Tag: winter

My Holiday Week in Pictures

~ Crystal Sands ~ 3 Comments

I hope you are having a restful holiday season. It has been quite the year for all of us, but here we are, figuring it out somehow, aren’t we?

It has been terribly, terribly cold here. We lost one of our young chickens, one of our two roosters, so that was a blow. I think it was mostly just unlucky genetics, but truly, it has been unusually cold unusually early here. I don’t think we have seen a December this cold since we started homesteading, so when we got baby chickens in August, we thought they would be plenty big before the bad cold hit. Of course, we thought wrong, and the cold has been hard on our little ones. They are fully feathered, but still.

The cold is hard on the young ones and the old ones. We mostly have the young ones and the old ones now, so Ron has been running the ceramic heater in the coop on the worst nights. I know you are not supposed to heat your coop, but we try to make careful exceptions to the rule.

On the bright side, it has been amazing for making ice lanterns, and I have made several. I have been using candle light both inside and outside to keep me in good spirits, and it has worked. I decided to take a lesson from the Nordic folk and just lean into the candlelight this year. It has been so helpful that I want to see if there is any science behind it.

I hope you are staying warm and cozy. It’s -1 here right now in our part of Maine, so I am doing my best. I hope you are doing your best wherever you are. I hope these photos make you smile. They are presented in random order with some random thoughts. I would love to see some of your holiday photos or at least hear some of your stories. Please share as well if you can!

I’ll start with Boudica. Here, she is asking me to come out to play in the snow, and I am telling her there is no way I am going out in that cold. I am telling her to come in the house and sit on the couch with me. She eventually came inside and slept next to me on the couch. She has been doing that a lot lately. Her tiredness worries me, but I am trying to treasure our snuggle time. She will be 10 this coming year.
I found out this year that I have a Jewish ancestor on my mom’s side, and I have always been so fascinated with Judaism and have studied a bit over the years. This year, I decided to try to learn how to celebrate Hanukkah officially, and my dear friend brought a menorah for me. I learned after this photo that you aren’t supposed to put all the candles in at once and that you burn the candles all the way down each night. I have much to learn, but this year, we celebrated Hanukkah, Yule, and Christmas, and it felt right to me. It seemed important to have all that focus on the light.
I was worried we were not going to have a Christmas tree this year. It was just a few days before Christmas, and I hoped a little tree from our property. It seems wrong to just cut down a tree for my own enjoyment, so I told Ron my idea of taking a tree from a patch of trees because they won’t all make it when they are too close. This tree has zero on the backside, but this side was perfect. I love her! We could not find a single tree stand for a live tree here in our part of Maine, so Ron bought a small bucket, filled it with rocks and water, and it worked! I was grateful.
The only perk I can see to this hard cold we have had this December is that I get to make ice lanterns. Aren’t they magnificent? If you live where it is cold you can make them too. I created directions for making them in the Winter Solstice issue of the journal.
I spent a good bit of this week making gifts for friends. This is one of the tiny Solstice cakes I made to share with others.
The tiny cake was inspired by this big cake. I make one every year and use the same snowmen candle holders every year.
I did my best at making a witch bowl candle, and it’s pretty good. However, I have much to learn. Hopefully, I will have them perfected by next year. They include oranges I dried plus cinnamon sticks, star anise, and whole cloves.
I also make these light balls made from Christmas lights and Solo cups. I gave this one to a dear friend to brighten her spirits. These balls of light are just lovely. I had hoped to make a bunch for our yard but rest took priority. Hopefully, next year, I can make more!
I made cranberry and popcorn strings for the turkeys on Christmas Eve. They loved them but not as much as they love Craisins (that’s a whole other story). The chickens LOVED theirs though, and that made my heart happy. The baby chickens were like, oh, we like popcorn!
This is my favorite stocking and favorite candle, so I felt they deserved a picture. Ron calls this candle my Ebenezer Scrooge candle. : )
It seemed proper to close my photos with one of Bairre on the couch on Christmas. He’s so happy when he’s on the pillows. Happy winter holidays, no matter what you celebrate, from all of us and Bairre. I hope you get some good rest like Bairre. He’s an expert at taking it easy.

A Boudica Update

~ Crystal Sands ~ Leave a comment

I am working on a new post on bird flu, but I may not have it ready until Monday, as this weekend is a big weekend for our son. He has made the finals in a concerto competition, so I will be away all day tomorrow. My son is well prepared, and it’s such an honor to make the finals. He will get to play in a lovely space with an audience and a pianist. He will get to play alongside the best young musicians our state has to offer. I hope things go well for him. It has been such a journey for him with his cello this year. Because of the long COVID, he is having to learn his body in a way I didn’t learn until my 30 or 40s. It’s hard for a teen to have the patience to handle an illness like this and keep doing what he loves, which is all very physical. I admire him, and I am thankful he will get to play tomorrow.

But I digress…I wanted to write an update on Boudica because I mentioned she was having some struggles. I was trying not to worry but was a little worried about her. When Gus died in 2021, I was so physically heartbroken and sick, I worried about my health. Boudica and I are so close. We read each other’s minds all the time and have similar personality types. It’s so wonderful to have that connection. I want that for longer.

Thankfully, we got pretty good news at the vet. She is overall quite healthy, but Boudica has some arthritis. We are trying some natural supplements for her, and they seem to be helping. I have no words for how thankful I am to have a chance for more time with her. She is one of the greats, though aren’t they all?

Anyway, I got this great short video walking with her this week. She felt so good after the first dose of natural supplement that she was able to go for a short walk with me in the woods. I love walks with Boudica in the woods. By the way, the supplements that seem to be working so well are from a Maine company, Coastside Bio Resources. Our vet recommended this company, so I am hopeful.

I hope this video makes you smile. This is my amazing girl, being so busy on the walk. She’s very serious, always working.

And, this reminds me of a story Ron told me. Later in the week, Ron took both Bairre and Boudica on a walk when I wasn’t able to go. It got late, and they were in the woods after dark. Do you remember that story I told you about Boudica being like the wolf who knew about the dying bison two miles away? Ron and I have talked about this and try to respect Boudica’s opinion. Well, Ron said, on their walk, Boudica just stopped in her tracks and refused to go any farther. She never does this.

Ron said, after first, he made her keep going, but she took a few steps, stopped again, and gave him a look that Ron understood to mean, “there’s trouble that way.” We have a lot of coyotes in the area, so Ron decided to listen to Boudica. He turned everyone around and came home.

10 Below

~ Crystal Sands ~ 2 Comments

When we woke up this morning, it was 10 below, and I was thankful Ron had decided to put the ceramic heater in the chicken coop last night. In general, chickens do not need a heat in the winter, but we have a “negative 7” rule that we just made up ourselves. If it’s below -7, we bring out some heat for the flock.

There is always a risk of fire when you add heat to your coop, but we do not use a heat lamp and use an oil-based ceramic heater. On top of this, Ron places a cage he built over the heater, and it adds some security.

I have to say the chickens were quite happy with a little extra heat, and Saint-Saens and Betty Jr., both of whom will be 7 years old this spring, happily slept on the heater’s cage last night. I imagine our old chickens have aching joints like I have. All the old girls and boys–from Rooster, who will be 9, to Saint-Saens, Vivaldi, Betty Jr., Mary Jane, and Pumpkin, who will all be 7 or 8 this spring, had a little more spring in their step this morning when I delivered food and water to the coop.

It was miserable out there in that cold, so I did not open the coop to the outdoors until much later in the day today. Poor Tuesday was out of there when I opened that door. She doesn’t mind the cold, but she surely seems to mind being stuck with people.

I was talking to a dear friend from the south last night, and she is so worried about the terrible cold that has hit the entire south this week. She was telling me all of the extra things she is having to do to get prepared and keep her chickens and rabbits warm, and it made me realize just how much we have to do all the time, every single day of our lives, during the winter months here in Maine.

It is a lot of really hard work. Busting ice is so therapeutic mentally, but it can be pretty hard on my body. And I have been fighting with a frozen poop-sickle near the back door of the chicken coop for a week. I finally had to take a hammer to it. I have hauled frozen chunks of poop out of both the chicken coop and duck house all winter, and I can’t get the wheelbarrow through when there’s deep snow, so I have all kinds of cheats for keeping things clean for the birds, most of which are pretty gross for me. And the water! We use buckets to haul water to the chickens and ducks, and the ducks have to have their tubs refilled several times a day on the super cold days–or the windy days. And, of course, how many times this winter have I shoveled the chicken coop and swept the ramps. I want them to be as comfortable as possible.

It was so interesting to me that I am just in the habit of doing all of it and didn’t think about how much extra work the animals are in the winter until I got my friend’s perspective. We concluded our conversation on winter preparedness with her asking me how cold it was here. When I told her, she asked how in the world we lived here, and that made me think more as well. I love here, and I actually like the winter. But why?

Honestly, I have no idea other than I really like having all four seasons (though, okay, spring in Maine can be pretty short and messy), and I have some Scandinavian ancestry. Maybe that makes me like winter. Or maybe it’s this–and I just thought of this–there is something about being tough enough to survive it that makes you feel alive.

If you love Maine or the north and the long cold winters, I would love your perspective. Why are you here? What makes you love it?

And, if you are in the south, please take good care. I know you are not used to this, and I hope warmer temps return very soon!

PS Today, I had to take my son to his first day of early college and was away from the house all morning. I barely saw Boudica before I left. It was just morning chores, breakfast, get the boy out the door. When I got home, I went outside to let the chickens outside for a bit (well, mainly just Tuesday), and Boudica saw me. She came running across the property, and friends, she looked so magnificent in the snow. I wish I had captured it on video. The snow was dusting up around her as she ran across the chicken yard, breaking a new trail in the cold sunlight. Her face looked so happy to see me. When she got to me, I reached down and hugged her with all my might, and she leaned right into it, extra hard. She missed me and let me know. What an honor it is to be loved by such a beautiful creature!

We’re snacking and hiding…

~ Crystal Sands ~ 4 Comments

I cannot get the chickens to come out of the coop. A handful will come out every day, but even on the nicest days, most of the chickens won’t leave the coop. It all started when we had to have our biggest trees removed from our property. It changed the landscape around here, and the chickens didn’t take it well.

I bought some organic lettuce heads and bagels to give the chickens some snacks and reduce some boredom. It worked too well.

But it’s been more than two weeks, maybe three now, and everyone just seems to be in the habit now of staying in the coop. It is cold outside most days…and there’s snow on the ground. I have also been bringing snacks to the coop, so I guess there isn’t much of a reason to leave.

I can’t really blame them. We are snacking and hiding from the world around here too.

Our family was so busy with work, school, and music right up until the Solstice that I don’t know how we made it. The first couple of days after we were able to stop we almost couldn’t sit still. But I knew we all needed some serious rest–like serious rest. So we are embracing it. Our health demands it, I think.

We get up early to bring warm water and fresh food to the chickens and ducks and then go back to bed. Then, when we get up later, we sometimes just eat pie for breakfast. We hang out with the dogs, sit by the fire, play video games on our family Christmas present, and are literally just hiding and snacking. I haven’t even read the news very much, though I realize I need to check it at some point, as I have been worrying about bird flu and heard there was a case in a backyard flock in Vermont.

But I am going to be like Ruby and hide my head in the corner a little longer, though, at some point, both the chickens and I will have to face things. We have gotten two eggs in total in the last week, so I really need those stinkers to get outside and get some sunshine. I guess it will help when I am not delivering fancy snacks to the coop–and when we run out of pie in the house.

I had to drag myself out the day after Christmas to meet a farmer friend to buy some honey. We got to talking about chickens, and I was lamenting that my chickens won’t come out of the coop.

“Do you feed them in the coop?” he asked.

“Yes,” I replied.

“Well, then what reason do they have to come out of the coop?”

Indeed.

Merry Everything

~ Crystal Sands ~ 1 Comment

I am not feeling very well tonight. I think I worked so hard to get Christmas ready that I may have overdone it a bit. There will be no Christmas dinner tomorrow. I have promised a pie each to my two favorite guys, but tomorrow, for the first time in a long time, I am mainly just going to rest.

I am looking forward to it. Rest. It’s what humans should be doing right now, and I am overdue.

We have hard things coming for us, dear readers–at least I think so. I do not know what 2025 will bring, but I have a lot of worry about it. I also know that I am going to need my strength, and 2024 was not a strong year for me at all.

So, tonight, on Christmas Eve, I am just feeling thankful and not letting myself worry about next year. I am going to concentrate on a few days of rest, try to heal my body, celebrate the return of the light, and be cozy with my family.

It has been a lovely Christmas Eve. I got to see my daughter and her partner today. I worked on a quilt for my son. I made good treats for the chickens since they were cooped up for most of the day due to the snow, delivered presents to my neighbors, and received one of the best gifts I have ever received on Christmas. It is an ice lantern! Isn’t it beautiful?

My kind neighbor carried it to our house while I was out delivering presents in the neighborhood. Ron was shoveling snow in the driveway when our neighbor delivered it. He put the ice lantern in the most beautiful spot ever. It is up high, by the gate near the chicken coop, and it is just magnificent. It reminds me of how much I love Maine and how beautiful winter is here.

We have not had a wintery white Christmas here in Maine in some time. Tonight, as I look out the window at my lantern and see the snow on the ground and feel the warmth of the wood stove, I am grateful.

Merry Christmas to all who celebrate! Happy Hanukah to all who celebrate! And happy return of the light to everyone!

The Shortest Day

~ Crystal Sands ~ 1 Comment

I have been so busy this week with all the work that goes into Christmas-ing and all the work that goes into parenting and all the work that goes into homesteading and all the work that goes into, well, work, that I haven’t been able to write, though I have started two blog posts that will remain unfinished.

However, despite today being the shortest day of the year, I can the light–and it’s coming, isn’t it?

The holiday season is a lot of work for so many of us. I can’t help but think I am definitely doing this wrong. As a professor, my work picks up greatly in December, and as a cello mom, I get extra busy in December because that’s when all the music things happen. It’s joyful, of course, but between my long COVID and my son’s long COVID, it’s just extra hard to keep up this year. My son, the cellist, has been in a borderline crash state for at least a week, but his whole semester of work has been bearing fruit this week. I had to keep him going with good food, lots of support, and lots of nagging about the importance of rest (something that is harder for a teenage boy that one might think). Dear readers, I am happy to report he made it–and he played so beautifully.

Last night, he played a gorgeous piece of music with a violinist partner, and it was breathtaking, but honestly, the whole night was breathtaking. It was a winter concert featuring Swedish folk songs, Vivaldi, Bach, poetry, and warm, wonderful people. The night ended with some Swedish hot cider that was so perfect on a snowy night that I am determined to find out what it was and get the recipe. I’ll keep you posted on that because I think it was elderberry, and elderberry is so good for you in the winter. It was definitely spicy.

I talked to a violin mom before the concert, and she expressed her desire for rest. We talked about how hard the holiday season can be on moms, and she told me a story about the years she lived in Sweden. She said, when she got there, she was given a book with instructions on how to prepare in November for rest in December. “Rest in December,” I said out loud with longing. We agreed that there must be some way to get some of that here in the states, but we agreed that we didn’t know how. Still, I need that book because, well, maybe one day…

In the meantime, I have much work tonight, but after I finish grading some essays, I am getting a bit of a break. I am also treasuring a lovely day I have had.

I woke up this morning still hanging onto the beautiful concert from last night. I shoveled snow before breakfast and then finished the Solstice cake you see pictured here. It came out perfectly! I was super thankful because, when you make something just once per year, you forget some of the strategies. I took my son to a cello recording, took a gift to a loved one, and then came home to find one egg when I put up the chickens for the evening. Ron made dinner and cooked up some of his purple cauliflower. It was so pretty.

Tomorrow, the light begins its, but tonight, I am going to finish grading my students’ essays and enjoy this warm fire in the wood stove and reflect on a lovely evening last night and day today.

The cycles continue, and I am reminded that I am a very fortunate human. I am tired in my bones, but rest is coming. I hope you all have a lovely Solstice.

I’m sharing my recipe for my Solstice cake below. It’s from Volume II of the Farmer-ish annual.

Ingredients

Cake

¾ cup unsalted butter, slightly melted
1 ½ cup sugar
4 large eggs, room temperature
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
2 ¼ cup all-purpose flour
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ginger
1 teaspoon cardamom
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
1 cup buttermilk

*Please note that my version of this recipe is a much milder spice cake. The recipes I adapted this from use more ginger, cardamom, and nutmeg. Some also add a small amount of black pepper. Our family, especially our youngest, prefers a milder spice cake. You can adjust if you like spice cake a little more spicy.

Frosting

8 ounces cream cheese, softened
¼ cup butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract 
1 to 2 cups powdered sugar (just add until your frosting is the thickness you want)

Decorations/Toppings

For the toppings, you can use anything you want. I sometimes use plain gingerbread cookies (to match the ginger-colored cake) with the berries. I have added golden candied ginger in the past as well, but the berries are everyone’s favorites. I use raspberries, blackberries, and blueberries, and the colors are lovely.

I also have these two little handmade snowmen candleholders that make an appearance every winter Solstice, and I adore them.

Directions

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Grease two 8-inch round cake pans thoroughly and set aside. 

With a mixer, cream the butter and sugar until fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, and continue mixing. Add in your vanilla. In a separate bowl, add all of your dry ingredients, whisk them together. Then, in little bits at a time, add your dry ingredients and buttermilk to your egg, butter, and sugar mixture. Pour your batter evenly into your two pans and bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Be sure to check early and often on your cake. You do not want this cake to be dry. 

Allow your cakes to cool a bit. When they are cool enough, remove them and let them sit on wire racks to cool further. During that time, mix your frosting ingredients with your mixer. Just make sure to add enough powdered sugar that your frosting is the right texture to work with. Tasting is encouraged. 

For decorating, I followed the method of leaving the sides of the cake exposed to show the pretty ginger color. Add your frosting and colorful toppings in whatever way makes you happy.

Enjoy on the Solstice with some warm tea or cold milk. 

Winter Came All at Once

~ Crystal Sands ~ Leave a comment

Day 252 of 365

I am so tired. Not only did I spend the afternoon shoveling some very heavy ice-snow, I couldn’t sleep last night because I could hear the ice coming down, which made me fret. Mainly, I was fretting about what kind of day the poor chickens and ducks were going to have. Today was miserable weather here in our part of Maine. It was ice then snow and then ice again–all_day_long.

I shouldn’t complain because we have had a very, very mild winter. I was just seeing a farmer friend call this year in Maine “the year without a winter.” Well, I am sure my farmer friend must have jinxed us because winter came today–with force.

The poor ducks stayed out in the terrible weather all day. I took them straw and tried to give bring their water and food to them, but that just upset them. You can’t move the food bowl. It is wrong to move anything. Everything must stay the same always and forever.

Thankfully, I was able to clean out their duck house in all this mess and tuck them in tonight with a bowl of warm peas and a house full of fresh straw. They seemed happy after a long day.

The chickens, mostly, just refused to leave the coop, so they sat in there and got on each other’s nerves all day. I delivered treats once and stayed for a visit. I also visited off and on while I shoveled the snow.

The cutest story of the whole day relates to Ruby, Juliet, and Kate–mainly Kate. This morning, despite the terrible weather, Ruby and Juliet took off out of the coop front door while I was bringing in the food. Later, I realized that, somehow, Kate also got out, but she may have gone out the back door and then flew over the fence. I didn’t check for tracks, but she does that kind of thing all the time. When she was young, she used to trek through the snow all the time.

Anyway, there was nowhere for the driveway crew to go today, except under Ron’s camper shell for his truck. So, all day long, I took treats and food and water to the camper shell. There, under the shell, Ruby, Juliet, Kate, and a red squirrel hung out all day long. They all seemed to be pretty happy with the arrangement.

But in the late afternoon, just as I was getting ready to go out to shovel snow with Ron who, by the way, shovels snow like a miracle, I thought I heard someone at the door. Turns out, it was Kate. She was ready to go into the coop, and she knows to come to the door to get us.

I took this picture of her at the door because it was the cutest thing. If we had a doorbell down low, I have no doubt that she could ring it. Isn’t she wonderful?

I sure hope tomorrow is a better day for the chickens. I told them when I tucked them in tonight that tomorrow would be better. I hope I didn’t tell them a lie.

Water Buckets

~ Crystal Sands ~ 3 Comments

Day 194 of 365

This morning marked one of our annual milestones on our little farm. This morning, the outside water was frozen solid, so it was time to start hauling water from the house to animals. We use five gallon buckets, fill them up in the tub in our guest bathroom, and haul them all over our property. The chickens live near the front of the house. The ducks live at the back of the house. So we haul water every which way.

I used to feel worn out from carrying all of that water. I looked it up, and a 5 gallon bucket filled with water weighs 42 pounds. That’s not a little–at least not to me. But, over time, I have built up strength, and I am able to carry them without too much trouble, well, except for the trouble having two curious cats and a curious puppy cause. Oh my goodness! They were all three in the middle of everything all morning. Still, I try to remember to enjoy them and their curiosity.

I also have come to find a kind of joy in the service in relation to my water carrying–a task I will be completing for the next four months or so. I love bringing the warm water to the ducks because they love the warm water extra. They have a little tub we fill up, plus their 3 water dishes. I love when the just jump into the warm water and seem so happy.

The chickens aren’t quite as grateful for the fresh warm water, but they are some too. It’s the gratefulness you can see on their faces, especially those ducks, that really keeps me going in the winter. I have found that I am the type of person who will give and give and give as long as I feel appreciated. And the animals are endlessly grateful. They have a pretty good existence here. I have learned how to “listen” to our animals when they try to communicate with me, and it helps a lot. They have come to understand how to best get my attention, and I have some to understand that I need to pay close attention to such things. But they are always so grateful. It’s like a never-ending well of gratefulness with them, so I am a never-ending well of giving for them.

It has made for an interesting and wonderful life.

Here are some pictures from morning chores today, on this milestone. It will be another milestone on the farm when we can, once again, use the hoses for the water in the spring.

For the Love of Mittens

~ Crystal Sands ~ Leave a comment

Day 165 of 365

I can’t believe I have been doing this project for 165 days. I often wish to write more than I have time to, but I am thankful I make at least some time to write each day. Plus, at least once a week, I can write a little more. I find that I am having lots more writing ideas than I used to. I still do not have time to write them, but the ideas are everywhere. I guess all of the writers I know who say to write every single day, no matter what, knew what they were talking about. My next step is to figure out more time to write. For now, I am proud to be writing these words tonight. 165 days is no small feat for me.

photo credit: Eli Pluma, Unsplash

Today was a good day. I did a book event for Farmer-ish at my favorite store in the world, Tiller & Rye in Brewer, Maine. It was slow but good overall, and the only bad thing about the whole day was that I found so many more things I wish to buy in that store because I love them so much. Handmade bowls, beautiful spices, locally made soaps–and mittens.

Oh, they have this giant bin of handmade in Maine mittens! Giant! And I think they are upcycled materials. I couldn’t get too close, or else I would have purchased too many mittens, You have no idea how much I love mittens for people I love, especially children. But all of my nieces and nephews live in Texas. They don’t really need mittens and I already bought mittens for the couple of children I know in Maine. But the mittens are magnificent. I wish to buy like ten pair of mittens and then give them as gifts to all of my friends. But I assume they do not necessarily need mittens. I am to an age where I do not have many young children in my life, so I don’t know of anyone who might really need some mittens. I assume not everyone loves mittens like I do. I asked my son, the teenager, if he would like mittens, and I can’t remember what he said exactly, but it was something clever that was equivalent to a verbal eye roll. So no mittens for him. Anyway, I’ll have to keep thinking about who I know who may be able to use some mittens.

As I think about it, I feel like, if you live in the north, you could surely use some mittens, right? Maybe people do love mittens as much as I do. I mean, remember Bernie’s mittens?

Today, in addition looking longingly at a giant bin of mittens out front where I was stationed at the store, when I went back to the office to talk to the manager, I discovered they have more bins in the back of beautiful handmade mittens. Oh, the colors and the fabrics and the uniqueness of each one because they are handmade. They were so beautiful there in the store, and it made me happy thinking about people coming in, buying mittens, leaving with warm hands. The winters can be so hard on my hands. Mittens help keep your bones warm.

Wait. I have a plan! I am writing this down to make myself do this. I am going to talk to Ron about spending some holiday money on buying a bunch of these handmade mittens. Then, I am going to call an organization in town that helps the homeless (I can’t remember the name, so I am going to have to look it up), and if they will take mittens for families in need, I’m going to donate those beautiful mittens. That would be an act of joy that would be helpful to someone, so it would be good for my soul and for others–at least their hands–but maybe also their bones–and maybe also their souls.

How to Last-Minute Prepare Your Flock for Extreme Cold Weather

~ Crystal Sands ~ Leave a comment

by Crystal Sands

We have been keeping chickens in Maine for 8 years, and over those years, I have learned a lot about keeping our flock safe and warm through some fairly extreme cold. Some of what I learned, I learned through research; some, I learned through experiences. One of the key things I have learned is that there is the “ideal” situation for keeping chickens and then there is the situations many of us find ourselves in.

It is so true (and I have written about this very thing) that chickens generally do not need a heat source of any kind in the winter, even when the temps drop in an extreme way. But a good winter situation means you have a sturdy, dry coop with good ventilation, no drafts, and good, dry bedding. What do you do when this is not the winter situation you find yourself in?

I have given chicken talks for the Common Ground fair and written about chicken keeping for years. I have interviewed several big names in chicken care, and one of my biggest worries is when people offer “blanket” advice without knowing the ins and outs of particular situations.

Take our situation, for example. We had always done well with preparing our coop for the winter. We kept 15 to 20 birds for the longest time and went along at a good pace. We had no issues of frost bite in the winter. But, two years ago, we increased the size of our flock to 31 birds. When winter hit, we found we were struggling to get the vents opened to the proper amount, and our coop was getting damp from the increase in birds. After all, all that chicken breathing makes moisture. We were trying to adjust, but one night, the temps dropped to -7 degrees Fahrenheit, and our rooster got frostbite. We had an oil-based heater that we had used one winter when the temps were hanging out around -18 degrees for a couple of weeks, but since everyone told us you don’t need a heater, that year, we never brought out the heater. The night of -7 degrees meant frostbite for our rooster.

Thankfully, the frostbite was minor, but I learned a couple of valuable lessons: First, I needed to do better to prepare my coop for winter, and second, I needed to stop listening to “blanket” advice and make my own decisions based on the situations I am in, however not-ideal they may be.

As I write this post, we are looking at a significant temperature drop here in Maine tonight, so I wanted to offer some tips to help you prepare your chickens for a cold night–if you find yourself in one of those less-than-ideal situations.

Assess the Dampness Right Before the Temps Drop

Go out to your coop right now. Is it damp? Does the bedding feel damp? We use straw, and contrary to one of the many myths circulating the internet, no, it does not lead to crop or mite problems. When our straw is dry, I know things are okay in terms of the moisture in the coop. Because moisture leads to bigger issues with frostbite (essentially, the moisture sticks to any surfaces, including your chickens and leads to the cold feeling colder and doing more damage), you want to make sure your coop is good and dry tonight. Last year, when we had the frost bite, we had been struggling with the humidity, and the straw was a bit damp feeling. I should have pulled every bit of that damp straw out of our coop for that sudden drop and made sure, though we were struggling with ventilation, that, at the very least, we were starting the evening in a dry place. If your coop feels damp, get the wet bedding out of there today and put in fresh. Do not hesitate on this!

You should adjust your vents. The trick to a well-ventilated coop is that there should be no drafts, but up high, there should be vents you can open and adjust. If you have been struggling with dampness, open those vents a little more. It may feel counter-intuitive, like you are letting in more cold, but ventilation up high helps release the moisture from all of that chicken breathing.

Assess Your Flock

If you have healthy, cold-hardy birds, you are in good shape as the temperatures drop. If you have any Silkies, please understand these are not cold-hardy birds. We do not keep Silkies here in Maine, but I spoke to someone who lost some Silkies in a cold snap here in Maine. They do not have the same kind of feathers as other breeds and can struggle in the cold. If you have a less-than-ideal situation in your coop and can bring your Silkies into the garage or somewhere milder (you do not want too warm, as then they will get used to the warmth), I would. There’s just a big difference between a Rhode Island Red and a Silkie when it comes to handling the cold. Please note that I know there are plenty of Silkies in great coops who make it just fine, but every single year I read about Silkies freezing to death here in Maine, so I just have to raise this possibility.

Also, ff you have just one or two birds, I would be hesitant to leave them alone in a coop in sub-zero temps. The snuggling helps everyone handle the cold. Plus, more chicken breath equals more heat in the coop. If you have one or two chickens, as I know some people do, I would make a plan B.

Should You Add Heat?

If the only heat source you have is a heat lamp, no matter the situation, I just say no. I know I said I don’t like “blanket” advice, but I have seen far too many coop and barn fires from heat lamps. In my opinion, they are simply not worth the risk. Plus, there are other heat sources. If you have just a couple of birds, a Sweeter Heater, which does not get hot to the touch, works great. If you do not have one, ask around. We have one we let a friend borrow, and chicken people are generally really good about helping other chicken people.

We have an oil-based ceramic heater that does not get hot to the touch that we have used. My husband also built a cage to go around the ceramic heater, just in case. This oil heater doesn’t make a huge difference in coop temperatures, but it helps. Our flock is a closed flock due to a respiratory issue several years ago. We have some old birds that are not as tough as they used to be. I wish, last year, I would have gone ahead and put the heater out that night our rooster got a bit of frostbite.

Of course, in an ideal situation, I would never use heat. And, honestly, we have managed to fix our moisture problem in our coop with better ventilation. We may not break out the heater tonight for the -8 degrees, but if we find ourselves at -18 degrees again, I’m probably busting it out. Our flock has a health issue that makes for a special situation. My sweet Lucy is 8 years old and has survived a serious respiratory issue in 2019. She needs a little help.

Can Treats Help?

I used to feed our flock corn before bed on cold nights, but I recently learned this may be doing more harm than good. This article, What a Corn-Idea by Dr. Curran Gehring, explains why corn may actually be making things worse. This information is explained in some pretty clear scientific terms, and it’s new to me. However, it’s compelling enough that it is given me some hesitation about giving corn to the chickens tonight. In fact, I think I’m going to pass on it tonight and share it as a treat when it’s not so drastically cold. This article definitely goes against the chicken lore we read on the internet and in the forums, so I understand this may be controversial.

Ultimately, however, I think doing whatever you can to make sure your flock has a super clean, dry coop tonight is the best thing you can do. So if your bedding is damp, head out there before or after dinner and spiffy up the coop. And if you have a breed not really cold-weather hardy, I would bring them into the garage.

I hope this information is helpful, and I hope the extra cold temps do not bring any problems for anyone!