Despite tenacious attempts at denial and outright snubbing, winter is setting its GPS to our neighborhoods. If you live north of Zone 8 – you know what this means. Sigh.

Time to winterize the garden, house, backyard and…the coop. Cold weather and blankets of ice and snow mean your chickens will be spending quite a bit more time indoors. You will need to ensure the coop remains draft-free, well-lit and ready to provide the flock with a healthy and invigorating living space.

Fall Cleaning

Prepare the chickens’ living space for the next few months. Cold and inclement weather means the chicken barn will be closed up and not allowed the airings of the spring and summer.

Change all of the bedding and scrub away any manure. Cobwebs and dust needs to be vacuumed, and it is a good idea to spray a livestock approved disinfectant before and after the shop vac gets turned on. Keep birds outside when cleaning the coop as the dust is very bad for them.

Pay close attention to cracks and crevices – scrubbing off any manure that may have stuck there. Use a paint scraper or sharp implement. This is a fun job that we all look forward too! It really does stick like paint. And painting the areas prone to soiling makes tidying-up much easier. The paint gives the coop a clean look.

Roosts need special attention and should be cleaned on a regular schedule. Do not let manure sit on the roosting poles as this increases the chances of foot infections. Bumblefoot (pododermatitis) can often be linked to dirty roosts.

Cleaning Tip: A great way to minimize cleaning chores and prevent sanitation issues is to set up a droppings board under the roosts. If night manure is allowed to fall onto the coop floor, it will get tossed and spread around by the chickens. This makes daily cleaning a nightmare and you end up wasting too much bedding. Chickens rarely use the manure trays for nesting. Situate them about ten inches (roughly) from the roosts. Layer the tray with organic, unscented cat litter, pre-soaked wood pellets or regular shavings.  Do not use hay or straw.

To facilitate composting and to reduce odors try sprinkling the tray with . Scatter this product on the tray before adding the litter material!

Air freshener: After making your winter drinks save the halves of the lemons and oranges. Take these “used” halves and rub them over the roosts and coop furnishings. They offer a mild disinfecting benefit and the coop will smell great! You can also steep the peels in hot water to make your own citrus mist. The chickens’ house will smell so great you will be hosting holiday parties in the coop.

Winter Feeding

Even though snow and cold limit or stop foraging, your birds’ winter nutritional needs remain the same. If you light your coop, egg production is still going on, birds are molting and cold temperatures require “heat” foods. Choose a complete feed for the chickens, and be sure to keep feed stations full.

For a special treat provide the birds with a fun mash. Fill a feeding bowl with the chicken pellets and pour hot water over the feed. The chickens relish this (the feed should be very warm but not scalding).

Greens: If grass is not available, provide the birds with fresh greens each day. Choose whatever they enjoy (avoid iceberg lettuce), but the darker greens are best – and usually the cheapest! Chickens love kale, collards, mustard, dandelion, escarole, dark green lettuces and chard. Many birds will not eat the red chards or lettuces, but it can’t hurt to try. Do not offer avocados, as these are toxic. You can place the greens in a “salad” or made for this purpose!

Fruit: The chickens will love the fruit treats. Try whatever is in season – apples, melons, grapes and berries (thawed frozen berries are a great money saver). Birds will not eat, mango, pineapple or citrus.

Treats: Chickens love treats. Treat these as treats. Do not offer too many. Check your fluffy chickies to ensure they are not putting on winter weight. With limited exercise, the birds can get chunky – this is not healthy. Know the ideal weight for each breed. If birds feel like they are putting on too much fat (fat is felt through the back on the keel – the birds will feel “heavy”), limit treats and rich foods such as seed, pasta, corn, nuts and sunflower seeds. Check out the at e-fowl –  Mealworms, Harvest Delight Poultry Treat and many more . Only offer sugary foods as a rare dessert.

Boredom

Provide the birds with entertainment. Chickens are highly intelligent and active animals inherently structured to spend their days foraging. This need for activity must be addressed to stave off chronic stress and other behavioral issues (feather picking, aggression and immune system problems).

• Hang heads of lettuce or greens from a rope to let the birds forage.

• Offer seed cakes or other bird treats that require work to access.

• Play a radio. Chickens enjoy the stimulation.

• Always give the chickens access to a tray of clean dirt. Bathing is critical to feather and bird health. Dust bathing trays are a winter must. Do not add any diatomaceous earth or peat to the soil, as these are respiratory irritants.

• Set out feed quality first cut hay for the birds to scratch through. They love the seed heads. Never supply moldy or dusty hay. Remove hay once it gets wet or soiled. Chickens tend not to eat first cut hay, but they may munch on alfalfa (they can eat dry alfalfa) or second cut. Chickens are prone to dangerous crop impactions from eating stemmy hay – so watch out for this. Check to be sure the birds are not eating the hay – remove it if they are, and replace it with pine needles. If you can get clean straw, this is also a great alternative. Grain stores and pet shops often carry this “bedding quality” straw. Avoid bales of field straw as they usually harbor mycotoxins and molds.

• Toss pine needles in the coop and in the nest boxes. They are clean, smell nice and do not harbor molds. Scatter a thick layer in the yard as well. Pine needles allow the birds to scratch and they look fantastic in the yard. A nice layer of golden pine needles looks clean and adds a festive fall touch to the pen.

• Toys are a great addition. Try out the fun that you fill with seed or meal worms for the chickens to munch. You can also purchase swings designed for chickens! Chickens really enjoy getting a ride on these .

• Allow the chickens a bench or window ledge so that they can perch and look out the coop windows.

Heating the Coop

This is an issue that scratches up quite a bit of debate. If you choose to provide supplemental heating for your coop, safety is the primary issue. Be sure any heat lamps are new, clean and in good working order (no rust, cracks, frayed wires, spider webs or dust). Heat lamps are a fire hazard, keep lamps well away from litter and any flammable substances. Never allow birds or animals access to the lamps and be absolutely certain they are firmly secured.

Never use space heaters in a barn. Only purchase specialty infrared heaters or carefully positioned radiator-style heaters that have safety tip-over shut off features. Old, second-hand or “found” heaters must not be operated in a barn. Deadly fires kill animals every year – don’t be on that list.

Note: Heated water buckets are a major source for disastrous barn fires. It is not a good idea to use these in chicken houses.

Share your cold weather chicken ideas by popping them in the comment section! Well, enjoy the holidays – and don’t forget those chickens on your shopping list.