Monday, July 25, 2011

Keep chickens warm in winter


I am not having a very good run with my chickens at the moment. The other day when opening the dinning room curtains I was struck with the sight of a broken perch. Now either it was the chickens mucking around jumping up and down on it, or it was poor workmanship. I suspect the latter. Poor things, I felt very sorry for them and hoped it hadn't broken too early in the night. If it had it would have been a cold night spent on the ground, or a crammed one inside the nesting box. I guess I will need to select stronger bits of bamboo. And here I was thinking the dome was complete.


Then there is Gerty who still has a swollen crop but seems perfectly normal and happy. Except for when she runs, wobble, wobble, wobble.


And now look what’s happened to Speckles. She has lost all her feathers from around her neck. It is quite a disturbing sight. Goes to show looks have nothing to do with being the head chicken as she still demands to be fed first. A quick google reveals this could be caused by skin parasites, pecking from other birds, too hot, or normal moulting. I am open to any thoughts?


Also they have not been laying many eggs, down to one per day. I am questioning whether putting them into the dome in winter was a good idea. As a result the girls have been moved back to their cosy wooden chalet. They have been there just a few days now and egg output has already increased. But now who's going to power the tractor?

Conclusion, keep chickens warm in winter.

Strike that. Thanks to a comment left by Green Dean I did a bit of research. It turns out I made an assumption. As the saying goes "Don't assume because it makes an ASS out of U and ME". My assumption was that chickens laid less eggs in winter because it was cold. However it is looking like this is not the case. I found one reference that said this:

"It is not the cold of winter that causes hens to lay fewer eggs, it is the decreased daylight hours. Even if you used a heater and kept the coop at 26 C (79 F) you still would not get as many eggs as you would during the longer days of summer. If you wanted to keep egg production levels closer to that of summer, you could use artificial light to extend daylight the hours."
That's it back in the tractor you go.

13 comments:

  1. It could be a moult if your not getting as many eggs, one of my chickens lost a lot of feathers from around her neck during a moult looked half naked, it took about a month or two for the new feathers to come in.

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  2. Kellee I am new to the world of chickens so I am still learning what constitutes normal for a chicken. They really do look sick with missing feathers. I guess the only other time I have seen a bird with missing feathers is when I find a dead one as a result of the neighbours cats. Thanks for letting me know how long I should expect new feathers to return.

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  3. Hi Jason, A few tips with your chickens. Chooks stop laying for a few reasons, usually not reason to worry about. They can be moulting (changing feathers), stressed (but yours look OK) or just off for whatever reason, like we are sometimes. Increased protein (within reason) makes them lay and maintain consistency in laying. I wouldn't worry about them not laying because of cold, etc. Also, make sure nothing else is getting in to eat the eggs, making it seem like they are not laying enough, such as snakes, crows, etc.

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  4. Jason, re the perches in your chook run, don't use round perches, like bamboo or branches, etc. It is best to use squarer perches, such as wooden beams and planks. They need to be somewhere between 6-10cm wide (at the top) for the chooks to perch on at night. Round perches create feet problems for chickens, as they constantly have gripping issues with trying to sleep, as well as encouraging their toes to curl round the perch - not a good thing. They are flatfooted birds, unike smaller flying birds that curl their toes to perch. Hope that helps.

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  5. Re your chicken losing feathers, judging from your photo, she is moulting. If it's parasites, they will usually always all get them and all look the same. Chooks don't always moult at the same time. I have different breeds, and they moult at different times, as well as individually, as nature calls. The chickens you have look like Isa Browns, an Amercian chook bred for eggs mainly, and are very hardy in all climates and conditions usually. If they have a chance to have a good dry dust bath everyday, or every few days, they usually won't get mites or fleas or lice, etc. Main things is not to worry too much or think something is wrong everytime they don't look perfect or well. Chooks are very hardy, self-maintaing birds. Relax! haha

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  6. Jason, sorry to bombard you with so many comments. Have a look at my Facebook profile page, on my Photos page, in my albums, more towards the bottom of the page, for my chicken albums. You can see my chookrun, my chooks and some of my permaculture set up at Green Dean HQ. My Facebook ID is Green Dean (the frog on the bike!) PS: Your sister put me onto your blog.

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  7. Green Dean welcome, and say hi to my sister for me. Your comment re not worrying about the cold made me do some more research. Very interesting, I added it to the bottom of the post. And thanks for all the other great advice. Chickens are new to me so it is wonderful to have someone with such knowledge reading my blog.

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  8. Looking forward to taking some of your learnings and putting them into practice when I purchase my chickens later in the year. Obviously, won't need so many warming tips, but still love to learn about this stuff.

    Cheers
    http://green-dreaming.blogspot.com/

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  9. Susan I acquired my girls last spring. So glad I did they are a joy to have around. I am sure you will feel the same.

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  10. Hi Jason, my money's on moult!! you should see my girl Belle, she looks terrible - her feathers are just starting to grow back but it's been 3months. She layed for a while at the start but for 1month she stopped. Ariel also looks a little scrabbly but not as bad as Belle. they are both Isa Browns ex-battery hens. My other two, light sussex : Tink and Pox look great, they two moulted, but you would never have know. So I think it's just one of those things, so have the fortune of moulting gracefully others really DONT!!! Take care Yollie

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  11. goodness, it's late, sorry for the typos. should read. "They too have moulted" and "so, some have the fortune...."

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  12. Yollie what on earth are you doing up at 2 o'clock in the morning? That is very interesting that some birds are lucky to moult gracefully. So my other three might be moulting as well then?

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  13. yep they sure could be! Your guess is as good as mine regarding the 'night owl' trend :o( my body clock is all over the place since the hospital trip for my little ones illness. Things are settling down now though and its 11 o'clock and I'm off to the land of nod - NOW!! Night Night ;o)

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