If you have chickens clucking around your backyard in the summer, you must know a thing or two about them.
However, those long winter months are a different story. Some people don’t know what keeping chickens in winter really requires. Here are a few tips on how to care for your chickens when the weather turns.
Keep Your Birds Toasty
想想冬天的自己。你不会整天在寒风中昂首阔步,你的鸡也不应该。Weatherize your coopbefore the nights get cold. Then, as soon as the temperature drops to 40-50 degrees Fahrenheit, your birds will be ready.
Winterizing your coop can be done a few different ways. Some are pricier than others.
首先,你可以用泡沫聚苯乙烯或纸板来保温。如果你的鸡舍有窗户或缝隙,用胶合板把它们补上。
However, be sure to leave some sort of ventilation in your chickens’ coop. Without some airflow, there could be a buildup of ammonia in your coop that can cause discomfort and eventual blindness in your chickens.
A small window covered in chicken wire will provide good airflow, but make sure the wind is not blowing directly where your chickens perch or lay.
In addition, to keeping the wind and dampness out, add some extra bedding to keep things warm. Although, these tips are a good start you might need to do a little more to keep your chickens laying.
大多数农民在冬天会为鸡准备一盏灯和一个小暖炉。别让这些东西碍事。你的鸡不能啄这些东西,也不能把它们撞倒。
How To Keep The Eggs Coming
通常情况下,鸡不会在冬天产卵,因为它们的小鸡无法在极低的温度下存活。只要你的鸡得到很好的照顾,它们的环境合适,它们在冬天下蛋是完全安全的。
If farmers do not take preventative measures, chickens will stop laying eggs completely in the winter months as temperatures drop. Here are a few of the most common ways to address the problem.
阳光是产卵的主要因素。大多数鸡每天大约需要14小时的阳光才能下蛋,这在夏天通常不是问题。
Related Post:My Chickens Survived A Montana Winter Because I Broke The Rules
However, the lack of sunlight in the winter tells the birds’ bodies that it is not the time to produce eggs. Buy your chickens asunlight lampand put a space heater orheat lamp in their coop, and they should keep laying eggs.
Hungry Chickens Aren’t Happy Chickens
Like most animals, chickens burn more energy and work harder in the winter just trying to keep themselves warm. What most people don’t realize about keeping chickens in winter is that they will require more feed and water to keep up their strength. If they aren’t fed enough during winter, your chickens might stop laying. They’ll use what calories they have to stay warm and alive.
Make sure that your chickens have enough feedandwater available during these cold months. This will add strength to your chickens so they can hopefully get back to laying eggs. To produce eggs chickens need protein. While they’re laying, make sure you provide them with feed that has lots of that nutrient.
另外,下午扔掉一些碎玉米。鸡的消化系统在冬天需要更努力地工作。在白天晚些时候给他们粮食可以让他们在晚上保持温暖。
Let Them Rest
We want our chickens to lay eggs all year long, but the winter is an important time for our chickens to rest. Producing eggs all through the summer puts a large amount of stress on a chicken, which is why they only lay for so many years.
Don’t be frustrated if you do everything you’re supposed to but your chickens still slow down or stop laying eggs in the winter. Just be patient: they will start laying again if they’re fairly young.
When your chickens take a break from laying, try to give them a feed with more carbohydrates as they rest and restore themselves.
Protect Your Birds From Predators and Illness
During the cold winter months some animals become desperate for food. Some predators, like coyotes or foxes, can become more brazen. That’s a serious risk to your chickens: they’re easy targets for hungry predators.
Some farmers allow their chickens to roam the yard or field during the day and lock them in their coop at night. This practice is common in the summertime, but not so safe in the winter.
Predators that are desperate for food are more likely to attack during the day, so keep your chickens in a running area for safety. When you’re keeping chickens in winter, you should keep your birds fenced in an area that is large enough for the birds to exercise.
Fencing your birds in will allow your chickens to safely take advantage of warmer days to roam around.
冬天的鸡也更容易生病。确保鸡舍干燥,没有霉菌。霉菌会给鸡带来呼吸问题。另外,早上和下午太阳升起时给鸡喝水。Water that freezes is useless, and can leave your birds dehydrated.
冬天养鸡是一项挑战。如果你遵循这些步骤,当雪融化时,你就会拥有快乐、健康的鸡。
JGsays
Thank you so much for these great tips! Hopefully our hen keeps on keepin’ on! Any ideas on keeping their water from freezing?
Kane Jamisonsays
We personally heat up water for tea/coffee in the morning, and then go pour the remainder over the water tin to melt off the ice.
有人会在下面安装一个电加热垫,但母鸡可能会啄带电的电线,这就不好了。