WINTER

[xLennyx]

This is my hen's first winter! I am a bit nervous about them. I have a coop for the 6 of them, but it is under shade from my house. I cannot move the coop and it seems a bit cooler in the shade. It is getting pretty cold, I don't think I could put a heater lamp inside because that would be an extreme fire hazard, I considered putting it outside during the morning. The main question is, is should I keep them inside? I have been keeping them in for at least 3 weeks, and read they could get ammonia from staying in, but wouldn't it be way too cold outside? I just fear they will die and I don't want that..

* I feed them plenty and also give them a lot of corn to keep them warm at night with all the digestion and give them very warm water. Should I be cleaning them regularly? I heard that it keeps them warm if you don't, but I don't want them to suffocate inside there...

I would greatly appreciate some tips and help!
Thank you very much..

 

[Kaitie09]

You should always give them access to the outside. They'll decide if it is too cold or not. Think about the fact that they are wearing down coats 24/7.

Where are you located? Unless you live in Alaska or Canada, you pretty much do not have to do much for them. When I know its going to get really cold (10 degrees or below) I will throw in some more straw for bedding just to give it a little more insulation.

 

[xLennyx]

I live far up north of NH...Okay..so I don't need to worry about heating lamps at all? Would they get frost bite at all? Would you regularly clean at all, do you think that even matter? Thank you so much for this..It really helped!

 

[Kaitie09]

I do not clean their coop during the colder months, I just rake it around and add another layer of straw. This it is considered the deep litter method. I clean it all out in the spring. You really only have to worry about frostbite on the combs of rooster or hens with very large combs (like Leghons). To prevent it, you just rub some petroleum jelly on the combs at night.

Right now, I only have a heat lamp on my 7 week old chicks that is pushed off to the far corner of their coop. I check on them at night and they are still snuggling underneath of it, so I'm assuming they do need it still. However, I am only using shavings in their coop. The full grown hens all snuggle up together on their roost to stay warm.