one of them has to go outside with girls who want to stay out.  So he’s getting used to it, too.  In the name of ‘being the Man’ and protecting the flock.

Also, I try to help where I can.  I know the snow freezes their toes, so on the mornings when there is snow on the ground but it’s not still snowing, I will spread straw on the ramp and in the run, giving them a place to walk that isn’t cold and wet.  I might also entice with warm oatmeal or Black Oil Sunflower Seeds.

Straw on the ramp. They knock most of it down running for the morning feed dish.
See what I mean?
Even Hershey doesn’t mind when she has straw to walk on!
Pip standing guard over some of the adventurous ones.
This isn’t so bad!
Walkin’ in a Winter Wonder land…

One the days when it’s still snowing, I don’t bother. They don’t go outside. Just look at the open door like I’m crazy.

So that’s how I help my chickens ‘enjoy’ winter. How about you?

Snow Birds

~ debc ~ 5 Comments

I’m needing to post pictures of chickens doing Chicken Things today, and since the temperature decided to warm up and the wind isn’t blowing, they decided to oblige me.

I give you…the snow birds.