Put a 25 watts bulb closed to the floor and keep it on. They will hang under it and will stay warm. Watch water, it may freeze. U may opt to put water on top of those small candle/popurri /coffee heaters.
A few years back, when I first got our chickens, Everythingworried me.. cołd… bullying… enough water…enough food… I worried about everything…These wonderful creaturs taught me these chickens are extremely resilient liking with stand the cold they can withstand the heat their survivors I have learned to relax, and not to worry about it in most climates. As long as you can keep the wind off of the chickens they’ll be fine as long as they have safe shelter.
It's my understanding that corn or scratch, right before bedtime will help them stay warm. I also notice that mine huddle when they're cold. They're all about a year old now and our winters rarely get below 30°F and when they do it's for short periods. I'm in Eastern NC. I worry about mine too so I do use clear plastic over the upper walls of my coop (it's made from chain link and hardware cloth so it's open) and the lowest 3 feet. I leave the center open- it's above their heads when they're walking around and below them when they're roosting. One wall is actually an adjacent wall of my greenhouse and another wall is their nesting boxes and a privacy fence panel that I brought in. So therefore, that chain link wall is covered by the fence panel and a wall of nesting boxes and there's no need for plastic. Basically, there are only two walls open to the elements and I cover the top and bottom of them like I described. There's also a full size door with a top screen that's covered in clear vinyl in the winter and their automatic door is at the bottom and is closed at night of course. The floor is sand, which is cooler in winter but hasn't been a problem yet. I don't use a water heater because their waterer is a 40gal barrel that won't freeze. I've read that unless temps are VERY low, they should be fine.
Any digestion will generate heat.
My girls get really excited for warm mash on a cold day. Plus, it's a good way to use up some of that powdery feed at the bottom of the bag.
Yes, I've been offering them warm oatmeal when the weather has gone down to the low 20s & I actually bought the heated water container before I even got them as babies.
