It ’s the heart of wintertime . You ’re getting very few eggs from your flock , if any at all . They ’re still in thestages of seasonal feathering loss and feather growth , or they ’re just finish up their last molt .
With their reproductive systems taking a rest and your chicken shedding their coats , winter is an important time for them to rebuild their nourishing reserves and renew their feathers for the twelvemonth .
Manychickens cease pose during moltingas they require to channel all that vigour — and all uncommitted protein — intogrowing out their feathers , which are almost purely protein ( keratin fiber , to be exact ) .
Combine that with dormant wintertime gardens , which leave behind few opportunities for them to scrounge , and you often need to augment their diet with spare goodies to keep them healthy through the time of year .
You also do n’t require to underestimate the power of playday : A indolent chicken equals a rich wimp . And a adipose tissue chicken equals asick chicken .
Make trusted your crybaby do n’t terminate up with coop fever ( the feathery equivalent weight of cabin fever ) by move over them something to do and something to eat during the cold weather .
For felicitous hens , hear these seven simple tips for keeping chicken healthy in wintertime and helping them thrive all time of year . Come spring , you ’ll have a flock that ’s fully coiffed and back on runway !
Disclosure : If you shop from my clause or make a leverage through one of my links , I may get commissions on some of the Cartesian product I recommend .
1. Supplement your chickens’ diet with store-bought greens.
wise green in the garden are usually hard to derive by in the winter , so you should affix your chickens ’ dieting with store - bought salads . ( Or discover a deal with your favorite Farmer ’ grocery merchant to buy all their leftover greens . )
Choose nutritionally dense , dismal greens like kale , collards , chard , and Spinacia oleracea . attempt to stay away from the cheap stuff like iceberg lettuce , which is basically just dark-green - tinct piss .
Greens ( include thoselowly weeds ) are an important reference of vitamin and mineral for chickens , just as they are for humans .
2. Hang a green piñata in the chicken run.
Turn feed time into a little game for chickens who might be cooped up and ungratified when it ’s grim outside .
I like to pay heed a head of lucre inside the run and rent the ladies bop it around like a tether testicle . By the final stage of the 24-hour interval , all I ’m left with is a half - consume stalk and a piece of string .
you may also gorge greens into alarge suet cageorhanging treat balland make them work for their food . Keeping them meddling and curious is fundamental to preventing world-weary behavior like egg - deplete and feather - pecking .
3. Let grains and seeds sprout naturally in the run.
I discovered this fiddling trick by accident one Clarence Day !
Many people sprout grains for their chicken to take advantage of all the vitamin and mineral made useable . But if you feast your sight ahomemade whole food grain volaille feed , there are likely quite a few grains flung about in their run which they never get around to eating .
Instead of strip up the muss , allow Mother Nature do the workplace : A few day after a rain , all those grains and seeds will sprout themselves — and voilà , instant grass !
4. Alfalfa is your friend.
If your chicken do n’t have access to forage , up their protein aspiration by buying a Basel of alfalfa for them to scrub .
Alfalfa can be find at your local feed computer storage with the straw and hay Basle . Mini alfalfa hay balesandloose alfalfa hay(made for rabbits and other small pets ) are available too , if you require to throw a few handfuls inside a low run .
Your chickens will be busy peck at the alfalfa all winter farsighted , while also getting an excellent filling of protein and fibre .
If you ca n’t incur a mini bale like this and you ca n’t cart an entire bale home , you’re able to reap the same benefits by addingalfalfa pellets(usually sold as rabbit food for thought ) to their even feed .
5. Bring on the bugs.
unfreeze your Gallus gallus right after a rain , as all the moisture in the earth brings out a buffet of protein - fill worms , grubs , and other delectable bug that they bang to scratch , peck , and devour .
If your wintertime has been dry or your chickens do n’t get many opportunity to graze on pasturage , toss out them a small fistful ofdried mealwormsordried soldier fell larvae(grubs — my personal favorite since they ’re higher in protein and Omega-3s ) once a day for their protein fix .
straightaway steer : Look for dry mealworms that are marketed for wild bird feeders , which often make out in economical bags by the quid . The ones marketed toward chicken - keeper are usually twice the price in much smaller quantity .
6. Cook up a hot, high-protein treat.
I do this often in wintertime , in the main because my picky Gallus gallus sometimes wo n’t eat dry out legumes … but give them a steaming hot sports stadium of cooked lentils or split pea on a cold gloomy day , and they ’re all over it !
Legumes provide some of the highest root of protein ( up to 35 percent for lentil ) and they ’re cheap . ( economic consumption mychicken provender calculatorto research protein levels for some mutual grains , seeds , and legume . )
you’re able to also cook up the more expensive — but very protein - productive — grain like kamut and quinoa , and serve them as a special treat .
If I ’m feeling generous , I ’ll even share my nine - grain oatmeal with the girls : a feast of triticale , rye , wheat , oats , barleycorn , flax , and spelt . ( I purchase it in bulk fromAzure Standard , which is my favorite place to stock up on my chickens ’ grains and seed so I never run out in wintertime . They ’re an on-line natural foods atomic number 27 - op that carries many ingredients I ca n’t incur locally . )
7. Clear the way for your chickens.
Are your crybaby anything like mine ? These ladieshatewalking in the snow .
If they wake up to several inches of snow on the ground , they huddle together in the coop and pass up to come out , even when I attempt to tempt them with a steam raging bowl of oatmeal sprinkle with grubs .
regrettably , theyhaveto get out and do what Gallus gallus do — beak , shekels , and dust bathe — because extended periods of inactivity and tedium could guide to regretful doings among the flock .
After a enough storm , we seek to clear a path through the yard as soon as we can so the chickens are n’t confined to their coop . We also spread wooden planks , plyboard scraps , log rounds , and offshoot ( and occasionally , big piece of composition board if that ’s all we ’ve have ) throughout the one thousand for them to perch on and get out of the C. P. Snow . This lets them get a little exercise and advance team spirit until they can see the ground again .
If you go in an arena that gets snow , make certain to provide a temporary blot where your Gallus gallus can dust bath . ( Yep , they still need to do it , even when the land is frozen tundra . ) An easy DIY is to fill a big race vat with some sand or turd , and place it in a sheltered area so your chickens have a place to detritus bathe out of the rain .
Although wintertime is coming , these tried - and - reliable tips will keep your chickens healthy and glad for the rest of the time of year !
Where to buy chicken feeding supplies
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This post updated from an article that originally come along on January 25 , 2013 .
consider the Web Story onkeeping your chicken healthy in winter .
