Think it's too cold for your chickens? Think again...

[Tazman99]

I do feel as if my Old English Game Bantams need a light, I have read that they are a heat loving breed, and are meant for warmer areas whereas I live in Montana, where they get good summers but bad winters, and I have to ask, is it better for me to use a 65 watt bulb or a 250 bulb? I have three of these OEGB, they live in a four foot long 3 foot high dog house, and I feel as if a 250 is way too much. Would a 65 watt floodlight bulb work?

 

[gmendoza]

Remember in the words of Farmer Gabe:

feathers protect from the weathers
fur protects from the burr
pine shavings upon a cold floor, will make your chickens shiver no more

Three things to keep you warm in winter:

1. Fat
2. Hair/feathers/fur
3. Warm running blood

 

[frostbite]

At 10 degrees above, mine prefer to be outside. The coop is a little smaller than 4x8, for five chickens. There is room to move around inside, the nest boxes are elevated, with running room underneath, the water and food are indoors and there's pretty good ventilation. At zero degrees, they like it inside better, it seems. There is a little heat from the heated waterer, and from a 100 watt incandescent light bulb that provides enough light time to keep them laying eggs. The coop has been running about 5 degrees warmer than the outside. But they do seem to like the dry dusty dirt under the coop! You can see them, in the lower right corner...

 

[Twister-n-Dos]

At 10 degrees above, mine prefer to be outside. The coop is a little smaller than 4x8, for five chickens. There is room to move around inside, the nest boxes are elevated, with running room underneath, the water and food are indoors and there's pretty good ventilation. At zero degrees, they like it inside better, it seems. There is a little heat from the heated waterer, and from a 100 watt incandescent light bulb that provides enough light time to keep them laying eggs. The coop has been running about 5 degrees warmer than the outside. But they do seem to like the dry dusty dirt under the coop! You can see them, in the lower right corner...

Love the pics with your birds out in the snow. There is no covered area in our run. I had to shovel snow out of the way for them to come out. Covered run area is now on the wish list. All four of ours were out at -5 this afternoon. Briefly.

 

[PAchickengirl]

First few days below freezing (low 30's to upper 20's) the hens hung out in the coop instead of the run. Now it doesn't seem to bother them at all. Not sure how they will be when it gets in the teens, but I think they'll adjust just fine.

 

[toofarout]

Twister-n-Dos, is that an arctic entry way for the chickens that I see?

Scratching in the run with a high of +5F today.

 

[krys2000]

Thanks for reprinting this. We live in CO and it gets really windy, in fact, it's not at all uncommon for our backyard to get hit with 45 mph gusts on a regular boring weather day. However, I do have a heat lamp in the coop which I mainly use for supplemental light on a timer. It worked fine for them last year, but are we babying them too much since it produces extra heat?

Thanks!!!

 

[Lifestudent]

Thank you posting this information. You answered a question my wife and I had. It seldom gets far below 0 degrees here, so our chickens should be fine. The only problem we've had so far is when we had rain all afternoon and into the night, then the temperature dropped below freezing so it was difficult to open the door in the morning. We use a steel shed for our chicken coop, so the doors slide and the door was frozen to the tracks.

 

[Phlimm]

And to think that I was going to ask if it might get too chilly for my girls this winter...here in...wait for it...Phoenix, AZ. Guess I'll shut up now.

 

[Twister-n-Dos]

Twister-n-Dos, is that an arctic entry way for the chickens that I see?

Yes it is. Just a couple of pallets leaned together with some scrap plywood attached.
Here is a view through it to the coop. Pretty rough, but it makes a noticeable difference.