Chickens in a Florida winter...what to do?

[xheatherrr3]

Thank you all so much, these replies really help and I'll keep them all in mind.

 

[welasharon]

I am in North Florida and have mine in open air pens so this is something I wondered about too. I just got chickens in July in time for the heat. Mine are covered on the top and have one mostly solid wall and I have one of their roosting areas in front of the wall. I think I will put plastic around part of the pen. Mine is open sided and I was wondering if I should "make" a coop with plastic around the hardware cloth walls near their roost as a wind break maybe?
sharon

 

[A.T. Hagan]

Give them a place to roost that is dry and out of the direct wind. That and access to free-choice feed and water and they'll be fine. My tractors are open all the way around the bottom for maximum ventilation but covered on top to keep the rain off. When they go to roost they are above the open portion so mostly out of the wind. They do fine.

 

[sourland]

Provide a dry, draft free, well ventilated coop and everything will be fine. The same advice will be appropriate anywhere in the world.

 

[flgardengirl]

I am in NE FL. Last winter we got down into the teens. I had stuff in the greenhouse (tropical stuff) that froze even with the propane heater on. I have my chickens in wood coop with roofs and floors and huge windows with hardware cloth over them. There is good ventilation up towards the roofs. If it gets too cold I was thinking about making some plywood shutter for the large windows. I am not too worried about most of the chickens but am a little worried about the silkies because this will be my first winter with that breed and I hear they are more fragile...

 

[welasharon]

I hope we don't have another winter like last for a very long time. I thought I was going to freeze to death. It was awful! Okay Floridian whine over...
I will use plastic or tarps to cut the wind then. I have gotten some hay bales in there for them too.
sharon

 

[OurFirstLadies]

This is my first winter with chickens in the Tampa area. I have small windows on the north and south sides for ventilation that I run a window fan for a crossbreeze through the summer. I planned on just shutting off the fan for the winter and letting them be. Their roosting bar is above the level of the window so it won't cause a draft directly on them. I figured of we had a below freezing evening here or there, I would just shutter their southern window as that is generally where the Gulf wind comes from. My question is whether Florida chickens who free range will produce eggs year round. I have high hopes! Also I wondered if any Florida folks have tried seeding an area with rye for the chickens to forage on during the winter months?

 

[SeanikkiFarm]

I have an enclosed coop and the only thing I do different is put a heat lamp on for any nights expecting <40degrees.

 

[Peeps61]

I live in the Pensacola area, and we get several nights below freezing here during the midst of winter. I have a small chicken tractor that has straw in it and a larger cooper that my husband and I will cover with a tarp to keep the wind off the girls during the cold nights. Thus far, they have all fared just fine with no problems. They are incredibly tough birds and don't require any supplemental heat unless it gets below zero, in my opinion. The coldest I can recall it getting here is about 5 degrees one very cold winter, and in 2013 when we had our freak ice storm here - the girls did not like walking around on the cold ice! Can't blame them - neither did I!

I'd just ensure that they are warm enough if you have a cold snap and have a way to give them adequate shelter for those admittedly few times it gets cold and nasty during the winter.

We often say that we live in Lower Alabama rather than Florida in the western panhandle region!

 

[lazy gardener]

Your birds will be fine with NO heat. Trust me.