Welcome to Old Post Farm
  • Home
  • About Us
  • Around the Farm
  • Nigerian Dwarf Goats
  • Foster Dogs
  • Goats for Sale

Winterizing the Flock

11/1/2011

3 Comments

 
Last week Dave and I worked on the coop to get it ready for winter.  Can you see the light streaming through the spaces between the boards?  That's a problem...
Picture
So we put battens on the outside, and now the coop is draft-proof... and stripey!
Picture
Some people say that coops should be insulated and/or heated so the chickens don't get cold or get frostbite.  I'm of the opinion that if the coop is draft-free but also ventilated, then they'll be fine.  It also helps to have fluffy, cold-hardy breeds, which I (mostly) do.

I *am* supplementing their daylight though - as the days get shorter, chickens lay less frequently or go into molt and stop laying altogether.  Since I sell eggs (and eat them too), I wanted to avoid this, so there's 2 lights in the coop that come on at 5am and go off at 10pm.  That might be a bit overkill, but it's keeping their production nice and high, so I'm happy!

I also had one other thing to do for the chickens to get them ready for winter... take a look at Pippi:
Picture
Sasquatch and Little Boy Blue are very... amorous.  And because Pippi is a hybrid production layer, pretty much all of her energy goes into making eggs instead of taking care of herself.  So she's had a really hard time growing her back and wing feathers back.  I didn't worry about this during the summer, but I don't want the poor girl to freeze, so I made her a saddle (aka "apron"):
Picture
I won't lie - she kept it on for about 2 minutes.  But I think if I just make it a little more secure, she won't have a choice - she will have to wear her saddle/apron/sweater :)  I'm not crazy... it's entirely for warmth... so I don't lose my best layer... for economic reasons... and um... yeah, I think it's adorable!
3 Comments
Kim
11/1/2011 02:19:06 am

Canpt wait to see the sweater!

Reply
Erin
11/1/2011 03:18:31 am

CHICKEN SADDLE OMG! I love it. I've heard that extending the "daylight" maintains egg production but shortens their life, is that true?

(This isn't a judgement if it is. It's more a question of flock management--how much does it shorten, and how long do chickens live, anyway? Does it mean you'll need to be sure to add to your flock in the spring, if you hope to maintain this level of egg production through next year, because you've made a choice that makes the "expiration date" on these birds sooner?) Teach me about chickens, Jenny!

Reply
Jen link
11/1/2011 03:52:20 am

More light won't shorten their actual life, but some think it shortens their "laying life." This makes sense because hens are born with all their ova already in place - if they lay more eggs over the winters then there are less eggs left to lay in the future. Other people just like to give their hens "a break" over the winter - let them go through a natural molt in the fall and not lay again until spring.

Commercial operations always give artificial, supplemental light (even in the summers since even "free-range" birds are extraordinarily unlikely to actually ever see daylight), and they also replace layers every two years because after two years, their production drops significantly.

Right now, my flock isn't a money-maker - they produce enough extra eggs to pay for their feed, but that's really about it. Mostly I want them to keep producing because I want to eat their eggs myself, and I have a co-worker that might kill me if I stopped selling her 2 dozen eggs a week :) I may go with a larger flock of Pippi-like hybrid layers in the future in order to make a profit, but I haven't decided on that for sure since that's not at all sustainable (buying hybrid chicks and replacing them every 2 years, ick). We'll see... still working on a business plan for the birdies :)

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    Jen & Dave Paul, owners & operators of Old Post Farm

    Archives

    May 2013
    September 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011

    Categories

    All
    Cats & Dogs
    Chickens
    Ducks
    Foster Dogs
    Fun Stuff
    Garden
    Goats
    Maple
    Pigs
    Turkeys

    RSS Feed

Contact Us

Email us at JenPaul524@gmail.com

  • Home
  • About Us
  • Around the Farm
  • Nigerian Dwarf Goats
  • Foster Dogs
  • Goats for Sale