How to Make a Backyard Chicken Fuller in the Winter

Wintertime is not always easy for livestock. Chicken are fairly hardy animals. However, during the cold winter months, a chicken needs proper nutrition and care to keep it full and healthy. Increasing the amount of food your chicken eats and providing a warm, comfortable place for nesting and sleeping are vital in the proper care of a chicken during the winter.

Things You'll Need

  • Large bowl
  • Warm water
  • Chicken feed
  • Chicken feed pellets
  • Straw
  • Yard lights
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Instructions

    • 1

      Feed your chicken a diet of mash and feed pellets. Mix warm water with chicken feed in a large bowl. Add a little water at a time until the chicken feed turns into a thick mush. Feed the mush to the chicken twice a day. Spread the mush on the ground in the feeding area. Clean up the remaining mush after an hour and discard.

    • 2

      Scatter chicken feed pellets on top of the mash. This provides the proper nutrients while also keeping the chicken full.

    • 3

      Provide food to your chicken throughout the day. On top of feeding your chicken the mash and feed pellet diet, provide plenty of dry chicken feed. Scatter the feed on the ground so the chicken never goes hungry.

    • 4

      Keep the chicken warm. Chickens use stored fat and muscle to maintain warmth during cold months. Keep your chicken in a warm area, such as an enclosed barn with plenty of clean, dry straw and minimal drafts at night. Clean the dry straw daily. Let your chicken out during the day. This provides the chicken with plenty of exercise needed to build and maintain muscle.

    • 5

      Provide ample lighting around the barn or roosting area. During colder, darker months, chickens are less inclined to eat. Lighting encourages the chicken to eat. Turn on the lights as dusk settles and turn them off after a few hours so the chicken will sleep.