A hen hunkers down when roosting, with her feathers fluffed up and her legs tucked into her warm body. If space allows, install a flat perch in your coop or run. This will enable the hens to roost without having to curl their toes around the roosting bar, which in really cold weather will prevent their toes freezing.
An upturned pot, a log, pallet or other slightly elevated space will give the birds a flat surface to perch on, to escape the ice and snow. Chickens will regulate their temperature and behaviour accordingly, so wherever humans can live, chickens can thrive too. It is the combination of cold and wet that can prove fatal, so ensuring a dry coop is vital, and any bird who becomes soaked should be towelled dry.
Applying Vaseline to their combs will prevent frost bite. Cold conditions will not usually kill chickens, as long as they have a warm coop to retire too when the weather become extreme. Cold hens may be more susceptible than usual to illness and parasites, though, and their egg production will fall.
The chickens will simply hunker down on perches and in nesting boxes, with their feathers fluffed out. The type of coop you have makes a big difference. In really cold winters, a wooden coop with a draughty coop door can soon become damp and semi-frozen — not to mention very draughty — while a more robust state-of-the-art structure such as the Eglu will keep out the cold and damp and enable chickens to defrost after a busy day in the run.
The temperature in the Eglu will remain relatively high when all the hens are tucked in at night. You can help your backyard chickens keep warm in the frost and snow by making sure the coop is clean and dry. An automatic door will help keep the living quarters snug, too. Heat-pampered poultry can die of cold shock. Chicks and young hens are more susceptible to the cold than adult chickens.
If a young chicken has its full coat of feathers, it will be as hardy as the older birds. Chicks, however, will need protection from the cold, and should be kept under an appropriate heat lamp. Any chick left to fend for itself in cold weather will die. The following precautions will help ensure happy chickens in winter:.
Another is to heat towels in a dryer on the highest setting and then wrap your chickens in the towels. If you make a makeshift chicken hospital in your garage, you can heat the space and the chickens with space heaters.
You can buy space heaters that will turn off if the chickens revive themselves and accidentally knock the heaters over a nice safety feature. Chickens are smart enough to huddle together for warmth. That is a good thing, but it may also mean that you will have to dig your chickens out of snowdrifts if you do not properly prepare the coop for winter. Because you do not want to hurt your chickens with a shovel either, you will be spending a lot of time digging them out by hand.
It is far better to wrap up and enclose the entire coop as best as you can and to do it before the first snowflake falls. You can let your chickens out on days where the weather is not bitter cold, and there are no blizzards or heavy snowstorms.
Chickens can get a little frazzled if kept locked in the coop all winter, so pick select days to let them out. Always be sure to put them back into the coop before you leave to go anywhere in order to ensure their safety if the weather does turn nasty. Now you know everything there is to know about chickens in all kinds of weather and particularly in colder temperatures.
As someone who wants to raise chickens for eggs and food, or as pets, you will be better equipped to build the right kind of coop, buy the right breeds of chickens, and protect your birds from nasty weather. When you are knowledgeable about chickens, you will find that they are easy to care for.
Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. How Cold Is Too Cold? That Depends on the Chicken Breed Like many breeds of dogs, some chickens are bred to withstand colder climates. Here are some chickens that can thrive and survive in the cold: Silkie Dorking Australorp Rhode Island Reds Plymouth Rock Cochin Wyandotte Buckeye Dominiques Welsummer All of the above chickens have really thick, very heavy plumage that is doubled in layers to keep these breeds of chickens warm in frigid temperatures.
Chickens Can Freeze to Death Chickens can freeze to death. Pin 3. Related posts: Can Chickens Swim? What to Do with Aggressive Roosters? But cold or not, your chickens will want to go out first thing. It also cuts down on the mud during the spring thaw, and are great added to the garden compost pile later. This is enough to keep their water from freezing in the coop overnight unless temps outside get into the teens rare here.
Outdoors we use heated dog bowls if needed. Good information i change my water daily I have 5 gallon bucket with nipples so it is easy for them to drink out of them and on the heating I use a heated blanket I have it on the wall behind the roost and I set it for a couple of hours and then it shuts off works really well and thanks for the article again.
We get lots of eggs seaonally from the muskovies, eggs are superior in my opinion to chicken eggs. We let one hen duck hatch a brood of chicks for herd replacement and single sales. I love gathering fresh eggs with my Grandkids, They love it too……. It is nice to know that what I have been doing all these years has been correct. The only thing I do is leave a very low watt bulb on which provides very little heat.
When the light has gone out they just cuddle up on perch or floor which they do anyway. We have areas of shelter for variety this helps keep their curiosity active. Thanks for all this great information! Sounds marvelous! Do you think the oatmeal should be cooked first? No need to cook oatmeal or grains before mixing into suet. Remember, the way chickens naturally eat their grains is in a raw state, straight from the plant, while foraging.
I use heated dog water dishes. They work great. They have covered runs with plastic sides for the winter months, so I put them in the fun.
Fresh water all the time. I also feel keeping them in the coops give moisture. Jenni, some people misunderstand the purpose of the vaseline. It does not prevent frostbite; it DOES help to keep the skin from being chapped. Chapped skin increases the chances of frostbite.
Chickens fluff their feathers up to stay warm in cold weather; it creates a larger layer of air between the cold air outside their feathers and their skin. That downy fluff toward the bottom of their feathers is quite insulating! But the sweaters may prevent them from being able to fluff their feathers correctly.
There ARE good uses for the sweaters, though. For hens going through a hard molt during cold weather—or for rescued factory farm hens dealing with cold weather—they can help. Just mostly a bad idea. I just have to say that the number of comments is nothing less than amazing.
I simply love them. You do a great job! We live in Appalachian Ohio, where it can get mighty windy and cold zero degrees or colder in the winter. When we renovated our chicken barn in , we had the new barn wired for electricity, and our electrician installed radiant heat panels in the barn ceiling for the chickens. Our avian vet told me that zoos use the same panels to heat exotic birds during the winter. The panels are equipped with thermostats, so we can set them to switch on only when it gets below a certain temperature.
The four heat panels in the barn use a total of watts of electricity — about as much as one space-heater. The chickens enjoy standing or roosting under the panels on cold days and nights.
I have 3-year-old hens who are still laying well, and I am sure that having heat during the winter is one reason why.
Our new girls, who began laying this past August, have laid every day through the winter so far. No feather-picking problems or frost-bitten legs or combs. I would recommend heat panels to anyone who keeps chickens in a northern climate. Not to mention that they also make the barn a much more comfortable place for us humans who take care of the birds!
And of course it will also be nice when you walk in your coop to do chores. More power to you! I just read through nearly 4 years of comments in one sitting! Lissa, thank you for a wonderful site! How bald is too bald?
Ie, do you think she needs a jacket? Congrats on your new birds! From your description, it does sound like her feathers are coming back in. Generally speaking, mites tend to cause loss on the back and near her bottom, not on her breast. So… what to do? Her comb will be vulnerable to frostbite. You may decide to use the sweater a little longer, since you can see how bald she is.
So, some suet or scratch might be a good idea as a supplement to their regular diet. Finally, do be careful and double triple quadruple check the safety of your heat lamp setup. We heard about another coop fire from a heat lamp again last week. We made gravity waterers and feeders out of 5 gallon plastic buckets. Works pretty good so far. This is our first winter with chickens. We made our coop and run underneath or porch which has wooden lattice.
We covered from the inside with tarps. Their coop is a large dog box but most prefer to roost on top or on perches. Chickens seen happy. Still getting eggs just not as many. Greenbrier County is so beautiful! Good luck with your birds!
Yes, you can! Those designed for chickens often have mealworms as a component, and a higher protein content than those used for wild birds. Still, any suet block will work as a winter supplement. We even have a basic make-your-own suet recipe in our book, the My Pet Chicken Handbook. Chickens acclimate to the weather gradually, and a heater can just throw them off. There are a lot of things NOT to do when preparing your chickens for cold weather. DO make sure your coop is draft free since drafts and moisture can be the most likely issues to […].
The first year I had only a handful and when we had two weeks hitting negative 20s at night, I took them to the garage. The next year it was only in the negative teens and I put a tarp over the coop which raises the temperature a couple of degrees, and then I put in a heated dog bowl which kept the coop around 20F.
It was 58 out as a high last week, and tomorrow is going to be with a weather warning for freezing wind chills and frost bite warning.
I am going to set up their heated dog bowl. Being a low of 33 at night for three weeks and then the expected low of with wind chills the coldest of the season so far, is not temperature trends that would warrant one to assume their birds were acclimated to the weather. Those sudden drops in temperature will do a bird in. Absolutely, Liz! Ihabe15 7 day old chicks in my house in a brooder. How should i transition the girls to their outdoor coop?
Hi, Janet! We have some great advice on how to safely transition your brood to an outdoor coop on our website. I hope that link helps! Greetings Lissa from Colorado. I recently learned about Partridge Chanteclers but cannot find them. Chanteclers ARE a good choice.
They are beautiful, and have small, rose combs which make them quite cold hardy. They lay lots of eggs brown , too! Easter Eggers , Favaucanas and Ameraucanas are also good choices, laying blue or green eggs.
However, these last three tend to lay well, but not outstandingly. We do have another blog post where you can read more about our recommended Top Five Cold Hardy Chicken Breeds —you might enjoy that! I was wondering about ventilation. I currently have tarp material stapled over open rafters in my coop, I have left the front and back edges unsecured about 6 inches for ventilation but am able to close it up if needed.
I was wondering if that was the best way to ventilate through the roof or if there was some better way? I had the coop all prepared for winter last year but lost my girlies to a stray dog in the fall, so have never actually wintered any birds. This will be my first winter for the girls. I live in the northeast corner of washington state. It can get 15 to 20 below zero here. I am appreciating all the hhelpful hints and suggestions anyone gives me, as well the tips I have read other comments thanks.
Our waterer has a heater with it, is this a bad idea for the coop? Personally, I go without winter light in my coop in most circumstances. However, plenty of people do add some to keep them laying.
You can read our advice about adding light to the coop at the link in this answer. As with all electrical items in the coop, be careful as to fire hazards. Our first winter with chickens. It was 84 degrees the other day and now 15 degrees after a storm came through the next day. Our 9 hens and 1 rooster oops are about 25 weeks.
We are getting 5 eggs nearly every day…I hung a curtain separating their laying boxes from the rest of the coop and blocking out the light from the window. Home built coop…insulated and with 3X12 vents on the east and west sides of coop…and using the deep litter method…they turn it nicely but at least once a week I give it all a deep turn.
I have a string of battery operated led lights inside on a 6 hour on timer…comes on am…We also have a nice sized run with a fenced top. Having some condensation over night. Frost on the inside of the south facing window this morning…even though we kept it cracked open all night. We lock them in around pm at dark and open up again around 6am.
We have read many forums with conflicting opinions…some say never put water in coop over night…others say they need fresh clean water readily available. We are fearful of leaving the door and ramp open all night perhaps a solution to the condensation …raccoons and fox are abundant…not sure our run would hold up to an all night attack.
I give the girls and rooster cogburn warm oatmeal with bananas or apples on cold mornings.. They are really spoiled! Rooster Cogburn has attacked the 3 yr old granddaughter a few times now…His days may be numbered… Any ideas?
So sorry to hear one of your roosters is acting aggressive! We go into detail about how to deal with aggressive roosters here on our website. Chances are your granddaughter is unknowingly doing something that the rooster finds threatening.
Teaching her how to interact with chickens may help, but definitely keep him away from your little one until the aggression has been addressed. Roosters are not very big, but they can do serious damage, and your grandchild is definitely the first priority to keep safe! Some roosters are just aggressive no matter what you do, so you may ultimately need to rehome him.
The comb and wattles are erectile tissue and more prone to chapping. However if you observe that your naked necks are struggling with the cold, you might use a lotion, sparingly applied. I use for the water one of those large storage containers the kind with the snap on lid that is about 4 ft by 2 ft wide and 10 inches high.
I had an old waterbed heater pad that fits perfectly under the bottom of the container. I keep the container on one side of the outside run, up against the bottom beam and the cord I ran out under the bottom of the run so the hens have no access to it. When I want to clean, I just pick the container up and wash it out with the garden hose, put it back, and fill it up. When the weather warms up, I just turn the pad off, remove it, and put it in storage for use in the next cold winter months only.
I live off the grid and operate by solar and generator so my electrical use I try to keep down. In that respect, the heater pad I have on a timer to come on at 4 AM and go off at sunset. When the hens go out of their coop after sunrise, no frozen water. I have plenty of solar power to run the pad, everything else, and charge the batteries during the day.
Had that trick played on me in 7th grade. Was told that to me by another kid who was playing me for a fool. I did try it by putting hot water in the ice-cube tray and timing it. It took over twice as long to freeze. I am sure that kid had a good laugh. I asked my science teacher the reality of that one. So what e. Hi everyone. I live in the north of England and probably the lowest temperature is -6 so not too bad. I only began keeping hens in May — beginning with 3 ex-battery hens who are now in beautiful condition.
I also recently acquired 3 miniature silkies who needed a home. My issue with winter is the lack of daylight hours as I work full time-although off sick at the moment. How does everyone who works arrange their day as far as cleaning out and feeding etc, please? Is it ok to move the girls out and clean when it is still dark in the morning?
They all generally cuddle up in the nest boxes and so the poop needs moving every morning. They free range in my secure garden during the day and have lots of sheltered areas and food stations. I know that I am soppy with my animals- I have 4 cats as well- but when I go back to work, they will have gone to bed before I get home-missing their afternoon treats.
How do others manage this please? We are in Wisconsin and regularly experience nights below 0 degrees. So we moved them into a shed, sheltered from the elements, lined their bedding with lots of straw, and have a water heater. If it goes below 0 degrees F for more than a day, we turn on the heat lamp.
Every day we give them scraps and fresh feed. So far so good! My concern it gets cold in the twentys and below however not consistent.
Should I be concerned. Do keep in mind that if you have multiple roosters and not enough hens, those on the lower end of the pecking order may prefer to roost away from the flock, because the head rooster may be driving them away. Just make sure that wherever he stays, he has appropriate shelter. I use the candle heater underneath the waterer. It is a flat device that heats candle wax to melt and smell without burning actual candle. I cover it with a metal garbage can lid and put a waterer on the top.
It never freezes. When I add or change water, I always wash the waterer from the slime and dirt with a brush. Keep him in an area where you can adjust the temperature, and lower it by 5 or 10 degrees each day until such time as it matches the outside temps. Stall pellets! Are a perfect material for coops. I put down a layer several inches thick. Slowly it then turns to sawdust as the chickens soil it.
The sawdust can last for quite a while. Then when odor is detected, time to change. It can last a month or more depending on quantity of birds. The sawdust composts quicker than shavings as the wood is already in tiny pieces. Make sure to only use animal grade, not the type to burn in stoves. I would be a little concerned that the sawdust would be too, well… dusty.
Chickens are a lot closer to the ground than most other livestock you might normally bed on it. About chickens and snow….. Younger chickens new to snow often panic in just a few inches and if they happen to end up on, say, a brush pile, may refuse to travel through the snow to return to the coop.
A previous poster was concerned about a rooster who stays in the goat pen — I had a rooster who slept in a tree for 3 years, he survived sub-zero temps, ice storms, blizzards, etc. On rare occasions he sought more sheltered roosts when pending weather was exceptionally bad. I will be moving my young chickens close to my house for the winter as they are at the farthest point away from my house currently.
I appreciate the advice in this post and the comments following. If I cannot keep my chickens comfortable in our deep freeze during the Winter time till Spring I will not have them. Its not fair to the chickens to keep them cold just because your rules say to do those things. It all depends on where a person lives. It does vary depending on where you are and in areas of extremes in weather you have to use good judgment.
I do point out exceptions to the general rules. Feel free to tell me if you think I could be clearer somewhere, and I will update! Hello Live in Indiana so the winters are cold. We were given two small roosters. Wondering how to keep them in the winter.
They live in my husbands shop on top of a high beam that is used to pull engines. We give them grain and water every day. The beam is inside the shop near the roof, is this good enough or do they need a better shelter.
Is it heated? Do they have access to the outside? You can look here in our free chicken care ebook to see what sorts of features chicken coops in general should have, and that may help. Also consider that you want to provide them with nutritionally balanced feed. I have cold weather birds. Orpingtons but the rooster is the only one with a large cone. No one ever mansions that about the Roos. All in all a wonderful article.
Hi Was wondering if any one had info about the heated chicken preaches. They only come on if the temp gets below 0. This is my first winter with chickens and bought a heated preach. Wondering if any one had any comments about them. I am a we bit nervous about the winter. I live in Ont Canada and nights can get cold. Lissa thanks for answering all the questions as I have read through years of questions and answers right now.
My story? This is my first year having hens ever. We have only 4 chickens 2 Australops and 2 Americanus for breeds—we got them about 16 weeks of age in June.. I have a big back yard and bought a starter coop through a store that was about 6 x 2 small run underneath and 2 laying boxes and small roosting area. Originally I had a nice size run associated with this…about 50 x 3 feet. Gave them the back of the yard basically.. I used mulch on the small bottom of the coop area and Wood chips in roosting area and boxes.
I now use about 2 inches of wood chips on bottom of the coop on top of this matt. The past 3 months— I have gotten used to cleaning this by hand Boxes and bottom for poop every day and just add in more chips daily… a handfull or two..
The hens seem happy and are laying a 2 eggs a day amongst them. I was also thinking about putting up some 8 x 10 heavy duty tarps on the North and East side underneath the tree house to protect them from heavy wind or snow—thoughts? Protecting them from the worst of the wind is also a good idea. But strong, cold winds can ruffle their feathers and blow that heat away, so a little wind protection can really help!
Hello I live in Vermont ,cold nights ,my coop is about 18 inches off the ground it gives them a place to relax in the summmer but is it a problem to have that open area below them in the winter. Hi all! So glad i found this blog. I have 4 silkies and 3 black sex links. How do these breeds do as winter birds? As of right now in central NY its lows of teens and low 20s and ive had a heat lamp in thier coop.
They do not have any insulation on thier coop yet. Im just wondering what is to much, should i kill the heat lamp and just put some hay bales around the coop to insulate?
Brand new chicken mama so im a little lost in it all. If you want an evaluation of your set-up, best would be to call or email info mypetchicken. That way we can ask questions about your coop and the climate in your area of the country, and give an informed answer about what may work best. I have a 5 gal. I use a fish tank heater to keep water from freezing, and it cuts off at 75 degrees.
I have never heated my coop, and it does get pretty cold here at least the wind chill does. Have had only one time that one of our hens got frost bite. To keep them warm, I cover their coops at night with 3M plastic and blankets and use straw, but leave enough space for them to get plenty of room for ventilation. Have never had a problem with any of them getting sick.
We are finishing our coop with no time to spare. It sits about 4 feet off the ground with the run going under the coop. We put vinyl floor on top of the plywood and I plan to use da, shavings and hay on top,of that. Hi we live in colder upstate NY and we hang a fairly thick mil plastic sheet over the door with approx. This keeps the cold air from really getting into the coop, while still allowing the chickens access in and out through the door.
We also put salad greens in a holder similar to a suet holder, only a bit larger in the openings, which is made for chickens. It helps to keep them busy when bad weather sets in. Their coop is not that well insulated. I live in North Dakota and I plan on raising a pair of chickens this spring. Also, could anyone refer me to a website that sells sterdy coops for really cold winters?
I really have almost no idea what to do here…. Hi, Maren! We sell chicken coops and chicken coop plans. Keeping Combs from frost bite, I use a product for my dogs pads it protects them from Salt in the winter and hot asphalt in the summer. I also use it on my horse, it not only helps with cracks on their hoof, I use it inside the ears to keep biting flys off.
It is not slippery like Vasline. I bought it at Eastern Mountain Sporting Goods store. We use a battery pad to keep the water from freezing and safer than some other options out there for an Alaskan coop. We use to use heat lamps in our coop, but not long ago we lost our coop and all but 8 of our chickens to a fire caused by heat lamps. So sorry to hear about your flock! This coop heater is a safer type , and might help you. When you say 4 square feet per chicken does that include the area used by feeders, nest boxes, etc?
Or must one increase the floor size for these items? Some are mounted on walls, for instance, or take up negligible space. Some fountain waterer systems are also mounted. My chicken an old horse box with no back on it so my flock are open to all kinds of weather al the year and yes they are all getting on in age. My 16 chicks are still in a box in my garage. The old pump house is being turned into a coop. Next project is making my outside run. Wisconsin winters are so unpredictable.
My last batch of birds loved going outside; There was a heavy tarp on one side, coop on another and I wrapped the other 2 sides with poly. The run never had snow — dry all winter long and they were out of the wind.
When the ground is frozen or snowy I also like to throw down some straw, the girls love to have something to scratch at outside, Especially if you put some seed through it. I have also been know to give them the odd treat of a fat ball like you would give wild birds helps them maintain some calories in the cold winter months and provides a lot of excitement and entertainment!
I live in Northern Alberta Canada and it gets very cold. I know you said not to heat the coop but should I? It can get to Celsius and Fahrenheit at night. Thanks for the great article. Your email address will not be published. Currently you have JavaScript disabled. In order to post comments, please make sure JavaScript and Cookies are enabled, and reload the page. Click here for instructions on how to enable JavaScript in your browser.
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