Keeping my hens safe from the freezing cold?

[cbeth95]

Hi. I have 6 hens, three of them are under 6 months and the other three are 1 year or older. They have a pretty warm house it seems, but I'm wondering if theres another way that I can keep them extra warm during the winters cold weather. Besides using just hay. They stay in their house all day, and only come out to eat and peck around for 5-10min, then they go back in. Is there a way that I can insulate the outdoor pen with some sort of plastic? Maybe the stuff they use for greenhouses?

Thanks.

 

[Muscovies]

Yes you can do that just don't cover up all the sides of the pen leave one side open a little so air can come in and out.

Hope this help you
Merry Christmas

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

You can buy rolls of 6 mil plastic (I think this is the "thick" one) at Home Depot- clear plastic. Or you can use tarps.

I LOVE canvas tarps myself- because they don't shred like regular tarps. My chickens EAT regular tarps.

Sometimes I make a windbreak for them using a sawhorse and a big canvas tarp. They can get out of the rain too.

 

[cbeth95]

Quote:
Sounds good, thanks!

 

[KenLamWV]

I just created a BYC page of my winterizing my coop. Check it out for ideas.

 

[PepsNick]

Tarp works great. Also, if you have a hardware cloth run with wood, you could insert a heat lamp if it's really worth it.

 

[woodmort]

Just don't make it so airtight that there is no ventilation, if moisture builds up you're more likely to get frostbitten combs than if they are in dry cold. BTW, if they're happy they way they are now, why change?

 

[squiqwe]

i would only be cocerned about draft. They acclumate pretty well as long as it isn't drafty. I built my run out of privacy fence which cuts down the wind dramatically. Still I only let them out on days that the outside temp isn't to low.

 

[lisababes]

I built a wind break around the N and W sides of my run out of snow! I figured it was there, and free

seems to be working so far - they are hanging around out there down to 5*F.

 

[abhaya]

chickens do well with cold weather. Be carefull adding artificial heat if they go out or you loose power you will have big problems as when you add heat you take away their ability to adjust to the cold gradually. if the power goes out and it gets cold you can loose the entire flock