Should I move my chickens inside or not for the winter?

Normally for the winter we put our chickens in a horse stall, but this year we have ducks that occupy their stall. We don't know what to do with the ducks and we've talked about leaving the chicken so outside. It can get pretty cold where we live and I'd be extremely worried if we left them outside.
I've read about how to make your coop ready for the winter and I could do all the things that they say to. But I don't know if it's right for us. We have cold hardy birds but have some bantams. They always have done well inside but I don't know how Thue would do outside. We get snowstorms quite regularly. I wouldn't want to put a headlamp in the coop for fear of it burning down. It has good ventilation so I wouldn't worry about that. Another thing is if we could run a power cord to the coop for the watered. Everything else I'm sure we could do, but we just can't decide on if we should move them in or leave them out. If we did move then in we wouldn't know what to do with the ducks. What do you guys think we should do?

Chickens need an appropriate coop, or place for the winter. It doesn't need to be fancy nor heated. It needs to block the winds and drafts, but be well ventilated. Chickens should have access to outside year round. They also need a place to roost at night. Where are they doing that now? Chickens can just wander loose in a barn. They don't need to be confined but they do need some protection from the elements as well as unfrozen water to drink.

Do they have a coop now? Does it block the wind and rain from all sides? Are there roosts? Is it big enough (4 sq. feet per bird minimum recommended for coop space) for them to all spend the winter in it if they choose not to go outside?

Knowing your location and seeing pics of your coop/run
(along with dimensions in feet by feet),
is the only way I would even begin to suggest what you could do.

They have all those things. They have an old playhouse with roosts and nesting boxes, they also have an outside run with some roosts. It is protected by wind and rain. We were wondering if we could put straw bales along the one side that is completely open to black the wind. Could we? The bedding is sand with paper shreds. Thanks for the suggestions. P.S. The temps can get below zero quite often here.

I use hay bale for them to sit on, for making a tunnel entrance to their pop hole and as wind blocks, just be careful stacking hay, make sure you tie them in if stacked in a single row so they don't topple over and squish any chickens. I also use hay on top of the snow for the birds to walk on and for them to forage through. I obviously can't keep chickens without hay bales.

animalwild said:

They have all those things. They have an old playhouse with roosts and nesting boxes, they also have an outside run with some roosts. It is protected by wind and rain. We were wondering if we could put straw bales along the one side that is completely open to black the wind. Could we? The bedding is sand with paper shreds. Thanks for the suggestions. P.S. The temps can get below zero quite often here.

Click to expand...

The best thing to use is Vapour barrier, clear plastic to block out wind....It works great...

Cheers!