Wintering the Girls

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Terri C

Terri C

Chirping
Jul 7, 2015
30
3
59
Redmond, Oregon
It's starting to get into the 20's here at night. My husband put up siding on the front of out "chicken house". It's an open 3 stall attached to our garage. He made one side solid, and the othe with a door. The door has a hinged opening we can open or close. The big draw back is it cut out A LOT of light. The girls will go outside through the little hinged door, but I have to open the full door so they will go in. Their egg production is off, probably because of the stress due to change, or the immediate lack of light!??? The big question is should I put a heat lamp in there to 1. Give them warmth at night, and 2. Increase light so they will start laying again? Two of my 6 stopped laying when we put up the door.
 
Terri C said:
It's starting to get into the 20's here at night. The big question is should I put a heat lamp in there to 1. Give them warmth at night. I say NO. 2. Increase light so they will start laying again? That is a judgement call.
Click to expand...







I am subject to -40º weather l live in Canada think North Pole. I have 65 trips around the sun and have been keeping chickens and birds for decades.

Your best practice I find is to not be too concerned about winterizing or heating your coop to help your birds combat the cold.

Predator proofing "ABSOLUTELY".

Your efforts should be spent in winterizing your birds and letting them acclimatize to their surroundings.
This is done by feeding them whole corn if available or cracked corn as an added supplement in a separate feeder.

The extra protein is more the adequate to bring them through the
"COLDEST" winter.

Do keep an eye open for birds that maybe not be adapting well to the new menu and may be at the lower end of the pecking order they can sometimes run into problems and may need extra TLC.

That being said in a perfect world the flock will flourish and do just fine .

I do not add any extra heat or lighting.
Egg production does slack off but I have more than enough eggs for the table all winter long (24 hens).

Some people may disagree with my method but it has worked well for me and I am not about to change.

I look at it in the same light as winterizing your car.

You really do

"NOT"


have to winterize your car if you can keep it in a controlled environment at all times otherwise you are in for

"MAJOR" problems.
 
Last edited:
Terri C said:
It's starting to get into the 20's here at night. My husband put up siding on the front of out "chicken house". It's an open 3 stall attached to our garage. He made one side solid, and the othe with a door. The door has a hinged opening we can open or close. The big draw back is it cut out A LOT of light. The girls will go outside through the little hinged door, but I have to open the full door so they will go in. Their egg production is off, probably because of the stress due to change, or the immediate lack of light!??? The big question is should I put a heat lamp in there to 1. Give them warmth at night, and 2. Increase light so they will start laying again? Two of my 6 stopped laying when we put up the door.
Click to expand...
...and it's probably shut off the ventilation too.

Don't need heat, ventilation is much more important...check out the article in my signature.

Can you post pics of your coop?
 
aart said:
...and it's probably shut off the ventilation too.

Don't need heat, ventilation is much more important...check out the article in my signature.
Click to expand...
X2. What is very important for winter is the humidity. You don't want a moisture buildup which can lead to frostbite. The other thing is, if you have extremely cold winters you might want to get chickens that are more winter harder. Some breeds are more able to withstand heat while others are great in the cold.
Often the breeds with the smaller combs are better in cold climates.
 
Here is the outside of the building
400
 
400
The inside has hay bales around the outside for insulation. The roof is raised with open rafters and open to the rest of the garage, so it has good ventilation.
 
Last edited:
Terri C said:
The inside has hay bales around the outside for insulation. The roof is raised with open rafters and open to the rest of the garage, so it has good ventilation.
Click to expand...


DO NOT put a heatlamp in there, with those hay bales. The chickens don't need it, and all you would be doing is setting up the potential for one heck of a fire.
 
It just started getting into 40's at night late Oct. My girls must be prissy because they dont want to even leave the coop since loosing feathers and the rain. They really seem unhappy.
 

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