Beet juice to keep chickens water from freezing!

A few weeks ago I saw something on tick tock that did not sounded interesting to me. Somebody was claiming that if you put a little bit of beet juice in your chicken's waterer, that it wouldn't freeze in winter! Now I found this pretty hard to believe and actually reached out to ask questions but never got any answers. 

So I decided to experiment on this myself.

For the last few weeks I have been adding beet juice to all my non-heated font waterers just to see if it would actually keep the water from freezing. It didn't. 

But then I started thinking about that saltwater thing people did about 8 years back. It didn't really work to keep water from freezing, but it did help it to take a little longer to freeze for some people. 

So I decided to do an experiment using 2 bottles of plain water. One I left alone and the other I removed 1Tbs of water and replaced it with 1 Tbs of beet juice. I placed them outside on a day that was between 15° F and 20° F. 

If it's colder or warmer when you use this obviously your solution will freeze faster or more slowly, so take that into account. I did this experiment to figure out precise expectations because this would be great to use in chicks water bottles because they do not have heaters available. 

Supplemental lighting in the chicken coop (should you?)

It's winter and the chicken coop is full but your egg basket is empty. You're still filling up the feeders for these freeloading featherballs but they're not paying their keep in eggs. Spring feels like it's a long ways away, but what to do about this egg void in the meantime? You've probably considered lighting the chicken coop.

Lots of people talk about how they add lights to the chicken coop and "voila" egg production comes back! Does it really work that way though? 

Well, yeah it sorta does. I had lights in my coop way back in the beginning when I first started raising chickens. I did this for 2 or 3 years before I quit. It really wasn't worth the hassle.

However, I jotted down some notes on my experience and I'm here to tell you everything I learned about lighting the chickens coop in winter.

Related reading: Tracking egg production in hens, free printable chart.

Chicken keeping in extreme winter weather. Surviving power outages and ice storms.

This past week winter storm Avery ascended onto our area and knocked out power for almost 6 full days. My chicken farm was without power from Thursday night till Wednesday afternoon. Even though it started with freezing rain, had several days or snow and sleet and barely got above freezing the whole week....my chickens did just fine throughout out the entire winter storm. 

Don't get me wrong, it wasn't easy! Just when we thought the weather was warming up, it started to rain which quickly coated the chicken coops in a new layer of ice. The trees that hadn't lost their leaves yet cracked and fell under the weight. The chickens were unfazed by this severe weather though as thankfully, we were well prepared! 

Although my preps and a few tricks during the storm definitely helped the chickens to survive and even thrive during this extreme winter weather, most of the credit goes to one main practice I always follow. 

I don't heat the chicken coop

If I had used heat lights or heat panels in my coops, my chickens would have been used to the warmer temperatures and the sudden drop in temperature would have been very hard for them to handle. Since they had become acclimated to the cold weather gradually as the season changed, they didn't even notice when the electric to their coop went out. Of course I noticed the power outage because fresh (liquid) water became a bit of an issue, but the temperature did not faze the chickens in the least.

Here are the other tricks the chickens and I used to get through the winter storm and power outage.

Should you cull your flock in fall?

As fall approaches, hens that are 2 years old or older slow down on egg production. Many farmers and homesteaders chose to cull old or unproductive hens from their flock before winter. By culling the flock in fall, they cut their feed costs over the winter. 

This makes a lot of sense if your main reason for having chickens is to get farm fresh eggs.

However, not everyone runs their flock like a farmer. Many chicken keepers are perfectly happy letting their flock live out it's natural life. I have one chicken that's 9 & 1/2 years old, so I can certainly understand that sentiment!

Chickens can live pretty long though, so if you don't intend to let them live out their natural lives, culling before winter may be a good idea for you.

What is culling? 

To cull the flock means to reduce its population selectively, removing animals by choice. Remove does not always mean butcher or kill, but it can. Many people cull their flock by selling off chickens they decide they no longer need. 

I have posts about poultry swaps, poultry auctions and my ridiculously honest craigslist ads as these are all ways I have used to cull my flock.

How to treat frostbite in chickens

Last week we talked about preventing frostbite, but in the event that's it's too late (it has been awfully cold lately!) I want to talk about treating frostbite. Frostbite is pretty easy to identify. It generally affects the comb, wattles and feet of chickens. 

The affected comb or wattles will be grey, white or even black. Feet will often turn red and it can appear swollen or develop blisters. Frostbite affects the combs and wattles of roosters more often than hens, simply because of their larger size. 

Frostbite is very painful and may affect the birds behavior and appetite. If your chicken is acting lethargic, you'll want to add some electrolytes to his water to give him a little boost.

Add a little pedialyte or gatorade, just make sure you water it down as they probably won't drink it full strength.

When you notice frostbite on one of your chickens, the first instinct is probably to bring him in and warm him up right away. That's a nice idea, however if he's going to go right back outside to the same freezing temperatures it will only make it worse. 

Thawing then refreezing can cause even more damage to the affected area.

How to prevent frostbite in chickens

Frostbite is a huge problem this time of year. With the record cold temperatures we've been having, many people are worrying about their chickens getting frostbite. Frostbite is caused by extreme cold, but moisture and wind chill contribute to it greatly.

What is frostbite? Definition: injury to any part of the body after excessive exposure to extreme cold, sometimes progressing from initial redness and tingling to gangrene. 

Frostbite is treatable, though in extreme cases a chicken might lose part of their comb, wattles or even toes. Obviously it's better to prevent frostbite then to have to treat it and that's what I want to discuss today.

Frostbite affects chickens combs, wattles and feet primarily. Larger combs and wattles are especially prone to frostbite. <

I know everyone likes to say "get cold hardy breeds" and it is true that many cold hardy breeds have smaller combs and wattles, thus not being as susceptible to frostbite. BUT it's a little too late to worry about that now, so lets just get to the steps you can take today!

Are your chickens warm enough?

It's been ridiculously cold for about 2 weeks now! I have gotten several calls and a gazillion messages, emails and DMs asking me if I think chickens can be warm enough without heat. Especially considering the extreme low temperatures as of late! Many parts of the country are having subzero weather conditions right now which is obviously very concerning.

Of course I firmly believe they can keep themselves warm as I've mentioned before. I even wrote about it in Should I Heat My Chicken Coop? Since this is a question that comes up every winter though, I decided to do a little experiment to prove just how warm chickens really are.

Chickens stay warm by fluffing up their outer feathers and trapping air underneath them. This air is trapped in the soft, downy feathers next to the body. That also explains why chickens sometime look all puffed up when it's cold out. This air warms up and acts like insulation. Knowing this, it's only logical that the air next to their body would register as much warmer than the air around them, if I could measure it. Luckily, I can do exactly that!

How to keep eggs from freezing in winter

During the long cold winter, farm fresh eggs become fairly scarce. Unfortunately cold temperatures can mean that the few eggs the hens do lay, freeze before we can gather them. Since those precious eggs are so few and far between this time of year, we certainly don't want to loose them to freezing!

Luckily there are a few steps you can take to insure your hens eggs do not freeze in winter. Even when they don't freeze though, eggs require a little bit of special handling in the winter months.
Many of us keep our fresh eggs on the counter and we know that once refrigerated, eggs must stay refrigerated to keep them safe for consumption. 

Unfortunately, eggs laid in the colder months often chill to refrigerated temperatures very quickly. To be on the safe side, I store eggs in refrigerator instead of on the counter during cold weather months.

Cold eggs will sweat as they warm up to room temperature. Sweating removes the protective bloom which can allow bacteria into the egg.

Now that the colder weather in setting in, it's time to get the chickens ready for winter. This is the first year that I don't have any flocks to move around. Luckily, all my chickens are already in the right coops, though I usually have to move them around for warmth before winter sets in. 

Unfortunately, I do have some coop repair to do though! The older coops get, the more I find sudden problems like loose boards and small gaps that will let in drafts. 

Since Winter brings the freezing cold temperatures, I focus on getting things in the coop cold weather safe. These are especially important if you live in an area where extreme winter weather can be expected! 

From keeping water from freezing to blocking predators, getting winter chores done early can save you from doing it in the snow! Now let's get started... this shouldn't take long at all!

Preparing your chickens for Winter

First, check the chicken coop to make sure there are no holes, cracks or loose boards where predators can get in. As the seasons change their food is going to become less plentiful and when The predators are hungry, your chickens will start to look like a tasty meal. 

Take the time now to batten down the hatches so you don't have to worry about it when it's freezing out!

Should I heat my chicken coop in winter?

If you live in a colder climate you're probably worried about your chickens in the coming winter. Here in western Pennsylvania it gets pretty cold and snowy for most of winter, but I don't heat my coops. 

I actually did put a heat source in my coop the first year I had chickens, but I've since learned that it's completely unnecessary and potentially dangerous. In fact, it's one of the most dangerous mistakes a chicken keeper can make!

We all worry about our chickens getting cold but if you think about it, lots of wild animals spend the winter outside and do perfectly fine. 

One thing you might not know is that wild birds do not sleep in their nests. Nests are only for raising baby birds, the rest of the year they sleep in the trees. 

They don't even have walls or a roof to protect them from the snow or cold and they do just fine.

The main reason I do not heat my coops is that heat lamps are notoriously unsafe! Every winter I hear of coops and barns that catch fire because of heat lamps. 

Heat lamps are ridiculously hard to secure, even with the multiple zip ties and metal hooks I used to anchor it to pretty much anything nearby. Their clamps can slip off randomly which is never good!

Also, the chickens must be able to get close to a heat lamp for it to be effective, but being close to it means they could knock it down or fluff feathers or bedding up into it which can catch fire. 

Plus heat bulbs burn out eventually and you might not be around or awake to change the bulb. The sudden drop in temperature can affect your chickens more than the natural cooling of the weather does.

Are Guinea fowl cold hardy?

I get asked all the time how my guineas and chickens handle the cold and snow we get every winter. Guineas are quite a bit different then chickens. For one thing, they are nowhere near as smart. I know it's hard to believe, after all I'm sure we've all seen chickens do some dumb things. Trust me when I tell you, Guineas are not the sharpest tool in the shed! 

They can be trained to a point though. They'll come running when I call them, and they get the general idea behind herding. One sticking point with Guineas though is sleeping in the trees. This isn't a problem in normal weather and sometimes in the summer every single free ranging Guinea sleeps in the trees! 

They get an early start to tick eating every morning so I don't mind. 

Even in cooler weather it's not really a problem. For warm climate birds they can tolerate some pretty cold temps. They do all tend to sleep inside the coop when it's snowing. The rain doesn't bother them. They will spend the whole day and night in the rain and be no worse for wear. The real problem comes with changing weather patterns.

Here in Western Pa, our weather can be quite irregular. Yesterday it was in the 50s, today its 22! Oh and it rained a bit last night before it got cold enough to snow. See the picture up above? That is what greeted me this morning.

Those are ice coated feathers on the guineas backs. I wasn't home to chase them in at dusk, I was working. It was too warm for them to want to go in themselves, so 6 of them slept in the trees. The weather went from rainy to icy during the night. 

Luckily everyone made it through the night and had a warm breakfast and are now huddled in their draft-free coop warming up. Had I been home though, I would have certainly tried my hardest to get them in. 

Obviously they're not in any sort of distress about it.

How to keep chickens water from freezing in winter

It gets really cold here in the winter. There are times it doesn't get much higher then zero so keeping the chickens water in a liquid form can be quite a challenge. 

I spent years hauling warm water out several times a day to melt the ice in the waterers. Let me tell you, it's not fun. It's also not real healthy for the chickens.

One of the biggest problems chickens face in the winter is moisture in their coop. If you take them warm water, steam is going to come off of it until it's cool. If their water container is inside the coop then you're adding moisture to the coop with every water refill. 

This is a veery bad idea since moisture inside a cold coop causes frostbite.

I finally got some heated bowls and a heated fountain and they have made all the difference. They keep the water liquid in all but the worst of the cold. 

Even when they do start to freeze, usually it only takes a tap or two to dislodge the ice and it melts again. 

The downside is that you do have to have some type of electric in your coop. However, I did just find out about a no electric trick that seems to work to keep the water liquid. More on that one at the end. 

For now, let's talk about the types of heated chicken waterers that I use. 

How to get your hens to lay fresh eggs year round

This is a problem for chicken keepers everywhere. The winter egg production drop off issue. It goes from gathering several dozen eggs a week in summer to nothing in winter. Some of us have even resorted to buying eggs from the store in winter. Yuck!

I stumbled upon a trick that keeps me in fresh eggs year round. The best part is, I don't have to add supplemental lighting. My electric bills don't go up. I don't do anything fancy and I get farm fresh eggs year round. 

This method takes a tiny bit of forethought but it's one simple move that will keep you in farm fresh eggs from your own happy chickens....even in winter!

Are you ready for this? You're gonna ask yourself "Now why didn't I try this before?" It's this simple, quit getting your chicks in the spring! That's it. Whether you hatch or buy chicks, just do it a few months later then normal and you'll have eggs in winter. 

Let me explain.

Getting your backyard chickens ready for winter

I really hope getting your chicken coop prepped for winter isn't an issue for you! If it isn't....that means you live somewhere warm. That sounds so nice. Here in western Pennsylvania it snows a good deal. I also get what they call "lake effect snow" because of the moisture in the air over lake Erie. Even my friends down in Pittsburgh have it easier then I do, so getting the whole chicken farm prepped for winter is essential!

Today we have about 3" of frozen snow (when it rains on top of snow, then freezes and snows again. Yeah, that mess!) and it's only 11 degrees this morning! Yuck! The chickens hate it, I hate it...and now I'm playing catch-up and getting the coops winterized and the chickens ready for the cold. So come along and join us while we chip ice, insulate, re-group and get ready for winter!

Chicken Keeping in Winter

Chicken keepers beware: the Predators are HUNGRY!

I have a sad, cautionary tale to tell you. It begins in the dawn of a bright new year when everyone is looking forward to new beginnings. 

It has a chicken owner carefully plotting her breeding groups for the new year. Matching up pairs and trios of Silkies. Feeling satisfied with last years results in the Marans. Confident about the color changes in the Guinea flock and watching the little d'Uccle cockerel grow into a great looking little roo. 

Then the weather in this winter got colder and colder. The snow built up deeper and deeper. The farm entered a deep freeze and chicken care took on a whole new level of difficulty. 

It was ok, farmers adapt and every chicken made it through the bitter cold snap. Unfortunately though, the wildlife didn't do as well. They went hungry when it was too cold to come out and hunt, or when nothing else was out for them to hunt. Then they found the chickens.

The first warm day dawned bright and beautiful and our flock owner let the Silkies into their run for the first time in weeks. They needed the fresh air and though the run wasn't covered, it had never been breached before.

Winter chicken coops: the good, bad and ugly

Do you and your chickens live in a cold weather area? We do. This winter was not just cold, it was negative degrees bone chilling cold and snow up to our knees! This was our hardest winter since we've been here and since we've started keeping chickens. I've learned a lot about chicken coops this winter....and homesteading, and hungry wildlife! 

It's been tough. 

We've also been through a power outage during a cold snap. A week long power outage! You can read more about that in Chicken Keeping in extreme weather. That situation really tells you how good or bad your chicken coop, winter equipment and methods are! 

Working with our chicken coops this winter I've figured exactly why each one does and does not perform well in cold weather. So, here's my list of coops: The good, the bad and the downright ugly!

Frozen chicken feathers....ummm, hair?

This is one of those things that you never even fathom happening till it happens in your coop! Frozen chicken 'hair'. Or topknots. Or just call them feathers....either way when temps hit zero or below, suddenly a little wet hair is a big deal! Frozen head feathers are especially a problem on birds with big hairdos like Silkies and Polish. 

Yes, those are ice drops frozen to the ends of her feathers! I noticed the problem last week when temps were in the negatives here in Western Pennsylvania. It mainly happened in the Silkie coop. The birds would lean down to drink water and their head feathers would dip into the water. 

This happens year round, however it's only a hazard in the winter. In the winter the wet feathers freeze. Frozen feathers are never a good thing! The solution was simple though...just trim the feathers!

Winter chicken care tips for backyard flocks

The winter weather has been brutal here on the chicken farm! It's been snowing almost every day and the cold...oh, the cold is unbearable. It's been in the teens most of December. This makes caring for your backyard flocks much more difficult then normal. In the winter you need to worry about frozen water, dropping temperatures, drafts, shoveling snow in the runs and yes...even winter molting!

Proper poultry nutrition is also a big problem since chickens need extra energy to keep warm. We also have to protect ourselves from the elements! Here are just a few of my winter care tips for your backyard flock:

How to feed the wild birds, but protect your chickens.

If you're like me you can't stand to see a hungry animal. It just kills me! I put out deer feed blocks in the snowy days of winter and hang suet from the trees. We have several bird seed feeders and I make sure they're always full in the winter. I love seeing the wild birds. We have so many different varieties here! While I love to see the birds, I need to keep my poultry in mind when I'm deciding how to feed the wild birds.

Wild birds can transmit diseases like Exotic Newcastle disease, Avian Influenza, Fowl Cholera and Mycoplasmosis. These can be devastating to your flock! They can also have a variety of parasites like lice and mites.

Sadly, having wild birds hanging out in your yard can expose you chicken flock to these problems. 

Attracting wild birds to areas where your chickens hang out is also dangerous because it can attract Cooper's hawks. These are smallish hawks that feed on wild birds. 

Of course once they find your chickens they may also try to feed on any bantam breeds or young chicks. So...what to do?

Frozen double yolkers

It's still so cold out there! Like 8 degrees cold!!!!! I've been trying to collect eggs quickly and for the most part it's been working. Except for the ducks. I checked their nest for several days straight and when there were no eggs, I just assumed they quit because of the cold. I should have known better, they are Khaki Campbell's after all. 

Frozen duck eggs

Today I decided to check and found 4 eggs in the nest. Frozen solid! I brought them in the house and set them in the sink to cook for the critters breakfast. After they thawed enough to pull the shells off I found I had 2 regular eggs and 2 double yolkers. I had never seen a frozen double yolk egg, so of course I had to take a picture:

I've seen lots of double yolk eggs (especially duck eggs) and lots of frozen eggs...just never a frozen double yolk egg! Weird huh?

~L