Topic of the Week - Preparing for Cold Weather

[BYC Project Manager]

Fall is a transition time before winter, so it’s a great time to start preparing for cold weather. This week, let’s share tips on getting the flock ready for winter. For example:

• What steps do you take in the fall to prepare your chickens and coop for winter’s cold?
• Do you use heat sources, like heat lamps or radiant heaters, during the fall to prepare them for colder temperatures?
• How do you manage water to prevent freezing in early cold snaps?
• What are your thoughts on increasing feed or using supplements to prepare for the cold?

Anything else you'd like to add?

For a complete list of our Topic of the Week threads, see here: https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/topic-of-the-week-thread-archive

 

[DobieLover]

What steps do you take in the fall to prepare your chickens and coop for winter’s cold?

This year I'm going to add a good dusting of the coop before closing then washing the windows around the roost area.

I always add another full bag of large flake pine shavings to the coop to fluff up what's broken down since May when the coop was last cleaned out.

Do you use heat sources, like heat lamps or radiant heaters, during the fall to prepare them for colder temperatures?

No heat sources for my area are needed. But I do have over 16 sq ft of permanently open ventilation in the coop so I never have a build up of moisture in there.

This image was captured on a cold January morning when it was just over 0F.

However, on really cold nights (single digits or lower), I admit to turning on the seedling heat mats that line the floor of my nest boxes and stuffing my older hens in the boxes. No one is laying during the winter any more and I clean the poop boards every morning so it's not a big deal to clean out the nest boxes for any of the hens that don't hold it overnight. A lot of them will.

How do you manage water to prevent freezing in early cold snaps?

I use a heated water fount by K&H. It works great. If it goes sub-zero at night, there will be a thin crust of ice over the surface of the water but it is easily broken by the chickens.

It is kept up on an old chimney block infilled with pea stone that does a decent job of heat retention at night but was elevated primarily to minimize or prevent wattles from dipping into the water.

What are your thoughts on increasing feed or using supplements to prepare for the cold?

On very cold mornings I will add electrolytes to their fermented feed and pop it in the microwave to warm it a bit. Not so warm that it is steaming heavily when I take it out as the vapor can freeze on the birds faces and that rather defeats the purpose of a warm breakfast.
Their fermented mash is kept in a heated dog bowl that is only plugged in when it gets cold.

My main winterization chore is to close then wash the windows around the roost and get the reinforced custom poly tarps up on the run walls.

This is the rear tarp just snapped on. I go back and screw down a ripped deck board over all the vertical uprights to pin the tarps in place.

They are heading into their 5th year of service this winter and are still in good shape. A couple of torn off snaps at some corners and one spot a squirrel chewed up trying to regain access to the feed in the run where he was gorging himself while the chickens watched on and not doing anything to stop him. I locked up the run for a week and he finally got the message and moved on and hasn't been back.

 

[Sally PB]

I put air filter material over the openings in the coop. The openings still work for venting out warm moist air and ammonia, but block the wind from blowing on the chickens.

For the run, I have polycarbonate panels that I put on the west side of part of the run. The rest of the west side, the north side, and part of the south side are covered with clear shower curtains. To the east is the garage, which provides some protection. Prevailing wind is west or northwest but we can get some good southern wind which will blow some snow into the run. I put some "chicken high" wind blockers on the east side; straw bales work well for this.

I have one bowl of food in the coop, and two in the run. I have a heated dog water bowl for water in the run. All food and water is removed or securely covered at night to keep out mice. To avoid spills and higher humidity, I don't put water in the coop.

I leave the pop door and the people door open all day. At about 15-20 degrees, I close the people door. The chickens wander outside, eat, scratch, go back inside. Single digits, and I close the pop door too, and check on them several times a day. They have a bowl of food, and I also put in a bowl of snow. They'll nosh on the snow when they're thirsty.

This has worked well for me for four winters.

 

[Mamilo]

Their fermented mash is kept in a heated dog bowl that is only plugged in when it gets cold.

I like the idea of feeding warm mash in a heated dog bowl!

 

[Debbie292d]

As we head into another Wisconsin winter, we're doing nothing with the main coop as it's already set up, albeit plugging in the heater. That's a NewAir oil-filled thin radiant heater that's been going for eight years now. We have it at nearly its lowest setting, and it'll keep the coop to 40F until it gets sub-zero; then, we'll notch it up a bit. The floor is horse bedding pellets, and we do nothing until spring when we'll change those out.

The concerns are what we're doing with everyone else. We have a large breeding pen with a mini-coop in there. We'll put a cozy coop flat panel radiant heater below the nesting boxes. Those are adults, so they should be fine. This is our 2nd winter with this pen.




The parrot aviary, aka grow-out coop, also has a mini-coop/hutch inside that we've already put the cozy coop in for them, as it's already dipped in the mid-30s here at night. That's where eight 4-month-olds and three 3-month-olds, plus a 6-month-old rooster that just likes living there and refused to move to the main coop, all live. I don't know what's wrong with him, but they all get along, so it's fine.



Lastly, there's another grow-out pen where three 2-month-olds and a 4-month-old blind pullet have been living. They have a hutch, but that's not insulated or very winter-hardy. Today, I put the three 3-month-olds with them to try ease integrating them into the aviary, which went well. Then it might go better putting the youngest ones in the aviary as they'll have a few older friends. It's almost time to try getting those 4-month-olds to go to the main coop, anyway, so that'll make more room. That's just a chore we dislike doing. It takes minimally four days, sometimes five, to get them to learn to go to the main coop.

There's a 5-gallon nipple bucket in the main coop for water, and these two other pens each have a 2-gallon heated nipple bucket.

The main coop is a 5x12' portion of a 12x20' Amish shed. Hubby is working on the second Amish shed, which is the same size, but this one's all for chickens. It'll be mostly for breeding. We should be able to move some into there in about a month. That, too, will be heated to 40F during the winter months. We haven't decided on a heater yet.

This was the Amish moving it in, then its final resting spot. I'm pretty excited about it! When done, it'll have four 5x10' HWC pens, each coming from its own chicken door.

 

[My Very First 6 Chickens]

This will be our third winter with hens. first winter with a new hen house so every prep I do will be x2 this year.

Heated chicken waterers - check
bags of dried leaves - check
clear tarps for blocking wind - check
higher protein feed - check
wheatgrass seeds indoor sprout -check

Hens will get warmed up feed with water/electrolytes, scrambled egg or extra protein, oatmeal, on really cold days 10 degrees and less.

Good luck everyone!

 

[PrettyCoolChicks]

• What steps do you take in the fall to prepare your chickens and coop for winter’s cold?

I cleaned it out entirely and start a fresh deep bedding. I also replace the basic waterer with a heated one. The coop bedding goes into the run, to continue composting and cover up mud patches. I leave the window and door ajar instead of wide open, during the day and don't close the window at night.

• Do you use heat sources, like heat lamps or radiant heaters, during the fall to prepare them for colder temperatures?

Nothing, the coop is well insulated and just having the birds and composting of the bedding in there keeps is decently warm. Even with the window open and the door ajar, it won't freeze in the coop until it gets to -10C outside. At -10C, keeping the girls inside with the door closed is usually enough to keep the warmth up inside. I might try the air filter idea someone else mentioned if needed. No extra light either, as I want my girls to take a break from laying.

• How do you manage water to prevent freezing in early cold snaps?

I keep a kiddie pool that doesn't freeze most of the winter or is easy enough to break the surface of, and a heated waterer inside. The indoor waterer caused some humidity issues last year, as I have ducks using it too and they are messy. This year, I put a plastic tote below and drilled holes in the cover, so spilled water will drain in the tote instead of soaking into the bedding. It seems to work so far, just need to empty the tote weekly. Downside is the drilled holes might freeze shut in a cold spell, a week or two total at worst when it gets down to -20C.

• What are your thoughts on increasing feed or using supplements to prepare for the cold?

I give a bit more treats like corn on really cold days before putting the girls to bed, but that's only if temps go below -10C. I'll also give them warm mash of their normal food to warm them up a bit in the morning.

 

[BDutch]

• What steps do you take in the fall to prepare your chickens and coop for winter’s cold?

Close the fresh northern wind opening.
Add a window to the east side to cover more of the hwc.
Buy straw in case the temp gets below zero during the day (to cover the sand floor).

• Do you use heat sources, like heat lamps or radiant heaters, during the fall to prepare them for colder temperatures?

Only a water heater if it gets so cold that the water freezes.

• How do you manage water to prevent freezing in early cold snaps?

I run an electric cord to the coop and put a heat cable in the water. The climate in the Netherlands is mild thanks to the warm gulf stream. Most years I have to do this for 1 week, maybe 2.

• What are your thoughts on increasing feed or using supplements to prepare for the cold?

I give /mix chick feed because the chickens barely lay in winter. And I give extra mealworms bc there are not much insects to catch.

 

[WaterfowlsPoultry]

Incase it gets TOO cold, I usually set up heating pads, 8 to be precise.
its not that efficent but the chickens use it once they get too chilly.
Luckily it doesn't get too cold over here, Lowest is 34, But the chickens do get cold.

 

[orelsi]

My coop is an old brick garage. I use a space heater (no exposed parts) in the winter to keep it several degrees above freezig. During the coldest days/nights it runs 24h. Water doesn't freeze that way. The girls are very happy. They often gather around the heater for warmth. I usually let them out 2 or 3 times a day for half an hour to get some fresh air... when they go back inside they run straigh to the heater even if it's not plugged in, it's quite funny.

Other than that I do a once over to plug any holes and insulate the area. I clean the place as best I can before winter. I put vitamins in their water more often... maybe once a week.

That's it.