Chickens & Ducks in Winter: Week 3

Keeping chickens and other poultry in winter isn’t difficult but it does require some preparation as repairing or setting up fences in 3ft deep snow or scrambling with extension cords and heat lamps to prevent frost bite in sub zero conditions isn’t easy. Each of the next 6 weeks, I’ll focus on one aspect of caring for chickens and ducks in winter


The main things to prepare for are:

• Week 1: how to keep water (& food) from freezing 
• Week 2: proper shelter from harsh conditions
• Week 3: managing snow load and depth on shelters and fences
• Week 4: easy human access for regular cleaning, maintenance, and care
• Week 5: managing a change or possible increase in type and number of predators
• Week 6: managing boredom (especially if they are used to pasturing in summer)

Managing Snow Load and Depth on Shelters and Fences

Like most things, snow can be both a pleasure and a pain. Beautiful but difficult to deal with when it piles up. It’s fitting that I am late with writing this post because of heavy snowfall. This last few days we got almost 1.5 feet of snow with more falling for the next day, and for days after. To manage all this snow, you need more than a shovel, more than a plow; you need to plan for it, to have structures and fencing that can handle the weight and give you access to move the snow away if needed.​

 Since chicken runs are usually covered to protect them from hawks and bobcats, having to shovel the snow out is not easy. No just throwing it over the fence. Instead you have to move it out the doorway. It’s better to keep the snow out in the first place. This can involve a tarp or sheet of plastic to cover the run, but if you expect more than just a dusting of snow, you need to support it from the weight of all that snow. And just like homes in snow-heavy regions don’t have flat roofs, its best to build your structures so that they shed the snow they accumulate on their own (or with a little help).

A frame of arched pvc, held together with 1x4s and chicken wire with a sheet of plastic roped down over the whole thing. Good enough to keep the snow out. Easy enough to clean the snow off. Happy Chickens, Happy Human.

Do your chickens like snow?

If they don’t mind walking in snow, your lucky. Most don’t mind a dusting but won’t walk into solid snow on their own. It isn’t because it is cold, but because they can’t tell if it’s a solid surface or if they will fall through it. Think of cartoon characters trying to walk on clouds. It’s like that. And I don’t blame them. If I didn’t know the ground was just a few inches underneath the fluffy whiteness, I wouldn’t walk on it either. If you don’t wanna shovel it, you can rake it (yep, a rake) or scatter some straw over it. One lets them see it’s depth and that the ground is still right there. The other gives them a reason to venture out and dispels the illusion since the straw didn’t disappear into a bottomless white hole, so they probably won’t either.

 If you get a lot of snow, you will also want to consider the piles that accumulate next to the structures that were built to shed it. I keep each run about 4 feet apart so I have enough room to walk between and for the snow to shed off the run but not engulf them from the sides.
 Also, consider those sloped roofs. The snow can fall off quickly and can easily bury a tiny hen in an avalanche. Even if you saw it happen, they would probably be crushed (chicken bones are hollow as well) and even then they would suffocate in a few minutes.

Tip: It's not only roofs that create 'avalanches' but also trees, especially conifers. Their wide branches and needles will collect snow until it is heavy enough to bend that branch and all the snow drops. Chickens will naturally want to shelter under them, but keep them away until heavy accumulations have cleared.

The accumulation builds and builds. Each run is at least 4' from its neighbor.

Note the run is on the gable end, not under the eave and far enough away so it doesn't get hit with by the snow that falls off that roof.

 If your snow is going to stick around awhile, it is important to build doors and gates with a tall enough threshold to not get blocked by compacted snow. All of my runs are built on 2X4s on their side. The barn door is about 10” off the ground, and any exterior access to huts or coops is above ground level (sometimes I just raise a hut by putting it on some bricks).

I can take credit for building the runs with the door raised to account for snow. Only a few inches of it but its enough.

I can't take credit for it, but that barn door is about 1' above the ground. Good for snow clearance.

 Snow is heavy and takes time and energy to move, so limit how many paths you need to keep clear by carefully placing your structures. No matter what I have to keep a path to the barn, so I placed each coop and run along that path so I don’t have to loop through the field to clear the access to the chickens (& ducks) and can easily keep a path wide enough to pull the ‘tea trolley’ filled with water and food each morning.​

The tea trolley in mid-delivery with at least one happy customer. The rest have hit the snooze button.

With a little planning before the snow piles up, you can keep your chickens happy and your sanity. And don’t worry about keeping every speck of snow away from them. They love to eat it, just like every child, dog, and other animals.

Next week, I’ll describe how I keep their coops clean when everything is frozen, even their poop (and sometimes the eggs)!

-Farmer Meg: chicken herder, cat wrangler, duck whisperer, dog walker, vegetable plucker, and flower buncher.