Chickens in winter

[Windus]

The birds have direct access to this?
Scary...and unnecessary(for the birds anyway)

Guess we will have to agree to disagree there.

 

[Old Philosopher]

The first 10 years here in Montana our Golden Sexlinks (brought with us in the move) lived in an old potting shed with a pedestrian door on each end. 1/2" paneling and a plastic roof. It got down to -35F a few times, and never lost a bird.
Now they live in my Chicken Hilton, the build for which I posted elsewhere on this forum. It's 16' x 16', double walled, insulated including storm windows in the winter. Still no heat in the winter, but the water only freezes if it get's down around +25F. When freezing is possible, I use a 1 1/2 gal rubber feed dish. It stays flexible to -50F so I can just knock the ice out and refill it when needed.
I'm posting a couple pictures so you can see what our winters are like. My flock now is mixed Australorps and Amarucanas.
When the days get shorter than 14 hrs, I have a coop light to adjust the time they have light. They lay all winter long, which is a good thing since our winters are about 5 months long.

I shovel a path to their loafing shed where they can get the scratch I give them. The shed also provides shade during our summers which can get over 100F some days.

 

[jsr5]

Guess we will have to agree to disagree there.

Had to agree to disagree with my wife too. especially after her "Rowdy" baby (the RIR Rooster) got his comb frost bit. if it gets into the teens she has to go turn on the space heater for em. My coop build was based off the remains of an old coop on the farm I was raised on. if anything after reading this it is too tight and too well insulated already.