Author: Anna & Mark

Winter s not so tough for these chickens

January 10, 2014 Posts 2 Comments

Predator-proof chicken runKatherine wrote in to share her experience with chickens in the winter in the southwest:


“In AZ my chickens aren’t dealing with bitter cold.  So many predators,
my 7 are in The Cluckery, an iron cage that might once have been a big
zoo cage.  They have room but prefer the wooden perch to roost now
rather than the iron one they use most of the year.

“We get a few freezing mornings but not many.  They get extra
greens from the garden which does well with occasional frost cloth. They
love bok choy that is bolting and mustard and arugala.

“My chickens love your nipples and chicks learned in minutes.”



It’s not too late to enter our Winter Chicken Photo Contest.  Why not take the weekend to snap some shots of your birds in the snow?

Group dust baths

January 9, 2014 Posts 1 Comment
Group dust bath

Chicken flying onto chairJennifer emailed to share these beautiful photos as entries in our Winter Chicken Photo Contest.  She wrote:


“I have
a small backyard flock of 9 hens.  Winter is the only time my
small flock takes group dust baths! They are not the best of friends any
other season but I guess the cold temps bring them to a truce.”



Chickens in the snow

Chicken behavior

She continued:

“When
they are not having mass dust baths they are waiting for me to open the
back door so they can promptly spill out and hop from grass patch to
grass patch. They are not fans of the snow!“



Thanks for sharing these beautiful shots, Jennifer!  My vote doesn’t count, but if it did, you’d be in the lead so far.

Happy winter chickens

January 8, 2014 Posts No Comments
Orpingtons in the snow

The first entry in our Winter Chicken Contest comes Edith, who wrote in to share how her Buff Orpingtons are faring in this cold weather:


Winter poultry“It
was -5 this morning in Central Kansas with wind chills at around -30.
Kansas weather is like a roller coaster so it won’t stay this cold for
long…upper 30’s next week.

“My Chickens were tucked away in their cozy coop until emerging at around 8:00AM when my Husband did the chores.

“When they heard me a little later coming with their treats the racket
starts and they get very excited. They know when I’m coming with the red
coffee can. Some even looked into the can once I poured it out to see
if there was any more…see photo. They are supplemented with kitchen
scraps. This morning it was green peas, potato skins, oatmeal with some
molasses, apples, and whatever else was in there.”

—Edith



Don’t forget to like this
page on facebook or comment on it here or on facebook to vote for
Edith’s entry (and to pull out your camera and snap your own
shots!).  Stay tuned for more happy winter chickens in posts to
come.