Cooler mornings and darker days are moving in. Fall must be right around the corner. We are still making it up to the 80s during the day here in Central Ohio but it has definitely cooled off in the mornings.
The ladies have been making their way into the coop earlier in the evening. Their door used to close at 9:15pm. Currently it closes at 8:35pm. We are just finishing up their new run. These ladies will be set up and ready to go for the colder months ahead. Let me share with you some things I'll do before we get too into the later months...
- Stock up. I top off everything as much as possible. This saves me time later on so I'm not stomping back and forth from the coop to the garage. I'll fill their feed barrels, nesting boxes, mason jar treats, and sand in the coop if needed. If it can't fit out by the coop, it gets stored in the garage. Storing up means medications too. Go ahead and grab those probiotics, antibiotics, and hen healer while you're out next time. You'll have everything, just in case. I talk about my medical kit here.
- Deep clean. I know some people leave the deep cleaning for the Spring. I do it once in the Spring, and again in the Fall. The walls will be wiped down, nesting boxes wiped out, and everything gets a good raking/sifting before getting topped off.
- Make a bad weather plan now. Some people wrap their coops once winter hits to avoid the wind and frostbite. Tarps, plastic wrap, hay bales, even feed bags I've seen used. Last year I didn't wrap the run and 1 hen got a bit of frostbite on her comb. It completely healed. This year, I believe I'm going to try and wrap it partially so they can escape the wind if they want. Make sure if you do this, they have ventilation so condensation does not build up.
- Get the heated waterer out. In the winter time to avoid freezing drinking water, we use this waterer. We ran electric out to our coop so this works perfect for us. I have to refill it every 3rd day maybe.
- Ensure everything is working. Cameras, locks, battery operated doors. Replace the batteries, get the wires set up now, make sure the locks work. All of this would be a pain to fix or replace come 20 degree weather. This would be a great time to double check your predator proofing as well. I've wrote about how we predator proofed our set up here.
Chickens are livestock. There are breeds that are more cold hardy than others, but for the most part- your birds will be fine. I don't believe in any extra heat sources or special accommodations for chickens. They're meant to be outside. As long as their coop and run is ready for winter, so are they.