Sponsored Post Win an Ecoglow 20 Chick Brooder from Brinsea with your best tip for winter!

[Bangarang64]

This is not a method to make your pet's home a sauna. It is a design to keep any critter from freezing in harsh conditions.

1. Get yourself a Work-Light or a Clamp-Light:


Here in the states, you can pick up the clamp light for about $6.50


2. The next item you need is a common Cement Block

Hopefully you have one laying around. If you don't, they really aren't very expensive.

4. Now you need to place the light inside the block.
If you are using the clamp-light, the metal reflective cover comes off easily before you have a bulb mounted,


5. Next, you need to utilize the Thermo-Cube:


It shuts off electricity to whatever is plugged into it when temperatures reach 45 degrees Fahrenheit. It comes on at 35 degrees.
Seriously, get one. They sell for under $15.

6. Plug your light into the Thermo-Cube, and plug the Thermo-Cube into your extension cord, and plug the extension cord into your nearest power outlet.

Edited for less words - (didn't see the 250 word limit)

 

[jdoane]

This is my first winter with our chickens. To make sure the ladies can get out of the coop we created a fitted snow cover to the section of the run closest to the coop. It's made of cordura waterproof fabric and zip tied tight. We'll also be putting down left over leaves from the fall clean up so they don't mind getting their tootsies in the snow.

 

[uchytil]

As the days get shorter I hang lamps with 60 watt broad spectrum bulbs on timers. I use them to simulate daylight during the longer light days. This way the hens will continue to lay and seem more content.

 

[JerseyHen]

I prepare the flock for winter by leaving the ventilation on the coop all the way open through the fall so they adjust to the cold gradually. We do not heat, we do not insulate, we do not close off the coop. I double the depth of the bedding inside. The one year we did closed down the ventilation we got condensation and several birds got frostbite. Since increasing the ventilation we do not have problems with condensation or frostbite. We are very careful to be sure that there are no drafts though and we do close the ventilation if there is a particularly bad storm or extremely low temps predicted (under 20 degrees or so). That ventilation gets opened back up as soon as the weather passes though.

 

[TheWineMaker]

My roosts are wood so I cut a slot in the bottom of them deep enough to insert a auto regulating heat tape in them.(could put in pvc pipe also) Its a direct contact heat thru there feet and a radiant heat up thru their bodys. Oh so warm =)

 

[tammyfarms]

In the NC Sandhills, it rarely snows or bets below 25 degrees so cold temps are not that much of a problem. I carry hot water to them in the morning and keep their waterer in a sunny area. I also gather leaves in the fall for the run later in the year, I put out straw and sprinkle Rocking Rooster Scratch on it. The Rocking Rooster Scratch has a bit higher protein level so they get a carb and protein boost while amusing themselves. The leaves and straw eventually compost and are taken to the garden.

This year, I am putting up a 8x12 covered area in the run which is up against the coop. It will give them a place to hang out if it is raining or if we get snow.

I also make sure to keep an eye out for mouse signs and trap them if they become a problem. Mice like a warm place with feed and water but they carry disease so they must go. Unfortunately, my old cat doesn't kill as many as she used to.

 

[Back2DFarm]

I live in Manitoba where it gets to -40 degrees. I keep my chickens in an old barn, I have one pen of the barn lined with styrofoam insulation to eliminated drafts. I have electric waterers to keep the water from freezing and provide them with lots of fluffy straw that they can nestle into when it gets cold.

 

[KayTee]

I've just invested in a ChickenGuard automatic door opener - the girls will get shut in at dusk and let out at dawn no matter how long (or short) the day is! I also won't have to trek out in the frost or snow to open the coop every morning (although I know that I'll still go down anyway, just to say hello and check that everyone's ok!)

 

[OHhappychicks]

Our coop has windows on the south side that allows solar heat in the daytime. We are going to experiment with milk jugs filled with water and painted black to hang in the windows, to absorb heat from the sun and hopefully give off a little heat for night time. We are also constructing a hoop coop. We are going to use the jugs in there also and line part of the floor with brick to absorb and keep some heat.

 

[Chickencame1st]

My run and coop partition is on the north side of a large 10 x 16 storage building. The 1 thing I am going to do is cover the southern exposure end(1/3) of the building with 2 mil black plastic sheeting to help generate passive solar heat-(building up heat and absorbing the warmth into the actual structure of the building itself) and eliminating all ventilation on that side of the building--retaining strategic ventilation on the north side to ensure a "warmer air flow" towards the chickens 1/3 of the building. There are other common best practices I will use--but as a simple DIY idea--there you go! Temp can easily be managed by the ventilation. Winter in north central NC can be all over the weather map. Of course I am now the best customer at our local Habitat Restore--found GREAT plastic sheeting there already. Go for it!