*Updated 1/4/14*

Frozen waterers and cooped up cluckers means it’s time to think winter chicken keeping. Quite likely, as the temperature drops, your concern for the comfort and well being of your flock is on the rise. We love our feathered friends, and we want them to be happy. Here are some ways to keep them warm and fight boredom as you endure these next several months.

• The most obvious way to protect your chickens from the cold is by providing adequate shelter. Their coop should protect them from the elements by keeping them dry and out of the wind (which means reducing ventilation in order to maintain heat and sealing off any cracks). Of course an insulated coop is ideal, but it’s not entirely necessary (depending of course on the size of the coop and number of birds). 

• You can give them access to an outside run through a small door which they can enter and exit at will. Some chickens tolerate the cold better than others and will venture out while some remain inside. But be sure of two things: (1) that the run door can be closed off during exceptionally cold times and in order to maintain heat in the coop, and (2) you provide at least 2 inches of straw/leaves/bedding material in the run on top of any snow to protect the feet of your chickens. Make sure that you provide enough ground cover to hold your entire flock, should they all decide to go outside. 

•  Ventilation is a vital component of your shelter, so don’t overlook this! Because of the high moisture content produced by chickens, good ventilation is essential. Place your ventilation up high where air exchange occurs above your chickens, not through them. You do not want drafts, but you do want air exchange. If your coop is without ventilation and you’re unsure of how to go about installing some, check out my “Successfully Ventilate the Cold Climate Chicken Coop” post for details on how much ventilation is needed, where to ventilate, and a how-to that anyone can do!

• You do not need to provide a heat source, necessarily. In fact, it can be downright dangerous to incorporate a heat lamp into your coop. If you have a fully-feathered flock, they will keep one another warm. Make sure that you provide them with enough roosting area to hold all of the birds so that nobody has to sleep on the floor. Heat rises, so keeping them up and off of the floor during the cold months is essential. 

• One of those ways is by offering your chickens some corn (cracked corn) in the evening. Corn produces more energy than your usual feed during digestion. So as it slowly digests over night, additional heat will be generated. Also, digesting corn converts into fats which is important for a cold-weather flock. They need extra fat in the winter (in moderation! you must be careful with this so as to avoid fatty liver disease due to obesity), and according to an article from Mother Earth News, “Chickens, and waterfowl especially, will produce better in the following year if they are slightly fattened the year before.” Keep treats and “extras” to 10% of their overall intake.

• Another way to encourage natural heat production is by adding small amounts of cayenne pepper to treats or feeds. Cayenne pepper improves blood circulation and has even been known to increase egg production! I’ve seen it suggested to add 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper per cup of feed. I personally like to mix up a nice big batch of oatmeal on the cold days and shake in a healthy dose of cayenne pepper and garlic powder. I then toss in a handful of raisins and then any scraps that I’ve been collecting for them.Clean out the stray grapes in the produce drawer. Throw in those bread crusts and “butts” that the kids won’t touch. A nice mish mash of everything and they LOVE it! {Just be sure you don’t give them anything spoiled, moldy, or anything that you yourself would not eat). See HERE for a full list of acceptable and unacceptable things to feed your chickens.

• The “Deep Litter Method” is another way to generate heat in the coop. You start out with 4-6″ of bedding (pine shavings tend to work best for this, in my experience) and add small amounts of additional bedding throughout the season to maintain depth and cleanliness. The bedding will slowly begin to compost and produce heat. The chickens will scratch around and aerate the litter (which can be encouraged by providing scratch grains on the floor). This is something that must carefully be done, however. When conducted correctly, you will not have a smelly coop and most certainly not one that reeks of ammonia. If this is the case, you absolutely need to clean out the coop and start over. There are several tips and instructions on how to do this throughout the web. {HERE} you will find Kathy’s directions over at The Chicken Chick. A good place to start! 

• If you do not wish to use the deep litter method, straw is the best bedding for retaining heat {though it can be headache when it comes to cleanup}.

• If you are shoveling snow around your coop, toss the snow along the sides of the coop to “bank” the walls. Building up snow around the perimeter of a building will help insulate and retain heat. You can accomplish this too by stacking straw bales around the coop if you live in an area that does not get a lot of snow. {Some stack them inside to take up “dead space” but keep an eye on them for molding, etc}.

• Finally, for protection against frostbite you can coat combs and wattles with petroleum jelly. But keep in mind that the #1 protection against frost is good ventilation.

• Ah, yet another debatable topic in the chicken keeping world. Some feel quite strongly about allowing this “down time” for their girls and thus provide no artificial light when the days get shorter. Some hens will continue to produce, but on average most will cease laying (or at least drop drastically in production). There is absolutely nothing wrong with this perception and I commend those who take this route. I, however, choose to provide the additional light source. My flock gets about 15-16 hours of light, which I provide through a 40-watt energy saver bulb. It costs very little to run but is still bright enough to provide a sufficient amount of light.

4. Water

•  There are multiple ways that you can water your chickens. There’s the option of an open pan or basin, a standard fount, or all the way up to automatic nipple water system. What you use depends on your own situation and preference. And the cold weather can have an impact on which one you use as well. I tend to switch to from my standard fount to an open pan or basin in the winter; a rubber one that does not freeze as quickly as a metal one. I do this because I don’t use a heating element in my water {which is of course an option}. This means I’m hauling out hot water three times daily to my coop. That may seem like a lot of work, but it gives me the opportunity to spend some quality time with my feathered friends; see how they’re doing and if anything is amiss. It’s tough going outside when it’s -30 F. And having an automatic or heated waterer would make it just too easy to stay indoors ;). I like to think of it as my insurance for my chickens!

• As far as heating elements go, you can buy electric ones that go inside your water bucket or that come in the form of a heated base on which your waterer sits. There are tons of ideas out there for homemade cookie tin heaters and cinder block heaters. I’ve read that floating ping pong balls in the water will help deter freezing. And I’ve even looked into an option for the ducks by using an insulated bucket {made for horses} using a float trey that is supposed to keep water from freezing.

• Please do not try to add things to your water {like salt} to attempt to keep the water from freezing. The amount which you would have to add would be dangerous to their health, and things like salt {even in small amounts} have to be used with caution in the first place. Don’t take any chances. Sometimes “the good old fashioned way” {hauling water} is called just such for a reason ;).

5. Protection from Predation

• As the temperatures drop and natural food sources decline for predators, they may focus in on your coop. If there are any points of access for critters (even small holes through which weasels or other varmints can enter), be sure to properly close them off. Additionally, rodents like mice and rats will go after your feed stock if not properly contained, thus exposing your chickens to the consumption of droppings, urine, hair, etc. Be sure to store your feed in an air-tight container or garbage can to prevent exposure, and again seal off any potential holes or other places through which they could gain access to your coop.

• Cooped up chickens {especially those accustomed to free ranging} need some entertainment. When they spend day in and day out within the confines of a coop, they need something to do other than picking on one another. There are just tons of ideas out there for combating boredom, including hanging a head of cabbage for hours of pecking fun and plenty of homemade flock blocks and other goodies to keep them busy. Here are a few of some fun ideas available:

Flock Block 
Frozen Veggie and Yogurt Hanger
Chicken Suet 
Plastic Bottle Toy

• Other ideas include hanging mirrors for the especially vain ones, introducing new objects to peak their interest (I recently put a small, old ladder in the coop- they love roosting on the rungs!), get a large suet cage and enclose treats within, toss in a pile of new shavings or straw for them to scratch around in, etc. They’re like kids- give them a new toy, they will play with it for a while. But they will also tire of it- so introduce new things often. It doesn’t have to be anything more exciting than a chunk of wood for them to stand on, just anything to change up the scenery.

7. Eggs

• Around here, when we get into December, January, and February, we’re almost consistently below zero and most commonly right around -20 F or colder. I cannot tell you how many times I’ve gone out to the coop and found a frozen, exploded egg. When eggs are exposed to freezing temperature for too long a period of time, they will freeze and explode due to expansion of the contents within. {If the eggs have merely a hairline crack and the membrane is intact, you can thaw in a small dish and peel the shell before using as normal}. Therefore, you should pick up eggs 2-3 times daily, depending on how cold it is.

8. Baby Chicks

• Baby chicks are a sensitive subject when it comes to the cold of winter. They need to be treated with extra care. Baby chicks should be cared for within a brooder with high walls {to prevent drafts and retain heat} and kept under a heat lamp equipped with a 250-watt bulb {red or white- your choice, but many believe that red is less harsh and helps prevent picking}. It is suggested that you provide one heat lamp per 30 birds and to always burn a backup lamp in case one should fail. You would not want to run the risk of losing your entire flock due to a bulb burning out.

• A thermometer kept within your brooder will help you keep track of proper temperatures. Having raised baby chicks throughout my life, we always followed this basic guideline: 

90-95 degrees for the first week. Raise the lamp to reduce the temperature by 5 degrees each consecutive week until they reach 5 weeks of age {or 70 degrees}.

This may vary based on the variety of chicken you are raising, but as a whole, this is a good standard to go by. However, raising baby chicks in the winter does not always mean you can go by this general rule of thumb! Harsh winter conditions means you may need to keep your birds at 70 degrees until about 10 weeks of age. Another good reminder too is that the birds themselves are often the best tellers of what their heat needs are. If the chicks are huddled together and/or chirping loudly, they need more heat. On the other hand, if they are keeping to the outside of the brooder to get away from the lamp, they need less heat.

• In addition to proper heat monitoring, you also need to pay attention to their litter. Litter should be kept clean to prevent disease and dry to prevent freezing and other problems. In winter chick rearing, straw seems to be the most highly recommended bedding as it best retains the heat from the heat lamp and it cannot be consumed by baby chicks.

• A consistent supply of good chick starter/grower and clean {preferably warm} water should be available at all times to ensure proper growth and healthy, happy chicks.

• Finally, be certain to check on your babies at least a few times a day {and really, how could you not?!}.

I hope this provides you a good foundation for your winter chicken keeping. And I would love to hear of any other tips you might have yourself!
Take care :),

Erin

If you have any question about chicken terminology here {or elsewhere}, see my complete Chicken Dictionary.

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Sources:
Mother Earth News
“Raising Poultry the Modern Way” by Leonard S. Mercia

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