Ok so I am asking all the questions I can for the winter xD What can I give my chickens in the winter to help warm them up some when its really cold? most of them are in 10x10x6 chainlink dog kennels and so I was wondering if there are anything that they can eat to warm them up since I can't put in a heat lamp in the winter? I know cooked quick oats are good, but any other helpful suggestions would be great!
We have a dog bowl heater under the waterer; keeps it from getting frozen. We don't usually heat the coop, but it's full of insulation and their body heat keeps it nice and toasty. They have pretty high body temps! If it gets below 0 we put a heat lamp in, but they're usually fine. Chickens, particularly heritage breeds, are hardy little things. They should be fine.
If you can keep your hens out of the wind, and have enough to heat your coop, they can take surprising cold weather. If your weather varies greatly like mine does, we can be 50 degrees at noon for several days, and then dip to 10 - 20 below! When it is very very cold, feed MORE! Food digestion makes heat in the body, send them to bed with a full crop. Mine are particularly fond of oatmeal, cooked and warm, corn meal mush, served warm, but they really love cornbread and scratch. MrsK
