Happier, Healthier Chickens?

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backyard chickens, Chicken coop, Molting, Poultry, winter

Maybe it’s the warmer weather, or maybe it’s that the warmer weather has lifted some of my worry, but I think my girls are happier and healthier this week.

I broke my rule of “no extra treats, only layer ration” a couple of times to give them homemade yogurt and oatmeal. Call me crazy, but I think the yogurt really helped. Scruffy is no longer sneezing, and all three of them seem to be more active and have more energy.

Poor Liesl and her second molt in the span of six months. I think now that we probably triggered her molt by messing around with the light in the coop. We turned it off completely for a month, hoping that Ginger would finally finish her molt (that she started in December), and she did, but it then kicked Liesl into a second molt.

Live and learn.

I also had the chance to email with a couple other backyard chicken keepers in our city, and it really helped put my mind at ease about heating the coop. One person does have a heat lamp that they turn on when it gets below -25C; the other person doesn’t heat their coop, other than a regular light bulb (for eggs). I guess there’s no hard and fast rule; I think you just do what makes you comfortable. Honestly, I would feel more comfortable if we had a heat lamp in there for the really cold nights. I think I’ll look into setting something up, that won’t be a fire hazard.

So I’ve come to the conclusion that I don’t think we’re doing anything wrong. Chickens are not vending machines, but living, breathing, biological little creatures, and I can’t expect them to produce eggs like crazy. I certainly wouldn’t want to be laying eggs when it’s -45 C outside.

I guess they’ll start laying again when they’re good and ready.

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World’s Worst Chicken Mama?

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backyard chickens, chickens in winter, Molting, Poultry, winter

I feel like a terrible chicken mama this week.  My girls are having an awful winter.  Greta died, Ginger has frostbite, Scruffy is sneezing, and Liesl is MOLTING.  AGAIN.  And to top it all off NO ONE is laying eggs anymore.

What is going on?  Where did I go wrong?  How can I fix them?  At this point, I don’t even care about the eggs, I just want my ladies to be happy and healthy.

Damn you, prairie winter.  I blame you and your -45C for this!

Maybe they just need some serious immune-system boosting.  Vitamins?  Yogurt?  Scrambled eggs?  I’ll do whatever is necessary to make them healthy again.

How about you?  Do you struggle keeping your chickens healthy over winter?  What have you done to help them survive the cold?  Leave your comments or suggestions below.  I’d love to hear from other chicken mamas and papas!

The Great Molt of 2012

Tags

backyard chickens, Chicken, Feather, Molt, Molting, nature, Poultry

This is one of the more interesting times of the year for backyard chicken owners.  The time when a chicken gives a shake, or a gust of wind blows, and a bushel of feathers release into the air with a barely audible “poof”.

Feathers, feathers everywhere.  The girls, they are a moltin’.

This also means that egg production has come to a complete halt.  Liesl and Greta are losing feathers like mad, but Ginger, who is only eight months old, won’t molt until next year.  However, she seems to be going through a “sympathetic molt” and has stopped laying eggs in solidarity with her sisters.  We’ve set up a light in the coop on a timer, so that she gets at least 14 hours of light a day, and hopefully, when the other two are done their molt, she’ll start laying again with them.

Chickens.  Mysterious, fascinating creatures.