Chickens During the Winter?

[Peep-Chicken]

When the weather get into the 20F, do chickens need anything to stay warm? Hay or heat lamps? Any help would be appreciated.

 

[gamebirdsonly]

I don't use heat on most of my birds except on my Modern game bantams. Last year here it got cold cold -10 to 20 below and the only birds I lost were a few bantams but all my bigger birds survived and they had no heat.

 

[Peep-Chicken]

Ok, thanks. This helped.

 

[AussieHens96]

We're in the middle of winter right now and our chickens, besides getting wet from the serious downpour and the frigid winds, they seem to be just fine.

 

[RedDrgn]

Depends on the breed, as there are some types that do not handle the cold very well. However, if you have winter-hardy breeds, 20F is no big deal so long as they have plenty of food, water (that isn't iced over) and some place to shelter from the wind if they want to. If they have a coop, make sure it's properly ventilated since excess humidity in freezing temperatures can lead to frostbite.

 

[JackE]

Check out the link below. It's a good book on keeping chickens in cold weather.
Jack

http://archive.org/stream/openairpoultryho00wood#page/n0/mode/2up