Do I need a heater?

[TARDIS37379]

they'll be alright if theyer mature .. you'll need food and water in the coop if its snows them in lol .. if it was that bad i'd probably put them a heat lamp in there ..

He is in Dallas, Texas. Being snowed in past noon usually doesn’t happen

 

[Phantom_k9]

The advice I was given is to put on a down jacket, or a two warm jackets / pants, go out and sit in your coop for a while, and then go inside into the warm. Its easy for us to take off our warm cloths, but they can take off their feathers. With that, heaters can be dangerous, so keep that in mind. During winter, chickens don't need to be "comfortable" temperature wise like us.

However, if you are like me and don't feel comfortable with letting them freeze, then I guess you can give them a heater JUST TO CUT THE COLD, not to make it warm out there.

Btw, I am also from the DFW area, and we usually don't get too cold. Keep an eye on wind chill and precipitation, those two will hurt your flock more than the cold alone if anything.

 

[CheerioTheBuffRooster]

It depends on how the winters are where you live, but as long as their coop is dry and has plenty of ventilation, they should be fine. Chickens are naturally pretty cold hardy birds. Heavier breeds such as the Australorps and Orpingtons do well in the winter. Adding a heater to their coop can actually be dangerous. If you have a power outage in the winter and your heater stops working, your chickens will surely die because they are not used to the cold weather.
A good alternative to heating the coop is putting plastic sheeting on the sides of the run, so the sunlight will heat the coop but snow can't get in.
Hope this is helpful!