I am a newbie to chicken raising since april 2016. What I journey! I am a little nervous about keeping them alive through the winter frankly! Thanks for being here for us newbies. And I hope my 2 australorps, 2 barred rocks, 2 easter eggers, 1 red, 1 silver laced wyandotte and 2 afterthought silkies survive the winter....... Jackie
Hello from Kansas, Jackie, and . Great to have you with us. Lots of folks stress the winter but it's actually summer that's tougher on chickens than winter - even a Minnesota winter. Take it from a Kansas guy who saw the temp get to 94 today! Wouldn't mind a little winter right about now. You'll have to find a way to keep their water thawed but other than that, a draft free (but still ventilated) coop - even unheated is all they need. I have an uninsulated tin coop and, while I know KS isn't MN when Old Man Winter comes knocking, we still touch -10 on occasion - and that's without wind chill. Chickens are little furnaces that put out a surprising amount of body heat and with enough of them like you have, the coop stays, if not toasty, at least livable. Now all that's not to say a little winterizing isn't good thing. Here's a couple primo links https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/winter-chicken-keeping and https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/winter-coop-temperatures That's all I got! Enjoy your flock....have fun on BYC...and send some cool air south to me!
Nice to meet you Jackie. Welcome to the Backyard Chickens thread. If you put your state name in the search box, it will come up and you can post and ask others how they prepare for the winter. Red Soxs has given you good info. I am just wondering how the silkies fit in with your other breeds. Do they accept or bully them? Silkies and Polish tend to be picked on because they look so different from other chickens. Generally silkies like to pile up in the corner of a coop and keep each other warm. They can jump high but, don't really fly, so may not roost. Two silkies aren't much of a pile.
