Chickens are one of the easiest and most rewarding animals to have on the homestead. After all, they do give you breakfast most days. They do not require a huge amount of time, but there are certain tasks that we must do to keep them save and healthy. One major project we have every Fall is to prepare the chicken run for winter.
In the PNW, western Washington to be exact, we usually do not have harsh winters. We do occassionally get snow and freezing temperatures, but it is mainly just wet. Rain, rain and more rain!
Prepping The Chicken Run
Since our chicken coop and run is stationary, it does require a time investment each fall. One thing we have to do is purchase and shovel multiple truck loads (yards) of hog fuel. Hog fuel is large wood chips that farmers and homesteaders put in their animal pens and runs to keep their animals from standing in water. Our poor chicken’s run fills up with inches of water every time it rains. Hog fuel keeps it so their feet stay dry and out of the pond of water when they go out in the chicken run.
where do we purchase hog fuel
We have a local lumber company that is pretty close to our house and they sell the hog fuel by the yard. One yard fits in my Toyota Tacoma, so I do have to make multiple trips. This year I picked up 3 yards and could get 2 more to fill up the back end of the chicken run. When you spread the wood chips, you want to make sure they are at least 3 to 4 inches deep. Over the winter it will pack down and settle into the dirt. If you do not lay it on thick enough, by mid winter, your chicken’s feet will be standing in water. The ladies think that wood chips are the greatest thing and I find them trying to dust bathe in them often.
I do not worry about spreading it out perfectly. The chickens will dig around and spread it around as they look for bugs and snacks. Chickens are very curious creatures and will not leave anything alone. I capitalize this and let them help me with the work of spreading the wood chips around.
While prepping the chicken run, it is a good time to preform a safety walk
Since I am outside anyways, I do a safety walk around the chicken run and see if any areas of the run need any repairs. We discovered that by this next summer, we will more than likely have to replace the netting that covers our entire run. As much as I do not want to have to deal with spreading out another large piece of netting, the net provides a safety barrier. Our chicken run is 10 feet wide by 50 feet long. It keeps the hawks and eagles from stealing our chickens. When we do have to replace the net, it will take a minimum of 5 people to get it up and over the large run. I will have to be plan far enough ahead of time so I can get ahold of enough help, so it goes smoothly.
If you have chickens, you want to make sure your coop and run is safe and predator proof. We have to guard against hawks, eagles, coyotes and the random large dogs that venture into our yard. So far we haven’t lost any chickens to predators, but it is always a fear. I do know the predators have gotten close to our coop, as I have found multiple dead rabbit bits on the ground next to it. I have even found bits on top of the netting on the chicken run.
Using hardware cloth
In our old chicken coop, when we only had 10 chickens, I buried hardware cloth 6 inches in the ground and about a foot up the chicken run wall. Hardware cloth is a stronger type of wired mesh. It is a lot stronger that chicken wire and predators have a harder time breaking through it. I buried the hardware cloth as a way to keep the chickens safe if a dog or coyote tried to dig under the fence. In the new coop/chicken run, I haven’t made it a priority in accomplishing this tedious chore. I really should take the time and complete it before I do run into a predator problem.
What is next with the chickens before winter hits
My husband, Dave, has the coop renovation/extension almost completed. Once he is done, I will spend some time and deep clean and prep it for winter. This will happen in the beginning of November. With 49 chickens, this takes a bit of time as we have a large coop with plenty of room for them to move around on freezing cold days.
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