Quote: It is this week!
I'm in the Pacific NW, so I have it easy compared to most of you, but 8 degrees is still really cold when you're not acclimated to it, and the ground is frozen solid with an unmelting layer of ice from prior rains. I have three separate areas where I house my birds, and handle each differently.
My mixed chicken and heritage turkey group house has a cement floor with solid walls on 2 sides, and 2X4 welded wire on the other 2 sides. It also has electricity. The cement floor is covered with "foam tiles" (like they use in gym floors except slightly softer to decrease the joint trauma of young turkeys jumping down from 8 foot roosts onto cement), then a 4-6" layer of shavings. The covered roof and insulated/padded flooring keep the area warmer, despite the open walls. The birds are 6 months old and quite vigorous, so they're doing well. If I'm expecting winds I cover the wire sides with sheets to decrease drafts and wind chill, but otherwise it's left open. I have an electric heated waterer to prevent freezing, which has saved me soooo much work, although you do have to be careful with it because the base does not lock tightly onto the barrel -- I never carry it by the handle, and I always support the base until I set it down or it might come off. Some of the birds in this group roost on high perches, and the perches are made of 3-4" wide hardwood handrails (that are used for staircases). The perches are wide enough to keep their feet relatively flat (to prevent the toes from curling so much that they poke out of the feathers and freeze), but the egdes are rounded and more comfortable than 2X4s. (I found these at a salvage store and thought I'd hit the jackpot!) The perches are wrapped in foam pipe insulation, then that is tightly wrapped in vetwrap to give traction and prevent picking at the foam. That keeps their feet warm, and is soft and wide enough to prevent bumblefoot in the heavier birds. When it becomes soiled (or if they were to get mites), the wraps can be easily changed. Some of the birds prefer to roost on an elevated shelf (this area had previously been my potting porch, and one day they just took over the wire racks). For those birds I covered the shelf with a thick layer of cardboard covered by shavings. When it's really cold I slip a heat mat (used for germinating seeds), under the cardboard. The mat is designed to stay at 70 degrees, but in this cold it just keeps the cardboard and shavings from becoming frigid, which the "shelf birds" enjoy. They have a giant plastic tray with dirt and ash for dustbathing. Every morning I let them outside, and they spend most of the day walking on ice-covered grass pasture, but they don't seem to mind. When they get cold they come back into their pen to warm up their feet, then they're off again! I feed them Purina FlockRaiser, which is 20% protein, and when it's cold I cook them a huge pot of curried brown rice, with 1/4 - 1/2 broiler raiser food mixed in. It's not a huge portion of their total diet, but they love warm food when it's cold.
My second pen does not have electricity, so I have to take hot water out to the bowls several times daily. One of the bowls is a tip-proof metal dog bowl, which is like a round bowl set inside an angled round frame, but is a single piece of metal, similar to a 360 degree "M", if the central part of the "M" was rounded and the legs of the "M" angled outward at the bottom. I just discovered a way to keep that bowl from freezing for 6-8 hours. I put the bowl on a thin flake of straw (for ground insulation). Then I get about 10 rocks, about 2 inches across. Those fit nicely in the space between the bowl area and the frame area. If I boil those rocks for 15-30 minutes and then put them under the bowl, it stays warm for a long time. It would work just as well using a regular dog bowl surrounded by a wooden 2X4 frame, as long as the chickens couldn't step inside the frame and burn their feet on the hot rocks. The chickens in this pen are 18 months old and very cold tolerant, so they're doing well. They have the same insulated perches, and have a 10X12 foot building to live in that is elevated one foot off the ground, with a 3/4" plywood floor and 8" of shavings. The ceiling level windows are kept open slightly for ventilation. They spend about 1/2 their day outside in the pasture, and 1/2 inside deeping warm.
The third pen is the retirement area. The six birds are quite old and somewhat fragile, but are pets. They have a smaller house that is easier for their own body heat to keep warm, but they get a heat lamp aimed at the entryway on cold nights (it is near my bedroom window, the heat lamp is clipped in to prevent falling if the clamp gives out, and there is a smoke alarm in the run). The house has a dirt floor, but plastic directly on the dirt keeps it dry, and 12-14" of aspen shavings keep it very warm Droppings are removed daily to prevent cold moisture buildup. The perches are the same insulated variety, but some of the birds no longer perch, so ground warmth and soft bedding is very important. These birds also have an electric heated waterer, and get warm food whenever they seem cold. Their house is inside a welded wire run that has a permanent roof but removable walls for winter protection, and thick straw on the dirt floor. They are allowed out daily, and have a straw-covered area under a heat lamp near my front door that they tend to rest in when they get cold or tired. They also get medication for arthritis when it is cold, so they spend a decent amount of time foraging at their age, despite the low temperature.
Now to catch up with this thread. 
