4m x 3m Omlet pen, cube, new auto door still boxed and coop light

[stoice]

... but how do people cope when winter comes? I mean by the lack of daylight hours. I get up for work, let the chickens out etc and leave the house by 6.45am, I don't get back till 5pm. Now in the summer months both these times are in daylight so the chooks are awake and I collect any eggs once i get home (None of them are early layers) But during the winter it doesn't get light till at least 8am and is dark by 4pm so what do you guys do? Apart from days when my OH shift means he is about during the day, (and obviously weekends are fine) how do i check over my girls and collect any eggs my hybrids may lay? Also there's no hope of freeranging midweek.

 

Nothing like being prepared eh?

[Helen&Lee]

Our working hours are slightly longer and last winter I used to give them their treats in the morning about 6.20am.

They would all rush out to eat them up and chatter to me while I cracked the ice, topped the layers pellets up etc - they probably went back to bed when we'd gone.

Always in bed by the time we had got back - sometimes they would come out but normally just had a gentle bok and stayed in the warmth.

Ours have a large walk-in run though, as we knew their time out would be very limited in the winter.

[Yolky]

I would check for eggs before you leave and when you return (you can always give them a smooth then so they get some human contact in the week) and you can check them over at the weekends. We will be building a walk in run and I hope to get the husband on to that very soon so then they will still have lots of space even on days they are not able to free range.

[stoice]

Yeah, I think I'm ok with their run and will make sure they have plenty of greens etc (Although most greens always 'taste' better when i hold them and seem not to be touched if hung up or left on the floor - why is that? ). It's the not being able to cuddle them or check they're ok for 5 days out of 7, observing subtle chickeny behaviour etc. I'd hate for one of the girls to take a turn for the worse and i don't spot it till it's too late. Plus my girls like to cuddle up in their nest box at night (always have) so some of the eggs (If they are still laying in the winter) could get trampled on unless i rummage round when they're trying to sleep. I'll have to take it as it comes I guess. Thanks for the replies

[Helen&Lee]

The good thing about mine all rushing down the ladder in the dark to get to the treats was that I can make sure they are all up and alert before I leave for work - I tend to do a big batch of warm porridge for them in the winter mornings - with Poultry Spice, a bit of natural yoghurt and some raisins.

 

I collect the eggs when I come home at night, and they have a gentle sleepy chatter to me...

 

Winter wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be - they go back to bed about 4.30pm some days

[stoice]

That's a good idea about using warm porridge. My girls love their treats so I'm sure they'd surface in the dark to make sure they don't miss out! Then I know anyone not fussing over the best bits must be feeling poorly. Phew, relieved. Thanks

[Yolky]

How do you make your porridge up for the girls? I read on here the other day that some owners made a porridge from the layers left at the end of the week when they washed the grub so did this for the girls on clean out day and they turned their beaks up at it

[HENthusiastic]

I'm worried about this too. But I'm more just worried that I'm soooo going to miss them. How will I survive a whole week without being able to watch them / stroke them / chat to them. I'll just miss them. Its going to be awful.

[Egluntyne]

I'm worried about this too. But I'm more just worried that I'm soooo going to miss them. How will I survive a whole week without being able to watch them / stroke them / chat to them. I'll just miss them. Its going to be awful.

 

Why not stroke them through the pop hole and chat to them too, at night, if you close the Eglu door.

[stoice]

Usually make up mash (or pellets), bokashi, water, poultry spice, limestone flour and grit. Then depending on mood add either sweetcorn, mealworms, chopped grapes, mixed corn, some probiotic yogurt or combination of a few. The girls love to sort through it to find the best bits. A warm (NOT hot) version with some porridge oats, meusli or raisins would be good too

[HENthusiastic]

[quote name="Egluntine

Why not stroke them through the pop hole and chat to them too' date=' at night, if you close the Eglu door.[/quote]

 

I'll end up being like a bad mother who wakes her children up in the middle of the night to play with them. and gives them treats in the middle of the night. They will be all grumpy in the day time because their mothers been keeping them up all night!

 

How do you do the quotes thingy properly? I've never managed it.

[Egluntyne]

How do you do the quotes thingy properly? I've never managed it

 

As below.....minus the *

 

[*quote=HENthusiastic]How do you do the quotes thingy properly? I've never managed it

 

Your hens won'yt mind you strokung them at night...they will be in roosting mode.

[HENthusiastic]

Your hens won'yt mind you strokung them at night...they will be in roosting mode.

 

Lets try that! Thanks Eglutine.

[Yolky]

There is a button on the top right of every post that says quote if you click this then that post will be quoted in your reply

[Steph101]

Don't think about winter. We haven't even had summer yet...

[Barkisland]

I've been fretting about winter too, and I don't even have my girls yet!

I will be getting them at the end of September, when nights will already be drawing in considerably. They are going down at the bottom of the paddock too, no lighting at all, I will have to do it all by torchlight. I leave at 8am and get home at 6ish.

I was also wondering how you keep their aubiose/hemcore or whatever dry? We are 800ft above sea level and quite exposed here - horizontal rain etc. It's always windy. Husband is building a large covered run, with some shelter against the prevailing wind, but obviously I want them to have an 'outdoors' part to it as well. So much to think about, I'm glad I'm not the only one thinking ahead anyway!

[AJuff]

It's funny to be thinking about winter already when the summer's just arrived. Although I did think if i have any paving slabs left after the greenhouse base then I'd put in a stepping stone path to get to the hen house. That way I won't have to walk through the mushy mud like last year!!

[Hen Watch]

I found Winter was OK actually. As I work part time, the girls still got some free ranging time albeit reduced. It was a shame to have to remember to shut them in their run by school pickup time, so at 3.30pm they were safely in their run before it got dark.

 

But on the plus side, darker mornings means they get up a bit later and you can lie in (for an extra 10 mins......). And it made me go into the garden every day whereas life "BC" (before chooks) meant I didn't need to go into the garden in winter at all.

 

The only thing with winter was they ate all the grass in their area and as my garden is clay, the rain combined with chicken scratching meant it turned to mud. It looked awful but the grass has completely grown back without re-seeding. I had their run close to the house and butted right up against the patio so I didn't slip up on the grass in the mornings as I fed them.

 

Here they are last winter.

 

[Barkisland]

Another thing that has occurred to me is that their water will likely freeze solid in very cold weather. Is there anything you can put in it to stop it from freezing? I have some stuff for the birdbath but tbh it's not very effective.