We should be careful what we wish for! I was so fed up of wet days with it raining non stop all day that I really welcomed the first dry day in a while. Since then it has been really cold and frosty. The chicken’s water has been frozen each morning. It’s been -2 or -3 over night and a high of only 4 or 5 during the day.
It has been so cold that the frost hasn’t disappeared during the day. We are used to having the odd one or two days like this but it has been like this for the last four days and is forecast for the next five days. We are not used to long spells of frost and are fed up with it now.
I worry about the girls in these temperatures, especially the two little girls. Luckily the perches above the ladders get the sun for the first half of the day and all the girls spend the mornings perched in the sun.
By this afternoon the sun had dropped. I had read that the little girls would look hunched and miserable if they were cold but the entire flock looked pretty hunched and miserable. I decided to hook back the door of the chicken shed so that they could go in there for a scratch around and a bit of respite from the cold.
They all immediately went in and scratched in the shavings. I will leave the door open all day, every day, during the rest of this cold spell.
They didn’t stay in there long but at least they will be able to go in whenever they want. With the door open it lets the light in and makes the shed more appealing. I don’t think they would perch in there during the day but they do like to have a scratch and it could give them a break from perching in the run.
I opened up the chicken shed
The girls scratch in the shavings
They are in and out of the shed
They take turns in and out of the shed
If nothing else this provides a bit of entertainment for the girls on bleak days.
At least if the little girls can manage this weather then I know that they will be okay with our winters because it doesn’t get much colder than this and not often for as long as this. I will be very glad when the weather changes as I am sure the girls will too.
Click here to see the history of my flock.
You’re right that they need light to do anything productive in the sheds during the day. You’ve certainly had much colder weather than we have over the past week or so; with the current ban, some of my older girls are just sitting on the perches for large parts of the day – but it must be better than the cold and muddy ground outside.
That’s exactly the same here, all of them just sitting on the perches most of the day. I get that it’s better than cold or muddy ground but I felt that they needed a break. I worry most about the little girls but it was Peaches and Barley today that were making a mournful sound that made me think that they were fed up with the weather. I can’t change the weather but felt desperate to do something to help them. It’s not much but I just wanted to give them a break from perching up all day.
Good Idea to leave the door open,at least if they feel like it, they can go in.
They all look happy enough pecking around.
They are all perched above the ladders in the sun at the moment but when the sun goes from there in the afternoon they can go and have a scratch in the shed. They do love a good scratch and peck around even though there is nothing to find in there. I feel it gives them a bit of exercise and a change of scene.