Winter Chicken Care: How to safely winterize your chicken coop

When temperatures drop, your backyard chickens need more than just their fluffy feathers to keep warm. Safely winterizing your chicken coop can help keep egg production steady, prevent frostbite, and ensure your flock stays healthy throughout the cold weather season.

Why Cold Weather Can Be Dangerous for Chickens

Chickens tend to tolerate cold weather better than extreme heat. However, once temperatures head toward freezing, your backyard flock will need extra support to stay warm and healthy.

During the winter, keep an eye out for signs that your chickens are stressed from the cold. Common indicators include huddling close together for warmth, puffing up their feathers, or holding one foot close to their bodies to conserve heat.

Ideally, you should winterize your coop before these signs appear. Preparing in advance helps reduce stress on your chickens, leading to more consistent egg production through the colder months.

Chickens become stressed when they're exposed to prolonged cold without a properly winterized shelter. This stress can lead to a drop in egg laying, health issues, or even death. Cold and damp conditions can also put them at risk of frostbite, which might result in permanent damage to their combs, wattles, or feet.

Fix Drafts That Let in Cold Air

The first and most important step in cold-weather chicken care is making sure your backyard coop is well-ventilated while keeping out chilly drafts.

Check that the coop's doors and windows are well-sealed against drafts. You also want to look for and seal any holes or cracks that might let rodents or moisture in the coop. One way to do this is by turning on the lights in your coop at night and walking around outside, looking for light that's escaping through those cracks and holes.

You don't want everything tightly sealed. You still need proper ventilation to help keep down moisture levels and prevent ammonia from building up in the coop. This can involve different strategies, such as covering a partially open window with burlap or installing vents in the roof. Ventilating near the top of the coop allows the airflow to occur above where your chickens are roosting, so they don't feel the chill.

Insulation is another way to keep your coop warm. If you didn't initially build insulation into the walls, you can try stacking hay bales against the coop's walls, either outside or inside the coop.

Prepare Your Chicken Coop to Be Cozy and Warm

Once you've fixed the drafts in your coop, your work isn't done.

Roosts should be elevated about 12 inches off the ground, so your chickens aren't near the cold floor. Make sure there's enough space for chickens to be near each other without feeling overcrowded. This might be about six to eight inches of space per chicken. And don't use metal or plastic materials in the roosts, since these retain cold.

Once the temperature falls below 35°F, add a little extra radiant heat that your birds can use to warm themselves. But only use heaters approved for chicken coops to minimize fire hazards.

K&H heated pads are a great option because they're designed for safe use in chicken coops. When your chickens are on the pad, it warms to your chickens' normal body temperature. When chickens aren't on the pad, the heat dissipates into the air. In addition, K&H heated products are MET-safety tested and certified, so you can have peace of mind.

Check out these safe chicken coop heating options:

• K&H Thermo-Chicken Heated Pad: This pad can be mounted vertically or horizontally in your coop, providing warmth for the chickens that lean against or sit on the pad. Its ABS plastic construction and steel-wrapped cord make it peck-resistant, and it comes with an internal pre-set smart thermostat that uses only 40 watts of electricity.

  

• K&H Thermo-Peep Heated Pad: This heated pad is designed specifically to keep little chicks warm, but it's great for adult chickens too. It has a pre-drilled hole that makes it easy to mount horizontally or vertically, and it also has peck-resistant features. The thermostatically controlled pad stays warm using only 25 watts of electricity.

  

Keep the Water Clean and the Food Plentiful

Clean, fresh water is just as vital in the winter as it is in the summer. Try using a heated water dish or fountain to make sure the water never ices over.

A great option is the K&H Poultry Waterer. This 2.5-gallon water tank has a no-roost top to keep the water free of poop. It's heated to prevent the water from icing over and has a removable filter tray to keep the water clean.

When it comes to food, don't forget that chickens use extra calories to stay warm, so they may need a little more food than they get in the summer. You might also want to feed them a handful of scratch grains every day. These are a mix of seeds and grains that encourage pecking and foraging. The tasty treat keeps your chickens entertained and active on colder days.

Use Artificial Light to Encourage Egg-Laying

Daylight hours are shorter in the winter. If you want your chickens to keep laying eggs, use artificial lighting to ensure they still have about 12 to 14 hours of light a day. Collect the eggs twice a day so they don't freeze.

It's typically best to add the extra light to the early morning hours. At night, chickens need time to find their roosts as the light gradually darkens. If you decide to add some artificial light at night, make sure you use lights that will gradually dim like the setting sun.

Keep Moisture Out of the Bedding

Moisture can be dangerous when temperatures drop below freezing, which puts your chickens at risk of developing frostbite. Since chicken manure is about 70% water and can quickly increase the humidity in your coop, you should clean their bedding every day.

Consider the Needs of Different Breeds

Chickens that have fewer feathers or are smaller in size tend to be less tolerant of the cold. You may need to separate larger or more cold-tolerant breeds from your more fragile chickens. Otherwise, the larger or more aggressive chicken breeds may start bullying the more sensitive chickens, keeping them away from water, food, or warmth when it gets cold.

Prepare for the Winter

Even though chickens tolerate colder temperatures better than summer heat, they still need your help when freezing weather kicks in. By taking a few steps ahead of time to winterize your coop, you can help your chickens stay healthy through those long, cold winter nights.

This is the first article of a three-part series on preparing your chickens for the winter. Watch our Instagram page for the next story in the series: Are heated dog bowls safe for chickens?