Thanks to the combination of constrution and snow, all the chickens are being kept in their house this winter. To keep them happy, we give them lots of treats, food scraps, stale bread, vegetable pieces, and other bits of food.
We have several breeds of laying hens, including Rose Comb Brown Leghorns, Golden Penciled Hamburgs, Cream Brabanters, and Golden Campines. In spite of the cold, they are laying very well. Normally, they would be out scratching around, but it doesn’t make much sense to have them loose in winter. We don’t crowd them into a small house, so they do fine when locked up.
The geese are also often locked in their winter quarters. They will tolerate cold more than the chickens, so they get to go outside on sunny days. We have a fenced pen for them, so they can’t get into too much trouble harassing the construction crew.