winter is coming!!!

[squirtnlex]

The cold weather is nearing, do I need to enclose (peeyew) my chicken house? I would send a picture, but I don't know how. The back half is enclosed with walls and a roof, the front is just chicken wire with a door. They (6 hens and 1 rooster) are enclosed every night as the run isn't predator proof. Will they freeze in the winter, do they need a heat lamp??
I am proud, we get 6 eggs a day, they are lovely!
Thanks,
C

 

[Cuban Longtails]

How cold does it get there?

 

[squirtnlex]

below zero in the winter.
thanks for responding, i got 76 views and 1 response.
i guess this isn't the place to ask for help, huh?

 

[TxChiknRanchers]

Check the thread about heat in coops that is on the recent post thing now.

What kind of heat is good for the coop? by McGoo [ New posts ] [ 1 2 3 4 ]

Sorry sometimes we take to much time playing around and not enough time watching out for important questions. Pose them in the form of one and maybe it will speed the response up

 

[MissPrissy]

Quote:
Your hen house shouldn't stink. If it stinks clean it out and put fresh out bedding materials. You can turn over the yucky dirt in the run and lay down a good mix of sand or in freezing winter a thick layer of old bales of hay. They can stratch through it and their feet won't suffer as much as they would being on frozen ground.

Quote:
They need a closed in house for winter especially at night. They need some straw or litter to snuggle into when the night temps fall below freexing. Chickens can produce up to 5BTU's of body heat when fed cracked corn in the winter. This helps to keep them warm and produced a warmer atmosphere in their house. I would not advise and open 3 sided run in below zero conditions. They could sufer fostbite and lose their combs, wattles, toes, feet or simply freeze to death.

You can make it out of wood, an old dog house, stacked bales of hay with a tarp - something to provide a good closed shelter.

Not to mention hungry animals in the dead of winter will forage for a quick and easy meal and you don't want your chickens to be their meal.

 

[ivan3]

Howdy.

If you haven't tried it yet, the search function here is very good. Lots of the information you're looking for has probably been the subject of rumination/reflection/controversy and blue-skying on multiple occasions. When answers are slow in coming that's the first place I head to.

 

[broncbuster07]

Might I also add that there are 40+/- pages of unanswered posts. Yours got a reply. Please don't take it personally when we are slow to respond, just get in our faces.

Be sure that your henhouse is not drafty. Also, you want their roosts to be made of wood, not metal as metal gets very cold. What kind of chickens are they? Some breeds handle the cold much better than others.

 

[TransplantedTexan]

Quote:
I had not thought of that and I have for roosts two sections Aluminum ladder up in the rafters of my coop. They roost on them. I got to get those outa there before it gets cold here.

 

[broncbuster07]

TT, just cover them in some fabric like an old rug or towel or carpet remnants.

 

[TransplantedTexan]

WIll do, good idea