Chickens are surprisingly
good at keeping themselves warm, with around 8,500 feathers; a chicken will
fluff them up, trap air under her down and keep warm and cosy for hours. However,
extremely cold weather and damp will leave your chickens feeling chilly and
uncomfortable so it’s important to prepare your chickens and their coop for the
winter months.
This post, written by coop
specialists Eggshell Online, will
talk you through the best ways to keep your chickens happy throughout the
winter:
Protecting Your Coop from
Drafts
Contrary to common belief,
your chickens don’t need insulated houses to keep warm in winter; keeping your
coop closed up can make the air unhealthy and can lead to nasty respiratory
diseases in your birds. What’s important is keeping your coops ventilated
whilst still protecting your chickens from cold winds and drafts, so block up
any large gaps and place vents up high, near the roof.
Heating – It’s Your Call
Most chickens, particularly
the hardy breeds will not need heat lamps. If you do decide to heat your coops
you must do it correctly – by heating the whole coop. The problem with using
just one heat lamp or only heating a section of the hen house is that the birds
will only be warm when their under the lamp. Once they move to reach the food
or water they can become very cold, very quickly as they won’t have their
feathers fluffed up – it’s not good for them to go from one extreme temperature
to another. The alternative is that you leave your coop completely unheated,
birds will huddle together to keep themselves warm.
Keeping Floors Clean and
Dry
It’s vital that cleanliness
is still a priority in your chicken coop throughout winter, it must be kept as
dry as possible; their droppings can create a lot of moisture so regularly
shovelling out in your coop is essential. Make sure you have a good supply of
shavings to lay on the floor to keep it nice and dry.
The ground where your
chickens can roam around outside needs to be well maintained too, the cold
weather won’t bother them too much but they don’t like walking in snow! Try to
create a snow free space for them outside by clearing some of it away, if this
isn’t possible then lay some logs down and they will use those to avoid the
cold ground. Adding a layer of hay over the snow can also help cheer your birds
up.
Lighting Your Coop
Chickens love sunlight and
during the cold months it’s not unusual for you to see a significant drop in
egg production, you can try to counter this by using light bulbs. Chickens
needs fourteen hours of sunlight per day for optimal egg laying conditions so
many people choose to use a light on a timer. This should be turned on in the
early morning but it shouldn’t be used through the night, make sure it’s turned
off before nightfall, this gives your chickens chance to naturally acclimatise
to the evening light and settle into their roosts before dark.
Food and Water Needs
Your chickens, just like any
other animal, need a constant supply of fresh water at their disposal, this
means you need to find a way of combatting freezing water in your coop. You can
do this by placing your water containers directly on top of a base heater or
you could invest in a heated water dish.
Your chickens will use extra
calories keeping warm in the colder months so upping their food intake slightly
will help keep them at a healthy weight. It can get a little boring for your
birds with less room to roam so hide treats or hang veggies such as cabbages
from the coop for them to peck at.
Although your chickens do
need to be protected during the winter months it’s still important to give them
their freedom, they’re tougher than people think - let them out regularly to
roam around, if they don’t want to be outside they’ll soon head back into the
coop on their own accord.