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February 3, 2021

Cold Weather Chicken Care 101 For Beginners

We’re here to give you all our best cold weather chicken care tips! This is what we do to keep our chickens, warm, healthy, and happy in frigid Wisconsin winters. As always, we’re not experts, so we always recommend talking to the pros for the best advice. This post contains affiliate links, which may lead to a commission if purchased. This comes at no extra cost to you. Thanks!

Cold Weather Chicken Care 101

We’ve been raising backyard chickens in Wisconsin for 3 years now, so we’ve learned a thing or two about cold weather chicken care in the process. Now, we don’t claim to know everything about cold weather chicken care, but we can offer the tips that help us along the way. Below are the best ways we keep chickens warm in cold weather. Scroll down where I break it down even more!

taking care of backyard chickens in winter

The Basics of Cold Weather Chicken Care

  • Draft Free Coop
  • Plenty of Ventilation
  • High Calorie Treats
  • Heated Waterer
  • Covered/Shoveled Walkway
  • Stop Wind Around Run
  • Deep Litter Compost
  • Caution With Supplemental Heat
  • Extreme Measures For Extreme Weather

How To Keep Backyard Poultry Warm

Let’s break each point down a little more below!

Keep A Draft-Free Coop

Drafts are one of the biggest enemies when it comes to cold weather chicken care. Many backyard poultry keepers swear that chickens do not need supplemental heat, but rather, only need a draft-free coop for shelter. We make sure there is no horizontal air movement anywhere the chickens walk, eat, drink, or roost. (No cracks in the walls or large windows, etc.) All ventilation is above where the chickens do their living.

Make Sure There’s Plenty Of Ventilation

Moisture is the other major killer when it comes to cold weather chicken care. An air-tight coop is never the goal. While there should be no horizontal air movement where the chickens live, there should be plenty of ventilation around the top of the coop, so that air moisture from the hens can escape. Ideally, this will be above where the birds roost, and well clear of their combs. Excess moisture in the coop can easily cause frostbite and respiratory issues, so make sure it stays as dry as possible inside!

cold weather chicken care 101

Provide High Calorie Treats

High calorie treats are a great way to kick-start the chickens’ internal furnaces and help them warm from the inside. Cracked corn and dried insect larvae are great examples. Of course, you want to be wary of feeding laying hens too much sugar, as it can affect their laying and overall health. However, an extra bit of fat can go a long way with cold weather chicken care, and keep the girls a bit warmer during the chilliest nights. Our favorite chicken treats are GrubTerra’s Soldier Fly Larvae — make sure to use our code “OAKABODE” for 10% off!

Buy The Heated Waterer

Heated waterers are more expensive than regular waterers, but there is no hack for a good heated waterer. There’s no way around it — we couldn’t live without our heated poultry drinker. Water freezes in minutes for most of our Wisconsin winters, and it’s very important the girls have plenty of access to water, as snow does not provide enough water for them to survive. We use this heated waterer, since our scissor-beak girl Reptar needs an open drinker design to survive. While we’ve heard that some chicken keepers prefer heated nipple drinkers like this one, we’ve also heard that the nipple drinkers are more prone to freezing. We have never seen our heated waterer freeze; it’s a great design for us, and we swear by it!

heated waterer
This is the heated waterer we love to use.

Shovel A Walkway

The chickens always surprise me how willing they are to go out in cold weather. Even though they seem to prefer to be outside even in frigid cold, snow is their arch nemesis. They really hate the stuff. If there’s powdery snow on the ground, ours won’t leave the coop. We want to encourage time outdoors, so we shovel a walkway for them to get some exploring in. This is where it helps to have a raised coop, as well!

cold weather chicken care with heavy snow

Block Wind Around The Run

I’ve seen chicken owners provide a windbreak around the chicken run by surrounding it either with plastic or with straw. Heck, I’ve even seen poultry keepers stitch together old feed bags and use them for this purpose, too! Just remember; you never want to seal it completely. Make sure to allow moisture plenty of room to escape above the chickens.

Utilize Deep Litter Compost

One of the many benefits of the deep litter method is that it can actually be a heat generating source for backyard chickens. As the organic matter breaks down, it releases heat in the process. Now, I’ll be honest; we’ve never had quite enough deep litter for us to feel a difference in the coop, but I like to believe it does a little something for the girls. Even if it isn’t quite generating heat, it provides a thick, insulated layer to the bottom of the coop to help trap warmth.

Exercise Caution With Supplemental Heat

We do not use supplemental heat in our chicken coop. The main reason we do this is because we do not want to runt he risk of electricity going out, and our chickens freezing to death because they were used to supplemental heat, and didn’t have a chance to acclimate to the weather gradually. If I were to use supplemental heat, I would probably opt for a poultry heating pad or a heated roost. I will never use a heat lamp in the coop, as they pose a fire risk. Even if placed far away from anything that might catch fire, all it takes is a down feather that floats to the heat lamp to cause a disaster. There are much better alternatives these days! Below are some examples of supplemental heat that we don’t personally use, but we have heard many good things about.

  • Heated roosts
  • Heated coop mats
heated coop mat
These heated coop mats are safer than heat lamps.

Consider Extreme Measures For Extreme Weather

Even though we don’t use any supplemental heat, we’re smart enough to know that extreme weather conditions may call for extreme measures. A few years ago, we had a stretch where it was -30 degrees without windchill. The thermometer really read -30 degrees fahrenheit. I’m not ashamed to say that we packed up the chickens and put them in a tent in the basement for a few days during that crazy weather spell. We’re glad we did, because we found out that many who didn’t lost chickens. They didn’t freeze to death, as much as end up incredibly weak after that stretch, and ended up sick, and unable to survive the winter. (Our area even lost many wild birds, too.)

Even though some wild animals may be able to survive that kind of weather, remember that wild animals can move freely and have the instinct to survive. Your chickens are trapped right where they are, with only whatever you give them. Don’t be above taking extreme measures to keep your chickens safe in extreme weather.

ice dripping from chicken coop roof suited for cold weather chicken care

Why We Don’t Add Artificial Light To Our Coop

Many people add artificial light to their coop to keep hens laying throughout the winter. We do not do this because we want our food as natural as possible, and we’re firm believers that the winter is a well-deserved and much-needed break for the hens. Plus, evidence suggests a hen is born with the exact number of eggs she will lay. Therefore, by forcing hens to lay throughout the winter, they will stop laying at a younger age. We will keep our hens around for many, happy years, and will be happy the longer they lay throughout that time. If we need more eggs in the meantime, we just get more chickens! Who could complain about that? Besides, our Black Copper Marans are great about laying through the winter even without artificial light, so there is no need!

Posted In: Blog & Tutorials, Homesteading · Tagged: birds outside during winter, caring for backyard chickens 101, cold weather chicken care, cornish cross vs easter egger, egg laying hens for beginners, keeping roosters warm, safe coop supplemental heat, small wisconsin homesteads, suburban farm animal breeds, tiny pet raptors

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