COLD WEATHER HOUSING, STOP SPOILING THEM!!!

Thank you for sharing. I have two coops and 8 birds. 2 choose to roost on top of their houses. For a while I was going in forcing them into one of the coops, but they always wouldn't stay. Sometimes one will go in the other coop that others are not in. The are still pretty protected under our deck. I will worry less and let them do their own thing from now on.

to know I am not alone in my philosophy on chickens.

I almost walked away in the first paragraph when it started talking about spoiling children. Old man yells at clouds territory, right there. But I pushed on, thinking it had so many high star reviews that there must be something of worth in there.

Alas, nothing but anecdotal "mine survive" stories. I'd rather there was something to back up these claims. What is "no ill effects"? Did they continue to lay? At what rate? Were they as active as usual? How was feed consumption? What peer reviewed research is out there, if any, on chicken preferences and production through a range of temperatures?

I learned from your article that I am definitely "spoiling" my 3 hens. I cut up fruit and veggies for them every a.m., give them a night time snack of mixed oats, mealworms and seeds before they bed down, and if it gets close to the 40's or below, I turn on a very low heat for them. They seem happy all the time and look forward to the schedule! Guess I feel guilty if it's cold outside and when I pet them their feathers are cold.....oh well, I enjoy them!

I agree about not spoiling our poultry or children!
I understand sometimes new people need to work their way through the process of these being tough animals, not weak little creatures in need of a sauna in the winter. However, the sleepless nights are wasted on these creatures that are oblivious to the fact that we think they cannot survive below forty degrees! Even my week - old chicks are often outside in the late-winter without a heat lamp.

I’ve known how versatile chickens are and explain to my boyfriend they can handle the cold. But reading this just put it all in perspective. Food and water is obviously the most important part. I can handle that .

I read recently the chickens don't need heat and do need more air flow (thanks BYC) and immediately removed my heatlamp plus the stuffing around the eaves. Then I read only only a couple of days ago that big breeders keep a constant temp with humidity between 60% and 70%!! Total contradictions.
My coop now has more airflow near the rafters (not so much drafts but I'm sure there's a few at the moment) no heat and is now between 23° and 33° depending on outside temps and my coop humidity is around 51% to 53%.
I sure don't feel so guilty and they're thriving. They're outside longer too.
Thank you for a great article and putting my mind totally at rest!

I’ve never understood the heating of coops etc. just because ya fragile humans can’t withstand something, doesn’t mean that other animals can’t.

Some of the information is good but the tone of this is very abrupt and opinionated. What is the relevance of so called spoiled children not doing homework? Are you implying that if chickens are 'spoiled' with added heat that they will decline in some way?

To say that cold doesn't bother chickens is just factually untrue. Obviously there is some limit of temperatures they can tolerate even with their feathers, although it is unlikely most chicken owners will ever experience those kinds of lows.

Also just because chickens can survive at low temperatures does not mean that they would not be more comfortable and happy at slightly warmer temperatures. The same way humans can survive mildly cold winters with no heat in their home but they would be a lot more comfortable with a little heating.
Now this is not to say that I am pro heating coops, but I take issue with the suggestion that chickens do not deserve anything beyond what is absolutely necessary and that trying to give them comfort is equal to 'spoiling' them.

It would be better to objectively explain to people that it is not necessary to heat coops in 99% of situations and give the reasons with your experience as an example. No need to insult people with different opinions.

I'm in Illinois. We get some nasty winter weather. I try to block the wind for chickens and give them somewhere safe to rest at night, but I am anti-heating the coop. To be honest we haven't even added a light source in the coop so there is not even heat coming from a bulb. The coop is relatively small, 4x8x4ft for 7 chickens. One 4x4ft wall is made of construction mesh. It faces north and there's a fence just 5ft in front of it, so there's little wind that comes through there. Wind here tends to come from the west or south, occasionally the east if the jet stream pushes up further north, but rarely does wind come from the north. My hens all roost about 2ft of the floor and they do just fine through the night so far. I may put plastic over the construction mesh wall in January/February if the weather gets to nasty, but I feel that keeping them out of the wind and dry is the most important.

Good article. These are chickens, not humans and they are resilient. Pampering can impair their ability to learn to adapt to a changing environment.

You made great points about why additional heating in coops is unnecessary. You clearly have lots of valuable experience and wisdom when it comes to chickens! Your opening is a bit off-putting, though, and that flavor of rhetoric can be off-putting to readers. Hopefully, they get past it because your info is great!

This article could have gone a little deeper on how chickens handle the cold and tips on keeping them warm, however their point is true, chickens do not need to be babied with heat in the winter. If given a good coop with proper ventilation, chickens can tolerate and survive temps well below zero.

Interesting comparison to spoiling children (and I happen to agree with the "stop spoiling them" for both birds and kids

a great article, with wonderful facts, opinions, and views

Your spot on with your article. I grew up on the farm as a kid, back in the early 60's. We didn't heat anything but the house. We had engine heaters on 2 of our tractors and that was considered a luxury back then. If you didnt have one you built a charcoal fire and set it under the tractor and watched it till it got warm enough to start. Winters in MN were harsh back then

Good article.