how do i keep my chickens warm in the winter!??

[chixaregreat41]

My coop is not at my house but on a peice of propety i own and its hard to keep them warm i usually dont keep them through the winter but my chickens cost me 300 bucks to buy them and i dont want to get rid of them because i spent so much on them i dont have heat there and im just wondering how i can keep them warm during the winter?

 

[Cindy in PA]

Chickens do not need heat, just a ventilated, draft free coop. The most important thing is to keep the coop dry. Wet & cold makes frostbite.

 

[chixaregreat41]

Ok thanks

 

[Fred's Hens]

Have you thought about how you're going to keep the water thawed?

 

[chixaregreat41]

Ahhh i never even thought of it!!! What do you do?

 

[jpenfield]

I heard to put the water in a black rubber bowl to absorb the heat, but idk what im gonna do either... im going to put tarp around my whole coop since the run is attacked. I guess just change out water when it freezes?

 

[Fred's Hens]

Since you're just SE of the Soo, I'm gonna say you'll need electricity. We use a heated watering device. There are dozens of variations on the theme.

 

[chixaregreat41]

Thanks everyone i cant get electricity i tried

 

[jaj121159]

One thing you could try is using a battery powered aerator in a bucket waterer. Battery operated aerators are sold in sporting goods stores and bait shops. They are designed to keep air flowing through live wells or bait buckets to keep minnows alive. The aerators create a current in the bucket keeping the water from freezing. you would have to use a open waterer like a bowl or insert the aerator into a double walled waterer. Another thing that might work is to create a box of manure at least a foot deep or so and then put a layer of gravel on top of the manure. Manure creates heat as it composts. I've been reading a lot about using manure to heat cold frames for gardening, but I've never tried it. Another thing that comes to mind is using a clear plastic tote and putting it outside. Put it on the south side of your coop and use nipples for the chickens to drink from. Heat from the sun would melt water every day and should also keep the nipples thawed during the day. The tote would act like a greenhouse and should heat up inside. You can suspend the tote to expose the nipples by using heavy duty shelf brackets attached to the coop walls. You could even combine some of these ideas into one waterer. For instance you could have a box of manure on the ground and tall enough for a chicken to walk under the top of the box. Use on the south side of your coop. Put the tote on top of the manure leaving the nipples hanging over the edge. You could even put a battery operated aerator in the tote since nipples don't work on water pressure. You could also use old windows to make another box or into a cold frame and place the cold frame over the tote, that could increase the greenhouse effect.

You could even get a small gas operated generator to run a bird bath heater or something similar in a tote with nipples. I use the tote with nipple methond with aquarium or bird bath heaters in them, but I electricity in my barns.

Good luck and may your chickens have water during the U.P. winter.

 

[chixaregreat41]

Great!! Very helpful