This is our first year also but our situation is a bit different being in Michigan in the lake effect snow belt. We have over ten inches of snow on the ground and it has snowed every day for at least a week! Our girls don't approve of the snow but seem quite hardy. We leave a 40 watt light on in their sleeping area for only part of the night or all night if the temp is going down towards zero and a heat lamp in the pen when it's cold. We kept a big pile of leaves we raked under a tarp and I throw some on the snow or pull a rake through them to give them something to look through. We let them run our fenced yard as much as they want during the day as our cats are scared of them and so is our Jack Russell Terrier mix dog. We have no fulltime neighbors, just cottagers (we are in the boondocks!) Now at least the bears are asleep and their coop is very secure-so far no other critters looking around. For treats we use the cooked oatmeal(usually with some raisins in it), plain leftover spaghetti or macaroni(they go crazy for the pasta), plain cooked rice, also they LOVE cottage cheese for some reason. We also buy Cackleberry treats at the feed store. We give a bit of extra scratch/cracked corn before bed to help them keep warm. I wondered about leaving a light on every night for warmth but then I remembered my grandma always had chickens - before they had electricity on the farm. Those chickens just sat next to each other in the roost and kept each other warm. So far so good for us also, as long as they are out of the wind! They are fun anyway!
