How to keep chickens warm during winter?

[Sarah54341]

This has probably been asked before and I'm not even sure its in the right category.
I'm worried about keeping my two chooks warm outside the coop during bad weather, they will have a brand new coop by winter that will keep them nice and toasty but they don't like to stay indoors the whole day. Today its been cold and rainy yet they refuse to stay in the coop, I suppose they like to be in open air or something.
They have the whole backyard to wander around and usually when its rainy they huddle under they shade near the house. They don't seem to mind, but I don't want them to get sick, is there something I can build or some special way to help them stay a little bit warmer while outside?
We don't get snow here but it's always cold, windy and rainy during winter.

 

[Fred's Hens]

Since you don't say where you are, and you don't get a lot of snow, "cold" is a relative term. To me, where we live, cold means minus 10F or minus 20F and get a lot of snow. We have those temperatures every winter. We have never provided a heating device and our family have been keeping chickens in this state for almost 150 years.

If you are getting rain and not a lot of snow, your temperatures are in the 30's and above. A chicken need to be sheltered from the wind. Wind can blow cold over their skin, and blow cold under their down and feather coats. If you provide them a dry, sheltered place? The chickens will be just fine, as they have been for thousands of years.

 

[Ole rooster]

You say they don't like to stay inside during the day. Most likely you would find they don't like a lot more things you make them do if they had a choice. Give them a way outside and let them make a choice. You will have a lot happier chickens, and warm to boot. Just let um be chickens.

 

[Egghead_Jr]

Ours hang out under the deck when it rains. With high artic winds they huddle against the back wall of run (under the coop) that we put a tarp over. They really don't need additional heat, good ventilation and shelter is all. We've had -15F here already and they're fine, no frost bite combs.

 

[Imma Tweety]

I LOVE CHICKENS

 

[sn0wwhite]

I'm in Minnesota and it got down to 8F the other night. The chickens aren't behaving a bit differently than when it was 70F except they seem hungrier.

 

[Hokum Coco]

Chickens are not polar bears we have to keep in mind. Laying, vocal, and active birds in my opinion is a sign everything is right in their world. That being said when a chicken has 3 trips around the sun it is there as a pet not for egg production. If your birds or animals are showing signs of stress you have to do what is right in your situation. The one size fits all is a recipe for disaster.

Take inventory on your animals daily and make daily decisions is what I do summer and winter. A heat lamp and TLC can happen not only in winter and not always due to cold.

In Canada I am subject to -40º cold snaps. I do NOT heat or give extra light in my coop. Murphy's law says my birds will find out what -40 is all about when my hydro goes out. Regardless what you decide feed Extra Corn over the winter you will not be sorry.

Or something like this may help also; You could even knit a hoodie for those extra cold days..

 

[chicknmania]

I went to the feed mill today in search of food that might provide extra warmth. Corn does, and they eat a lot of corn in winter, but our flock tends to not want to eat much when it's bitter cold...single digits to sub zero, it was minus twelve this morning here when I got up. they just hang out and seem to try to be conserving energy, or don't want to move and get all cold again.... I found though that mealworms have 40 % fat! (I got the freeze dried kind). So I got them mealworms, sunflower seeds, and garden treat poultry treat that has a lot of stuff in it including raisins and dried veggies and millet. Mixed it all together and they did like it. Also got them a flock block for them to pick at when there's nothing to do, it's got calories in it too.

 

[enjoyin' my chickens]

I have read a few responses to this type of question. A lot of them vary between heating lamps and that the chickens have the "down" fluff under their feathers that acts as an insulator for them. I have seen many of pictures of chickens walking around in the snow without any type of warming element on here. I am in South East Ga. and we have been having 70's- 80's for the better part of the winter so I have not personally experienced the harsh winter cold. I hope that this helps you in some way.

 

[Mattemma]

Any area to get out of rain or wind.

In my backyard during the summer months I leaned 2 landscape timbers onto the fencing. I ran a roll of reed fence timber to timber.Then covered with a tarp. Put a nest box,food ,and water in there.If it rained they went into the lean-to. Now I moved the same thing to the side of their coop so they have a place to hang out of the snow,wind,rain.

Any type of cover.Some straw bales to create some walls,and a top over that.Just secure it well.Darn winds tear off my covers all the time.