by Kathy Shea Mormino, The Chicken Chick.
Chickens fare much better in cold temperatures than in hot temperatures due to their unique physiology and ability to regulate their body temperatures, but they still need our help to create the ideal environment in which to survive winter. Not all of them are common sense or intuitive, so let’s take a look at a list of things to avoid when keeping chickens in winter. Much more information on these topics can be found by clicking on the hyperlinks included throughout this article.
1. DON’T confuse your comfort level with the chickens’ comfort level. Chickens are anatomically very different from people and have unique attributes that allow them to regulate their body temperatures.
2. DON’T let them be without drinking water during the day by allowing water to freeze. Water is the essential nutrient in a chicken’s daily diet; it is required for regulating body temperature, digestion, growth and egg production. Frozen water is water deprivation. For an inexpensive DIY solution to frozen water, click here.
3. DON’T keep waterers inside the coop. Moisture is the winter enemy inside the chicken coop. Keep water in the run.
4. DON’T use heat lamps inside the coop. There is no way to use a heat lamp safely inside a chicken coop. Any chicken can fly into a heat lamp, catch its feathers on fire and incinerate the entire flock and coop. If you cannot be persuaded that chickens do not need supplemental heat inside a properly managed chicken coop in the winter, find a safe heat source such as a flat panel radiant heater that brings the temperatures up just a few degrees. There should not be an extreme difference in heat between outside temperatures and temperatures inside the coop.
5. DON’T use any heat source that relies upon electricity unless you have a generator to power it should there be a blackout. Chickens can and do die from sudden, extreme drops in temperature.
6. DON’T use the Deep Litter Method unless you have a clear understanding of what must be done to manage it properly. Deep litter is not a hands-off litter management system. It must be carefully monitored or it can create an unhealthy environment for the flock. Never start the deep litter system during winter. Never use diatomaceous earth in, on, around or with the deep litter method. Read why here.
7. DON’T allow drafts to blow on roosting chickens. Drafts deprive chickens of the heat they have generated to keep themselves warm.
8. DON’T seal up the chicken coop and make it air-tight in the winter. While drafts are bad, lots of ventilation for constant air exchange is absolutely necessary to a healthy winter coop environment. Moisture must be removed from the coop even if it means losing some heat. Yes, it is possible to have great ventilation, no drafts and a comfortable environment for the flock. For much more on drafts and ventilation, click here.
9. DON’T use bales of straw or hay inside the chicken coop for insulation. Mold and fungus can grow rapidly inside the bales, which can compromise the flock’s health.
10. DON’T believe that you have to “fatten up” your flock for winter. Our pet chickens are sufficiently spoiled with treats year round and many are already fatter than they should be going into winter. Suet or grease blocks should not be given to pet chickens. Plying them with high fat or high energy treats such as suet blocks and cracked corn does them no favors. Based upon my research, which was aided by laying hen veterinarian Dr. Mike Petrik, DVM, MSc, it is clear that pet chickens are dying at alarming rates from obesity-related complications. A little bit of scratch just prior to dusk is fine, more than that is unnecessary and hazardous to their health. Save the suet blocks for the wild birds who need it and save the pet chicken.
For an in-depth discussion of winter chicken care, please visit my blog, here.
59 Comments
I was wondering how late in the season you think it is ok to start a new chicken flock in upstate new York. We are talking in st Lawrence county. My wife’s flock got attacked last night. She lost 6 out of ten chickens. We were wondering if it was to late to order new chickens. We have about maybe 3 more months of good weather before it starts getting cold here. Thank you for your time.
Thanks for taking the time to teach us chicken dummy’s
How i try to keep chihken in cood weather
Hi I’m new at this just got my baby chicks. Getting a hen houses kit from tractor supply. We had a mild winter but I was wondering should I have the hem noise built under my deck? It will provide some shielding in the winter.
[…] 10 Winter Chicken Care Mistakes to Avoid […]
Just a follow up. Wondering if you adjust any of your statements?
hello, nice to meet yo, i am new to the chicken world ,( because of my beautiful granddaughter who loves these birds,lol) i live in windsor, canada, across the detroit river from detroit , so the winters here vary, but do have their cold spells. i am building the Hyatt Regency of chicken coops,lol, thats just me, it has to be the best. but i am going back and forth with the problem of should i insulate the coop or not, anxious to finish this project, your input would be greatly appreciated, thank you
Liked and commented (oursafehaven)
Good luck in the giveaway, Stacy!
THANKS FOR ALL OF THE TIME AND EFFORT, KATHY you put into this blog. I love to check different sources
for info and for most of us who love our girls as pets and not think of them as just farm animals, we want to take extra care and maybe even spoil them a little. That’s why I like
to check on your blog for advice. You have a very caring heart and I appreciate you…
Have a Happy Thanksgiving and don’t be discouraged by others comments. You are a gem in my book.
Thank you, hp chick. 😉
I’ve been keeping a small flock of chickens in Northern New York State for over 30 years and swear by deep litter. I use at least 18″ of dry hardwood leaves each fall (we have an ample supply). I put it on top of at least 2 inches of remaining litter and don’t do a thing to it until the tomatoes need mulching in early summer. By that time the leaves have broken down to the consistency of dry sawdust. There is no smell. I also use an immersion water heater in a rubber bucket in the coop.
we have four young hens and my husband cleans the sleeping area and nest boxes daily. we use pine chips for the girls. we put straw in the yard for the girls, esp after a rain. all the cleanup goes into our compost, which will eventually go into the garden. WOW, what a recycle effect.
I agree with the 70 yearr old farmer..people want chickens and then find out they do need care..all this stuff about city chickens is nuts, I figured they would get tired of them and dump them.
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I “liked” on FB,. but it won’t let me leave a comment.
Great place to get great info on keeping chickens and keeping them healthy. Glqad I found you.
Thank you again! There were at least 3 things in here I may have done. Very informative but simple. Thanks!!!
Sarah.halsey.pta@gmail.com
I was a little bit put off by all of the negative comments on here today. Yes, there are different ways of doing things in farming for sure, and yes old timey ways can sometimes be the simplest if not the best, but I think this blogger is trying to help newbies make good healthy choices for their small flocks. There is nothing wrong with her advice… as always one should find many answers on the web and then make the best decision based on their own instincts. Slamming someone who is trying to help and is not offering harmful advice is just plain rude. She didn’t say she was the authority, she was just giving friendly advice on her own time based off her own experience. We should be thankful not hurtful. Not everyone has all of the answers all of the time, and she certainly wasn’t WRONG, only maybe offered different advice that you would have. Maybe you could make your own blog about the subject, and others with questions can read yours and then decide which information makes the most sense for them to try first.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
Thanks for helping me keep my chickens happy and healthy!
The ladies love your blog, and would love to win 50 pounds of food! Got a 3 3/4 ounce egg today from my Americauna, Dusty! My BF asked when we started with the ostriches!
Would love to enter!!
sarahannecloud9 at yahoo.com
Please follow the entry instructions, Sarah and you’ll be entered. Good luck!
i’m fine with our hens not having a heat lamp, but hubby, (city fella) gets nervous if the coop is below freezing. the coop is large for the few hens we have (a converted shed), so they would not be able generate as much heat as a larger brood.
lots of good info here! I’m a community chickens reader!
Always love to read your advice on keeping a healthy flock, thanks so much.
Thank you!
I’m a Community Chickens reader. I love all the great information. 50 pounds of feed would be fantastic, as we have 43 chickens and they’re eating us out of house and coop! Thank you!
anewrue@yahoo.com
Thanks Tracy and good luck!
Liked all around. My girls do well without heat, and they stay free range except during planting & harvest – they accidentally completely harvested the neighbor’s garden once.
Thanks April. I’m sure your neighbor was less than pleased with the “help” during harvest time! 🙂
Winter temps here go down to -30 and there is no heat in the coop except that generated by the chickens, which is enough to keep it above freezing. Their water is inside the coop along with their food. Chickens will take care of themselves quite well if properly housed and visited twice a day. Good food and a little attention work wonders!
I’m a Community Chickens reader…and love it!
Great advice. Thank you for the reminders! I love reading Community Chickens and anything from The Chicken Chick!
I can’t keep from worrying about the chickens when it get down really cold. The only time i ever noticed them acting cold was when the temps were down below zero and then it was the small game type hens and bantams that were huddling on their feet with fluffed feathers.
So straw is bad for the deep liter? I did not know this. Thank you for the article.
Q: “So straw is bad for the deep liter? I did not know this. Thank you for the article.”
You misunderstood what I said about straw. Straw is NOT bad to use with the deep litter system, what I wrote was that straw isstraw is bad to use INSIDE the chicken coop in the winter as insulation due to its propensity to harbor mold and fungus when wet. I wrote an in-depth article about the deep litter method, which I provided the link to in this article, which you should read regarding how to execute it properly. I hope that clears it up for you.
Thanks for your comment!
Good stuff to know for a new chicken farmer.
Thanks for the advice
Thanks for the great advice – I always get so nervous in the winter
Happy to help, Nicole. They’ll do fine in the winter with a little bit of coop tweaking.
Always the best articles. I just started with chickens and have learned so much from your blog!!! I definitely “like” you on facebook!
Thanks Cami!
I’m in South Fla- no heat problem!
Lucky you! 🙂
to anyone who cares to answer, at what temp would you start to heat the coop? i am in eastern Ontario, Canada and the temp in the barn can get down to 14f (-10c) or colder. i have never been able to measure the temp in the coop (converted from a horse stall in the barn), but the water has started freezing when it is 26f (-3c) in the barn portion, so im thinking that there is not much dif. there are no drafts as long as the window to the run is closed, but when the window is open during the day there is a bit of a draft about 3′ above their roosts.
I have heat for the coop anytime the temp is below freezing. Coop doesn’t need to be warm, just a little heat to take the edge off.
I agree with Anonymous, I have a thermostat in the pen and when the temp drops below freezing I put my electric oil heater at a low setting to just take the edge off the cold. I have eight lovely heritage hens who lay 6 to 8 eggs a day. I keep the shavings clean and dry for them and feed a small amount of scraps. They are out in the run for a short leg – stretch every day.
i lvie in south dakota and the first year i had chickens i had a milk house heater out in the coop to keep temp around 30-40 but then discovered they do just as well with no heat at all…haven’t heated it since and south dakota can really get cold when an alberta clipper comes through
Why no diatomaceous earth in the deep litter? Thanks!
Hi Morgan! I discuss the problem with using DE with the Deep Litter Method in this article on my blog–> http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2013/11/surviving-winter-with-chickens.html
I needed to read this! I have a hard time letting my feather babes be out in their coop without heat lamps.
What about pine needles for the coop floor? My trio of Brahma’s don’t roosr.They are in a barn floor with the natural dirt floor.
The issue with pine needles is that they are not absorbent.
i clean my coop twice a year. once in the spring and once in the fall. i use wood chips for bedding and it works great. not only that it controls the amonia smell. chickens love it and it also keeps the cold off the floor. latest brood of chickens are going on 4 years old and i have a light that comes on every morning at 5 am just to keep the chickens in the right time zone….ha. live in south dakota and believe me when i tell you it gets cold in the winter (-25-35) but chickens don’t mind as long as i have the water heater on so it doesn’t freeze…
Always good advice, thanks Kathy!
Thanks Gavin!
i have read some of the comments below and then wondered what I missed with their negative comments so I reread the postings on DE and Deep liter method. And from experience I have to agree with Kathy’s postings. One year I used pine needles because we were tight on funds. It was a mistake. The pine needles did not absorb any moisture and made it difficult to turn my bedding and then in the spring when I cleaned out the coop the needles were not broken down at all and I could not use the mess as compost. And I don’t get why one would waste money dumping DE into a deep liter. If you are going to use it put it in the nesting box or where your birds are going to dust bathe or on them directly.
Where we live it’s below freezing for weeks at a time and I do not use a heat lamp. Again by experience I have gone into my coop and found broken light bulbs. Don’t ask me what happens at night but this has happened more than once. I am thankful we have had no fires so now we are a no heat lamp in the coop farm. And our chickens are just fine all winter. I did redo our ventilation according to Kathy’s recommendations so the drafts are not directly on the birds and on the non- prevailing storm side of the coop.
No moisture was absorbed because you used pine needles instead of straw for your deep litter method. It wasn’t the DE, it was the pine needles that was your problem. I have never used pine needles in my coop and never will. Straw is low cost and absorbs moisture and is perfect for the deep litter method along with DE to keep the mites at bay. And I do use DE where they dust bath also, it’s not cheap but a little goes a long way.