Last spring Myrna and I began taking as many opportunities
as we could to get out and walk together with my wife in the morning. Most of those walks happened on Saturday
mornings because both of us still have employment needs to satisfy. By the time summer rolled around, we wanted
to expand the experience and invested in bicycles that would allow us to be out
longer and go farther on each trip. On
one particular trip, we chose to ride on the “Denver and Rio Grande Western
Rail Trail that runs north and south from Farmington Bay to Roy, UT. Since the trail is built upon an old railroad
track bed, it runs along the back side of many house lots. As we rode, we got to view into the back
yards of many, many homes. That day I
noticed something that struck me as being a little peculiar; mostly because of
my ignorance I suspect. Even though we
were riding through areas that I consider to be suburban, we saw a large number
of homes that had chicken coops and the corresponding fowl that used them. I was a little surprised to see how many
people were actually being gentlemen farmers in this way. Shortly after that ride, my daughter who
lives in Providence, UT, informed us that her family was going to begin raising
chickens as well. Their hope was that
they would be able to have a few birds that would provide fresh eggs for them
each day. All this seemed a little
strange to me, but since then I have noticed a lot of people are keeping
chickens to provide food for their families.
Why do I mention this you ask? As I have thought of it since last summer, I’ve
come to the conclusion that in a small way, raising eggs is a good contributor
to being self-reliant. Isn’t that what
preparedness is all about? I have
noticed that a few people in our neighborhood have become poulterers as well. This morning while perusing some other
preparedness blogs, I came across an article on “SurvivalBlog.com” that I
thought might benefit those in the ward who are raising chickens. I thought it would be good to provide the
text of it here for those of you who can use it.
How To Keep Chickens Laying
Through Winter,
by S.I.
I love my chickens. They
are the most easy to care for and more rewarding of all farm animals, in my
opinion. However, I am also a pragmatist. My chickens are here to DO something,
and that something is lay eggs. These are not pets; they are food producers
that I also find beautiful and entertaining. I provide them with a clean living
environment, free-ranging fun, food, and protection. In turn, they provide me
with eggs. When they stop laying eggs, my family eats the chicken. Some chicken
owners may wince at this outlook, but my family lives on a shoestring, and we
can’t afford to feed animals that aren’t giving something back. Our dog
provides protection, alerts us to strangers and danger, and hunts with my
husband while also being a great companion. Our sheep provide lambs for food,
and they eat down weeds and pasture. Even our cats keep the mice population
down. I strive to give each animal a happy life, but to me it must also be a
useful life.
As you can imagine, I
want to keep my hens laying throughout the winter. This can be a problem as the
temperature drops and there is less light. The old proverb “An ounce of
prevention is worth a pound of cure” is so true when it comes to raising
animals. Here are the challenges you must combat in the winter and how to
counteract them.
Most animals need
shelter in winter, and chickens are no exception. In fact, if you want eggs
it’s best to provide a shelter that is well sealed against the elements. Not
only will this keep your hens safe from colder temperatures and predators, but
it will also give them a place to lay your eggs that you can find and easily
access.
My Solution: Shelter
doesn’t have to be fancy for chickens to be happy. If you don’t already have a
chicken coop, an old truck cap is enough in a pinch. You could also use straw
bales with a sheet of plywood over it. It simply needs to be draft free, keep
out the rain and snow, and be fairly easy for you to get into to check for
eggs. There are quite a lot of ideas for homemade, do-it-yourself chicken coops
on the Internet and youtube.com. It is also good to give the chickens a
dedicated laying box that is secure from predators. Some people build boxes,
while others use old milk crates or other existing boxes. The key is for the
chickens to be able to easily get inside the laying box, yet have some sides
for a bit of privacy, and hold a bit of dry straw or wood chips to provide a
soft spot for egg laying/dropping.
Many homesteaders
believe in letting chickens forage for themselves, while not providing food for
them. This may work okay in the summer when food is plentiful, but if you want
eggs in winter you will need to provide feed to your chickens. Also, it is
pretty cruel to not feed your chickens in winter when there is so little to
forage for. Often, in the winter the ground is frozen, making it hard for them
to scratch beneath the surface to locate any bugs or seeds.
My Solution: Buying bags
of layer pellet feed is the best option. Also, providing corn or scratch will
help your chickens maintain healthy condition through the cold with its nice
high-protein content. The more energy your chickens expend on keeping warm, the
less eggs they will lay, as that energy is going to come from either their body
or their food.
Some chickens are better
suited to certain climates than others. In fact there are some chicken breeds
that will literally die if they go through a typical northern winter. So breed
selection is very important to your winter egg production.
My Solution: If you live
where it gets cold and dark in winter, then choose chickens that are known to
lay well in winter. My favorites are Buff Orpingtons, Black Australorps, and
Araucanas, because we live in a very cold winter area. A good place to compare
different breeds of chicken is the Murray McMurray Hatchery website. In their
descriptions of the different breeds they specifically note which chickens are
good at winter laying.
This, in fact, is the
most important and least understood reason that chickens stop laying. Chickens
need a certain amount of daylight to keep laying. When it falls off during the
short winter hours of daylight, their bodies tell them to stop laying until
spring’s extended sun hours arrive.
My Solution: Put a light
in your chicken coop and leave it on. You can shut if off at night, if you
want, but we don’t; the light additionally adds heat, and the chickens do fine.
Chickens need heat to
produce eggs. If they are too cold, they will stop laying because most of the
food they eat goes to heat production rather than toward egg production.
My Solution: The easiest
way to heat your coop is have a heat lamp hanging from the roof inside. These
can be picked up at any feed store, or even Walmart, for less than $30.00. You
can choose from white or red bulbs. The bonus to red is that it helps to
prevent chickens from picking at each other. An additional way to keep heat
inside the coop and cold outside is to seal any holes and drafts; this will
help immensely.
What you use for chicken
litter will depend on your personal preferences. I like pine wood shavings
because they mix well with the manure and absorb and dry it while also adding a
nice scent. Having a layer of dry litter is important to laying production
because if you are wet you are cold. Also chicken manure is high in ammonia and
lets off the stuff in large amounts. This can irritate your chickens’ lungs.
Your chickens will be spending much more time in their coop during cold weather
so keeping their coop dry and their air clean will help with egg production. It
is important to remove dirty litter as well. If an egg gets broken into the
litter, it is important to remove the broken egg, dirty litter, and to clean so
that there is no remaining egg contents. Otherwise, the chickens may eat it and
develop a taste for their own eggs.
My Solution: Every week,
I spread an inch or more of litter in their coop. You should adjust the
frequency and amount applied, as needed. I also replace litter as it gets dirty
and try to keep the area clear of any excrement. This helps me have clean eggs
that don’t require washing. (Leaving the bloom on the eggshell helps seal the
pores and make the egg stay fresh longer.)
Egg laying chickens use
alot of nutrients to produce an egg every day. Providing a balanced diet is
easy if you use layer pellets.
My Solution: Provide
crushed oyster shells for added calcium, even if you’re
using layer pellets. Chickens will take what they need. Providing grit is also
a good idea, since the dirt and gravel may be covered with snow, and if you are
feeding corn or scratch, they need the grit to grind the grains.
Cod
Liver Oil is an essential
supplement that I have found highly effective to keeping my chickens laying.
The reason why cod liver oil is important is that not only does it provide
omega oils, it also is a great provider of vitamin D. Now the interesting thing
about vitamin D is that it is produced by sunshine. Human bodies cannot produce
it on its own. This is why mothers, a hundred years ago, made their children
take a spoonful of cod liver oil every day in the winter. Are vitamin D levels
an influence on egg production, cuing the chicken’s brain back into laying? I
don’t know, but it works every time I use it.
How to Use Cod Liver
Oil: I simply buy a big bottle of the cheaper Cod Liver liquid jells and cut
them open. Then I squirt them into the water of my chickens. That way they get
the same dose approximately. I figure one pill per chicken for a few days until
egg production starts up again. Then I give them the same dose a few times a
week. Be sure to use this in conjunction with a light in your coop.
Chickens loves fresh
green stuff like lettuces, grass, and weeds. You can sprout your own greens at
home super easy. I love my Easy Sprouter, which
you can find on amazon.com. Additionally, you can give them leftover salad that
has wilted. Another option is to ask your local grocer for produce that they
are going to throw out. Your chickens will bless you for the treats. Just avoid
onions, garlic, cabbage, and any of the brassica vegetables (broccoli, cabbage,
kale, and brussels sprouts), as they can give a bad taste to your eggs.
I hope this helps other
chicken raisers to keep their hens healthy and laying all winter.
I provide the following link to for those who might want to
see some of the other posts at SurvivalBlog,
www.survivalblog.com.
Best of luck with the egg production.
Erik and Myrna
