Chickens aren’t huge fans of winter, and they especially don’t like the cold. They also really like to start losing their feathers at the end of winter so we need to make sure that they are warm all the way through.
During the winter, we keep a red light, which helps keep the chickens warm for 14 hours during the day. The light turns on at 5 in the morning and will last until 7 at night, where it will turn off to let the hens get some rest before starting to lay in the morning. The red light helps keep the egg production going because chickens lay more with consistent sunlight.
Having a heated water bowl is almost key to keeping chickens in the winter. We didn’t have a heated water bowl, and we had to pour hot water over the water bowl every day to keep it from freezing or bring it inside to let the water warm up.
In very cold weather, the eggs will crack open. It’s very important to gather them as early as you possibly can to prevent that. Chickens, on the other hand, often have a thick coat of feathers and are very warm. I always kept a good amount of shavings on the ground and in the nests to help keep the chickens warm.
Having chickens during winter is not easy, but all of these techniques keep the chickens warm while keeping up the egg production.
If you guys have any questions about farming, please contact me through my contact page, and I will do my best to answer them. I will be posting a new blog post every Tuesday.
Lots of love,
Clairina