Knowing how to keep chickens warm in winter is an important aspect of chicken care. From installing insulation to providing extra bedding, this guide will provide everything you need to know about how to winterize a chicken run.
Winterizing a chicken run can seem daunting, especially when temperatures start to drop.
Fortunately, there are lots of simple steps you can take to keep chickens warm in winter and prepare their run for cold weather.
With these easy steps, you will have successfully winterized your chicken run in no time!
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Why Do I Need To Winterize My Chicken Run?
Winterizing your chicken run is an essential way to keep your chickens safe and healthy throughout the colder months.
Did you know that inefficient insulation and poor drainage can lead to the development of hypothermia or frostbite in your chickens? Unfortunately, each of these conditions can eventually result in death so it is imperative that you protect your backyard birds from freezing temps.
Taking the time to winterize your chicken run now will save your homestead time and money in the long run, as you will reduce the chances of needing to replace any birds due to cold temperatures.
This doesn’t mean setting up an external heat lamp—as long as your chicken run has good insulation, proper ventilation, some extra bedding material, and plenty of feathers from molting season, you can keep your chickens cozy even without additional external heat sources.
Read Also – When Do Chickens Get Their Feathers?
With a few simple steps, you can winterize your chicken run and ensure that your feathered friends stay safe and warm all season long!
What Temperature Is Too Cold For Chickens?
You might be wondering what temperature is too cold for chickens. At what point do you need to go through the extra time, effort, and cost of winterizing your chicken coop?
Unfortunately, this question is subjective. The temperatures your chickens will be able to handle is greatly dependent on a few factors. For example, the size of your chickens’ combs and wattles will have a large impact on their ability to withstand cold temperatures. Birds with rose combs and pea combs will be able to handle colder temperatures than birds with large, single combs.
Additionally, birds in one climate will be better able to withstand certain below freezing temps than birds in other climates because of acclimation.
If your chickens have never had access to external heat sources (such as heat lamps for example) and the temperatures didn’t drop more than 30 or 40 degrees overnight, their bodies will have had time to adapt and therefore they will have an easier time staying healthy even in the coldest temperatures.
When we lived in central Idaho, we had Buff Orpingtons. We experienced -40 wind chill daily for several weeks and the birds handled it just fine.
Why? Because the temps didn’t drop to -40 all in one go. Temperatures slowly dropped and the birds had plenty of time to adjust.
Now we live in Oklahoma and we just experienced a big cold snap. We went from 60 degree afternoons to below freezing afternoons (with temps even lower than that overnight) in just a couple of days.
We still have Buff Orpingtons and pretty near all of our birds came out of that cold snap with frostbitten combs and wattles, even though we did our best to prepare them.
As you can see, the question of what temperature chickens can handle is relative and heavily dependent on their current situation and environment.
Keep that in mind when working through your own winterize chicken run preparations.
How Do You Winterize A Chicken Run?
Winterizing a chicken run for the cold months doesn’t have to be a daunting task! It just takes some insulation, ventilation, and making sure it is as draft-free as possible.
If you are using insulation, make sure to use something that won’t harm your feathered friends.
We’re not talking about the foam or spray insulation we use in our own houses. When insulating your chicken coop, use items such as hay, straw, pine shavings, pine needles, or even fallen leaves.
These materials can be stacked along the sides of the coop, stuffed into cracks and openings, and even spread along the floor as extra bedding.
Some backyard homesteaders have even been known to staple old commercial chicken feed bags to the sides of their chicken coops.
The bags will help retain heat inside the coop and provide a bit of extra insulation.
When it comes to ventilation, don’t be tempted to completely seal up your chicken run to try and keep out cold drafts.
Chickens need good ventilation year-round to prevent them from breathing stale air—just make sure that the ventilation holes are facing away from the prevailing winds! It might be a good idea to install several vents that can open and close depending on which direction the winds are coming from.
You want a well ventilated coop that does not expose your birds to those frigid winds. Fresh air flow is a good thing but cold air and drafty wind chills are not.
And whatever you do, be sure to avoid using external heat sources (including but not limited to heat lamps).
Adding external heat sources to your coop will only introduce potential fire hazards. Plus, your birds will not be able to properly acclimate to the colder temps if they have artificial heat inside their coop. This will not bode well for them should the heat source ever suddenly fail.
Do yourself and your backyard birds a favor and stick to winterizing methods that don’t involve electricity. No matter the winter storm or inclement weather predictions, the risk is definitely not worth it.
Follow these steps and you will be well on your way to proper winter chicken care in no time!
What Is The Best Bedding For A Chicken Coop In The Winter That Will Keep Chickens Warm?
To help keep your chickens warm and comfortable during the winter months, there are several materials you can use to winterize the chicken coop. Adding an extra layer of fresh bedding such as hay, fresh straw, pine shavings, pine needles, or fallen leaves will provide insulation that will both trap heat and cushion your chickens against chilly winter winds.
Additionally, attaching empty commercial chicken feed bags to the sides of the coop is another creative way to insulate the space.
With these simple steps, you can easily winterize your chicken coop and keep your chickens cozy all season long!
What Is The Deep Litter Method?
The Deep Litter Method is a method of bedding chickens that uses deep layers of material such as hay, straw, wood chips, and pine needles to provide insulation.
This method helps to keep temperatures in the chicken coop consistent and serves as an excellent way to add extra cushioning for your birds.
The idea is that the top layer of fresh bedding will slowly decompose into the lower layers, which will create a warm and cozy environment while also reducing the amount of cleaning you need to do. All the bedding works together to create the perfect environment for your birds to enjoy their own natural heat.
Just add fresh bedding over the top of your lightly soiled bedding and you’re good to go! (Be sure to remove stinky or heavily soiled bedding if necessary.)
With some extra effort up front, this method can provide a healthier and more comfortable environment for your chickens all year long!
How Else Can I Protect My Chickens From Cold Weather?
In addition to properly winterizing your chicken coop, there are few more things you can do to protect your chickens from cold weather. Some ideas include providing your birds with plenty of high-calorie treats such as sunflower seeds or scratch grains, making sure nesting boxes are nice and cozy, and preventing water from freezing so chickens can stay warm and hydrated with unfrozen water.
You may also want to read one (or many) of the following articles on proper winter chicken care so you can be well prepared for those upcoming winter temperatures
- Best Chickens For Cold And Hot Weather
- Prepping Chickens For Cold Weather
- Frostbite On Chicken Combs And Wattles
Charlene has been dabbling in and learning about the homesteading lifestyle for almost 20 years. She recently started a real-world homestead with her extended family and is excited to share 20+ years of knowledge and experience with the world!
While she certainly doesn't know everything about homesteading and is learning more every day, she is excited to learn and grow along with YOU!
Charlene blogs about about homesteading at https://secretlifeofhomesteaders.com/.