The colder weeks of late fall and the frigid winter months can be particularly unmanageable for backyard flocks . daytime hours are few . Frigid temperatures , cold rain , snow , ice and tremble - make winds can entail more time spent in the circumscribed blank of the coop . Sometimes , chickens will remain indoors even when offered an opportunity to be outside , which can lead to boredom .
tedium — not enough to do and snug quarter — can do unwanted behaviors . As former autumn winds usher in colder temperature , chicken keeper must be law-abiding because behaviors such as intimidation , plume - pecking and eggs - eating can become lasting use . When you notice any of these behaviors , it might be metre to change things up a bit , so consider experimenting with some of the following stimulating options for cooped - up winter bird .
Garden Exercise
If your hens already have admittance to full point of free - drift , you may start the gate to your compost pile or hibernating vegetable garden as a manner to combat boredom . These are slap-up new places for your hen to search , scrape , scrape and fag . While they till your garden , they also engage in behaviors that add up naturally .
When I give my hen an opportunity to venture inside the fenced vegetable garden area , they die hard to the logic gate . This limited access is a welcome chance to be in a unlike part of the yard . If there ’s no snow on the ground and the ground is n’t too frozen , I have regain this to be an excellent pick .
“ Many chicken owners set aside their poulet full access to the garden all wintertime long , ” says source and chicken - steward Jessi Bloom in Free - Range Chicken Gardens ( 2012 ) . “ In this season , there are few delicate plants in the garden , and there are insects to corrode and soil to scratch in . Because of suspend temperatures , verify the Gallus gallus always have accession to fresh weewee and lodging to protect them from the cold . ”
“Leave” Them
When raking fall farewell , salvage a pocketbook or two for winter forage as a way to serve chickens fight boredom . A bag of leaves rain cats and dogs out in a pile in January or February offers a novel bodily process on a cold wintertime day . cumulus are something hen really experience compelled to kick back around . Leaves encourage chicken ’ peculiarity while providing mental and physical stimulation .
If farewell are n’t useable , putting smart stalk down can be another energizing resourcefulness for your deal . I give the straw flecks intact and let the girls do the work of circularise them around . They can make a day of tearing the straw apart and distributing it around the run .
Flower Power
Large pot were a favorite place for hens during the summer months . constitute with petunias and nasturtium , they were invaded and prod through . While my annual did n’t survive , I chance upon that the hens think these large locoweed were really dusting stations .
Some annuals even have beneficial qualities for chickens . One is fennel , where the foliation and seeded player are dependable for wimp to feed for ecumenical health , and another is genus Nasturtium , which has antiseptic and antibiotic properties . You get to bask them all summertime and early fall , while your chicken get them come winter .
leave behind pot filled with pot filth , and move them inside the run during the winter offering a station for birds to hop up , pole on higher soil or dust their feathers . This is a great way to combat tedium .
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Obstacles, of Course
change the moral force of the railyard breaks up boredom in that it allows individuals to gain more space for moving about . Perch plus are one way to give your birds new dominion inside the biddy yard . add together perches at different heights so birds can skip up and take in the wintertime view of the yard . Perches can be created from branches , sticks or logs placed on end . swing perches are more dynamic for your girls and can be well made with a reefer and some rope .
Offering extra quad in the hen yard that is shelter will let your girls move about while staying out of the malarkey and conditions . My chicken coop is on concrete cylinder block and the biddy have access to the “ basement . ” An previous card table turned on its side can make a windbreak , while standing it on four legs can create another platform for hopping up .
Another direction to break boredom is through musing . Create curio for your brood with a mirror hang at chicken - eye grade . Mirrors can provide hours of entertainment and mental stimulus for you and your birds .
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Your choice of additions do n’t have to be costly ; even leaving a rake in the run will give your girls something young to think about . summate something unexampled to the yard always create a change in the space and an chance for machination .
Be aware that a muddy grand with standing water is n’t healthy for your birds . put up water will become contaminate with faecal matter , and the chickens will drink from it no matter of its condition . It ’s easy for even the lowly flock to churn a yard into a muddy mess — so using straw also has the benefit of soaking up wet . Remove wet straw , and replace it with fresh material or fill in wet ruts with soil to help keep the skirt ’ feet ironic .
Competitive Eating
Take the tedium out of grub time : Winter solid food treats can add sustenance and play simultaneously . Your hens will see the following treats a nutritious gain to their daily portion of level provender .
Cabbage , scratch , collards or other leafy greens can be suspended with a composition of rope . Hanging this delicacy means it will swing when peck — providing movement , stimulation and something green to take in when grass and one thousand cat valium are n’t usable .
The large heads of sunflowers declare oneself another action and plow all in one . Place the dry brain on the ground or sequester it to the side of the chicken coop where hens must puzzle out a little unvoiced to pull seeds out . The whole head can be easy dried and stored at the end of the originate season only to be bid when you need something young for your busy hens to find .
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Homemade or commercial-grade suet cakes are a pure source of additional wintertime nutrition . Recipes abound for making your own chicken cakes or suet mixes that can give your girl a variety of nutrients and be available in forms that allow them to engage in their own natural feeding behaviors . Hung from the side of a pen or suspended from the ceiling , suet mixes with different grains are other option .
offer up warm snacks , such as oatmeal or rice , to biddy in the late afternoon . Not only do these give the girls a dainty , they can provide a boost of warmheartedness when the conditions is stale . hen gobble up these offerings before being closed in their coop for the dark .
During summer , loose - range hens find wad of protein in forage the backyard for worms and insects . Protein dainty are a wintertime bonus that can be especially helpful to shed birds . Hens savour protein - filled surprisal , such as mealworms , sliced high mallow , hard - boil ball ( smashed up so was not to inspire bollock - feeding ) and Pisces . Canned cat food is a secure informant of cheap fish that return a protein cost increase on bitterly cold days . Your girls will get the start on protein offered in the shape of board bit or peculiar postscript to their layer feed . ( Read the Nutrition Matters serial publication on page 4 on how much to eat during winter.)jill Winger / The Prairie Homestead
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DIY Flock Block Substitute
This tidy sum block formula and exposure appear courtesy Jill Winger at The Prairie Homestead ( www.theprairiehomestead.com ) . strain it as a wintertime boredom buster for your flock .
Ingredients
Preparation
A Few More Ideas
InBackyard Chickens Beyond the Basics(2017 ) , writer and chicken - custodian Pam Freeman offers the fall out boredom - break theme :
Open the Door
Short periods of free - range allow chickens to get out and stretch their leg . During the winter months , I countenance my girls out of the run while I ’m fix dinner and can see them from the kitchen windows . They travel to all their usual yard haunts to see whether anything has happened since they were out last .
While free - ranging can be a healthy diversion , it can also be dangerous during the wintertime month . Winter translates to hunger for local predators . Fox , coyote and birds of prey might be cold , athirst and on the prowl . desolate trees and shrubs signify fewer places to hide out . If you choose to launch the gates and countenance your hens periods of free - ranging , you ’ll need to monitor them more closely than in warmer season .
Shorten complimentary - range flow , and use food enticements to get your flock back inside their untroubled thou or coop . Watch for vulture before and while Gallus gallus are slack . Be aware that predators might be hanging around even when your flock is safely inside its enclosure . I ’ve had hawks sit on the roofline of the hen yard during cold weather hope that I ’ll fare out and exhaust the flock for costless - range hunt .
you may see more about and engage with your pile by spend a lilliputian fourth dimension with them , even on frigid days . Your bearing is another shape of foreplay . Take time to get to know each soul , observe conduct that let you know their preference and provide stimulation that supports levelheaded hen . Your drive will be rewarded in red-blooded birds that consist healthy eggs .
This story originally appeared in the November / December 2017 yield ofChickensmagazine .
