homesteading Archives - Welcome to Chickenlandia

Winter tips for backyard chickens that no one thinks about (until it’s too late)

Posted on November 5, 2024November 18, 2024

By Dalia Monterroso, The President of Chickenlandia

This post contains affiliate links to awesome products that I love.

With the upcoming holidays, you’re probably really busy. Alas, time stops for no one, and before we know it, winter will be upon us if it isn’t already. My first and most important winter tip is this: Don’t worry! You and your chickens will be just fine. That said, I don’t want you to get caught off guard by issues that can be avoided with a bit of preparedness. Keep scrolling for helpful winter tips you likely won’t read about elsewhere!

Chickenlandia is in the Pacific Northwest, a region considered relatively mild in terms of climate. Each year, we usually get about two or three days of temperatures below ten degrees and maybe a week with snow on the ground. You can imagine, then, my utter shock when a couple of years ago we had a terrible ice storm. The whole chicken run was covered in a thick sheet of ice, and the netting above it was also frozen solid. Needless to say, the whole thing was scary and difficult to manage, especially after I injured myself while hauling water to the coop.

It was just a little slip; it happened in a split second. I didn’t even fall to the ground. But it was enough to give me a groin injury that took almost two years to heal. If only I had known what I’m about to tell you right now: please get appropriate winter boots dedicated to the chicken yard and/or buy yourself some ice cleats for your existing chicken yard shoes. If I had had either or both of these things, I would not have gotten injured. Don’t let it happen to you! Trust me on this one.

Another thing it would be wise for you to think about before the bitter cold is upon us is how and where you will store your feed in the winter. Think about how you will haul that feed to your coop if there’s a storm or if there’s any place you can put it so you don’t have to haul it. You will also want to consider how you will haul water if needed. You may wish to acquire some kind of cart, wagon, or sled for these types of chores. Trust me, doing so will make life so much easier for you.

If you can have electricity in your coop and you just haven’t set it up yet, do it now and get yourself a heated waterer that you can plug in, fill, and walk away from. There are good-quality heated waterers made specifically for chickens, but they are somewhat expensive. A cheaper alternative would be to purchase one or two heated dog bowls (just remember, you will have to change these out more often). Heated dog bowls can also be used to feed your flock fermented feed over the winter.

Melted snow and rain can cause a mud issue in your chicken yard. Mud can bring with it a whole host of problems you want to avoid, such as stressed or sick chickens. There’s also the problem of smell. If you need to do something drastic, like regrading your chicken yard so you have better drainage, it’s best to do that before the ground freezes. If your mud issue isn’t severe, try Chickenlandia’s famous mud hack, which uses pine pellets to soak up moisture. You can learn more about that here:

Okay, so this piece of advice is really important. I want you to be truly honest with yourself and make sure that the space where your chickens can go to get away from drafts, rain, snow, and mud is enough space for the number of chickens you have. If you need to downsize, you should do it now. Don’t wait until you have a bullying situation or other problems due to overcrowding.

The other thing you need to be sure of is that you have enough enrichment for your chickens, especially if they have to be confined for an extended time in a smaller space than they are used to. Because bored chickens will get into trouble, hanging a cabbage for them to peck at is a great idea. You could also sprout some grains for them and/or make them a suet treat or a DIY treat block. They will love it, and it will keep them occupied until that darn snow melts away. For my DIY suet treat recipe, watch this (or check out the blog post before this one):

Winter can be a nerve-wracking time for chicken keepers, but it doesn’t have to be. Let me know in the comments how you plan to get through the winter! You can also check out more regarding chicken winter care here.

Your chickens deserve this healthy homemade suet treat!

Posted on October 19, 2024October 19, 2024

It’s low-cost and great for molting and cold weather.

Written by Dalia Monterroso

The wonderful folks at Grubbly Farms sponsored this article.

Last week, I took a break from all my Chickenlandia shenanigans to share an easy recipe for a fun and healthy chicken treat. This treat has a suet or coconut oil base and is filled with healthy ingredients (you probably already have most of them) to help chickens through their molt and the colder weather. Here’s the video about it that I posted on my YouTube Channel. You’re a subscriber, right?

For this recipe, I did use a new ingredient that I hadn’t used before in a suet treat. It’s the Omega Mix from Grubbly Farms. Technically, it’s a supplement since it adds extra omegas to your flock’s diet, making their eggs more nutritious. But chickens love the taste of it, so they see it as a treat. With ingredients like black soldier fly larvae, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, and more, it’s also great for chickens when they’re molting and on colder days. This is an optional ingredient, but I think it’s one that really packs a punch. Grab your own bag here.

Chickenlandia’s Fun and Healthy Suet Treat

What you will need:

2 cups lard, tallow, or coconut oil (you can melt it if you like but if you’re able to stir it, it’s not necessary)

5 tablespoons chicken-safe herbs such as thyme and oregano

1 garlic clove, minced

2/3rd cup Grubbly Farms Omega Mix*

2 cups mash, pellet, or crumble chicken feed

2 tablespoons nutritional yeast or brewer’s yeast

Directions: Stir all the ingredients together in a large bowl until mixed well. Add the mixture into an ice tray or a makeshift suet holder as seen in my video. Place the containers of mixture into the refrigerator until the fat hardens, usually one to two hours. Once it’s hardened, offer as much to your chickens as they will eat before dusk (this treat is for chickens, not wayward rodents!)

*If you don’t have the Omega Mix, you can replace it with 2/3rd cup grubs, mealworms, oatmeal, cracked corn, sunflower seeds, or extra feed. Honestly, just play around with it. Your chickens are going to love it!

Let me know if you get a chance to make this fun treat and how your chickens like it. I’m always interested in hearing from you!

The Age-Old Practice of “Cold-Brooding” Baby Chicks

Posted on January 7, 2023January 8, 2023

By Dalia Monterroso, The President of Chickenlandia

How did chicken farmers raise baby chicks before electricity?

I often sit and ponder about how things were done long ago. When I say “long ago”, I’m talking about before Amazon Prime, before iPhones, and even *shutters* before Netflix. I’m not ashamed to admit that I’m so old I remember when kids’ television shows (think: Loony Toons) only aired on weekdays from 3 to 4 pm and Saturday mornings. We had to watch commercials and even remote controls were futuristic! Alas, sometimes the world I grew up in seems like a dream that never really happened. I wonder how my great-grandmother would feel about the world we live in today. And I wonder…how the heck did she brood baby chicks without an electric heat source?

Cold-Brooding Baby Chicks

When burning questions concerning chickens keep me up at night, I feel have no choice but to go down the chicken rabbit hole so you don’t have to. I must say, though, there really isn’t a ton of information online about brooding chicks without electricity. I found a few blog posts and videos about raising chicks off-grid, but most of what I could find was about heat lamp alternatives that still required power. Even my collection of mid-1900s chicken books mostly focused on wacky contraptions that, to be honest, seem pretty dangerous through my modern lens. But through it all, I did manage to piece together some nifty ways in which baby chicks can survive without heat. The practice is called “cold-brooding,” and if nothing else, understanding how it works could be extremely helpful in the event of a power outage.

More is Better

Chicken keepers like to joke about a phenomenon called “chicken math,” which is the tendency to get more and more chickens despite ominous looks from our spouses. If you decide to cold-brood baby chicks it’s important to know that more is actually better in this case. Under natural circumstances, baby chicks rely on their mother’s fluffy body to keep them warm. The younger chicks are, the more in danger they are of getting chilled. If there is no mother hen or artificial heat source available, baby chicks will naturally turn to each other for warmth and comfort. This is why it is best to have no less than a dozen chicks if you plan to cold-brood. You want them to be able to huddle together so that they can generate enough heat to keep from getting chilled.

Baby chicks hanging out indoors like they got it like that.

Your New Housemates

You may or may not know this already, but baby chicks generate a ton of dust, especially if they are being kept on shavings. Because of this fact, I often suggest keeping your brooder in an area other than inside your house, such as a garage or shed. This is not the best option for cold-brooding, however, because the ambient temperature needs to be at least above 70 degrees Fahrenheit. If possible, it’s safest for your chicks to keep your brooder near your family’s heat source, such as a wood-burning stove or fireplace. Keeping them near your heat will be a much-needed layer of protection against becoming too cold.

Keep Them Cozy

I normally say that as long as there are no drafts or other dangers present, the more space you can give baby chicks the better. This is not the case if you are cold-brooding. Having your chicks in a smaller space (not over-crowded, but cozy) makes it easier for their environment to retain heat. In fact, some cold-brooding set-ups consist of two “rooms” for chicks, one small, very insulated compartment for chicks to go into, huddle, and warm up together, and another compartment with feed, water, and some space to stretch their legs. If you have your chicks inside where the ambient temperature is above 70 degrees, one area should work just fine. Many of you likely have a plastic bin that might be too small if you were using artificial heat but is perfect for cold-brooding. Having a smaller brooder will also make it easier for you to insulate their space by placing thick blankets over and around it. Of course, always make sure there is adequate ventilation and clean their brooder often to ward off any ammonia build-up.

Give them something to snuggle with

Baby chicks can generate heat by snuggling under or near something cozy such as a feather or wool duster, a wool blanket, or even a stuffed animal. Make sure anything you offer them is free of chemicals such as fabric softeners or artificial fragrances, as well as loose strings that they can get caught up in. You also don’t want to use a blanket so heavy that a chick could get stuck beneath it. Above all, use common sense.

If you are the diligent sort, you can wrap a hot water bottle in a towel and offer it to them to warm up near. If you decide to do this, just be sure you are checking it often and make certain it stays warm even overnight. Once your baby chicks get used to a heat source, you want to keep it on offer until they can be slowly weaned from it as they grow into their adolescent feathers.

‘Tis it Really the Season?

If you are considering raising chicks without heat, it’s best to plan that baby-raising according to the seasons. There is an important reason that mother hens normally go broody in the spring: it’s so her babies will hatch during an ideal climate when she doesn’t have to worry about them getting accidentally chilled. Even when you’re brooding chicks indoors, keeping the ambient temperature above 70 degrees can be more difficult and definitely more expensive in the cold of winter. This is why it’s better to hold off acquiring your baby chicks until later in the year after things warm up. In the Southern USA, there are times when the temperatures are so high in the summer that chicks don’t need additional heat even if you wanted to offer it! So, make things easier on yourself and your chickens. Remember: cold-brooding works best during the late spring and summer months.

Bullet-Proof Babies

Baby chicks that survive cold-brooding often grow up to be very hardy and healthy adult chickens. As with most things, though, there are risks to raising chicks this old-fashioned way. It is an unfortunate possibility that you may lose a chick or chicks because they became chilled or otherwise stressed. For this reason, my soft heart will always recommend using a mother hen or artificial heat source. However, I must acknowledge that not every person has access to heat lamps or heat plates, so I wanted to be sure this information was out there in an organized way. If you choose to cold-brood your baby chicks, I’d love to hear about it! Let me know about your experience in the comments.

This article is featured in my online course Chickenlandia’s Backyard Chickens 101 – A Chicken Course for Everyone! Find out more about this easy and interactive course by clicking here.