Hey there! Do you need to know how to keep chickens warm in winter? No need to fret! I have some fantastic tips and tricks to help you keep your flock healthy and entertained in the colder weather. Let’s make sure your feathered friends stay warm and happy this winter!

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Winterizing The Coop

The coop is crucial to keep chickens warm in winter, allowing them to self-regulate and avoid suffering during extreme weather.
Here’s a list to go through when preparing your coop for the colder months:

• Insulation: Insulating the coop adds an extra barrier against cold and wind and allows it to retain heat.
• Ventilation: You may be wondering why I’m telling you to ventilate your coop even when it’s cold, as it feels like it may let out heat. Ventilating a coop helps keep toxic ammonia levels down and allows any humid air to escape. Humidity in the winter is just as bad as a draft. If a coop isn’t insulated and that air has nowhere to go, it could lead to harmful illnesses and could jeopardize the chickens’ well-being.
• Draft Free: Ensuring the coop is draft-free every winter is crucial to keep chickens warm in winter. A draft with chickens is deadly in colder conditions. So ensure there are no holes where a draft could get through every fall.
• Extra Insulation: If you live somewhere that gets really cold, add extra bedding inside the coop, and you can stack straw bales around it to insulate it further.
• Placement: The coop needs to be in a good spot in your yard; picking a place where trees shelter it is excellent because it will prevent the wind from being as bad.
• Roosts: Roosts are essential for chickens and should always be in the coop, but they are even more important in colder climates. When chickens roost, they keep each other warm, and if there’s too much space on the roosts, they may not use it to snuggle up.
• Heated Water: If your coop has access to electricity you could opt to use a heated waterer or base. You don’t have to – this is useful if you’re not home as much in the winter.

Keep Chickens Warm and Safe In Their Run

If you’re looking to winterize your run, one effective way is to add a roof and ensure that your flock is protected from the wind. This will help keep chickens warm and safe during the colder months. Deciding when the coop should stay closed is essential, whether it’s too cold or windy. When cutting the wind, you could add carpenter’s plastic or tarp to the sides of the run. Just ensure that the tarp/wrap leaves no room for drafts.

Deep Litter Method

I want to share with you the method I use in my chicken coop – the deep litter method. This method is particularly suitable for colder climates, generating more heat inside the coop. While it can be utilized in any environment, it is an excellent method to keep chickens warm in winter.

To use this method, you start by cleaning your coop of what substrate you already have.
With a fresh start, put down wood shavings. I use pine. Allow it to do its thing until you start to smell chicken poo; you then stir around the previous shavings with a rake and add fresh shavings on top. Continue this cycle without cleaning it out. This allows the important microbes to do their thing and keep things clean. This bioactive substrate will generate some heat, making it ideal in cold climates. If not maintained, it can become toxic and create illness, but if you stay on top of it, this is a healthy alternative for the coop and the key to a thriving flock in the winter. You can also dig through the first layer and take out fertilizer for the garden. I’ll make a more detailed post about this in the future, and when I do, I’ll link it here.

Should I Heat My Coop To Keep Chickens Warm?

Now, this topic can be a little polarizing in the chicken-keeping community.
People either strongly believe they should heat their coop and their chickens or not. On an off-grid homestead, you will need more resources to heat it. I don’t recommend it because I fall on the side of not heating.

Chickens are extraordinarily adept at self-regulating their temperature and don’t need extra heat to stay warm in the winter. As long as your coop has everything we discussed above, they’ll be okay. You can also choose chickens bred to withstand colder climates, which I’ll discuss later in this post.
It affects the way they self-regulate their temperature. If your coop is heated, that’s a big difference from the temperature outside. If they go from a heated coop to the run, they could go into shock because of the change, or if a draft you may have missed hits them while in a heated coop, it could result in the same.

Heating the coop can also be dangerous because it can result in a fire from the heat lamp or heater.

Keeping Your Flock Entertained

Have you ever heard the expression “cooped up”? It’s often used to describe the feeling of being confined or restricted, and chickens often experience feeling cooped up in the winter. To keep your feathered friends happy and healthy, finding ways to keep them enriched and engaged is important. Here are a few ideas to help you do just that:

• Toys: Toys are a great way to keep your flock entertained. Whether you decide on DYI or purchase something for them, Pinterest has many great ideas for different toys.
• Treats: Treats are great for the coop and keep the chickens busy in the winter. Could you make sure to use chicken-friendly treats? I like making homemade birdseed logs for them. Here’s a recipe for you. These also keep them fatter and warmer in the winter.
• Perches: You’ll have a roost in your coop, but if you have enough room, I’d consider adding in more perches for them to use in the winter. They’ll probably use them as roosts at night, but it’ll give your chickens more room to get away from each other and keep moving.
• Dirt Bath: This is essential. Chickens will find spots outside during the summer to give themselves dirt baths, which keeps lice and other irritants at bay. In the winter, there isn’t anywhere for them to do this, so you’ll need to create it. I use an old tire and fill the hole with half sand and half dirt. I’ll also add diatomaceous earth and dried herbs like garlic powder to keep the lice away in the winter.

Just remember to watch your chickens in the winter; they tend to fall ill more easily and may even pick on each other if they don’t have enough entertainment.

Choosing The Right Breeds For Cold Weather

When looking for chickens, it’s essential to remember what breeds do the best in your climate. Mostly, anything that’s dual-purpose (meaning it can be used for laying or meat) will do just fine since it has more meat on its bones.

Here’s a list of breeds that do well in colder climates:

• Bearded chickens, like Americaunas or Easter Eggers: Most of my flock now consists of bearded chickens, which conveniently don’t have wattles and short combs, so they’re resistant to frostbite. You can see the image above of Ester to understand what I mean.
• Buff Orphington: They’re dual-purpose and a great beginner bird. If Someone is getting into chickens and lives somewhere colder, I suggest Buffs. They’re so sweet and cold-hardy.
• Wyandottes: Another great dual-purpose chicken breed, and oh so pretty!
• Brahmas: These guys hold a very special place in my heart, they’re a great beginner breed because of their docile behavior. They also are great for the winter because they’re dual-purpose. They’re huge! So if you do plan for brahmas, make sure you have enough room for them.

There are a couple of breeds I wouldn’t suggest, like Polish or Turkins. Polish are renowned for not doing well in colder climates, and Turkins have naked necks.

Frostbite

You’ll be able to notice if your flock gets frostbite from the discoloration on their combs or wattles. It usually results in the tip going black
Here’s a few things you can do to prevent/lessen frostbite in your birds:

• Apply something to the area: You can apply something to their wattles or combs to prevent frostbite and protect that sensitive skin. I’d suggest coconut oil or Vaseline.
• Changing the watering station: A dish may work in the summer for the chickens’ water, but in the winter, it has a higher chance of causing frostbite because the chickens have to dip their wattles into it. I bought a heated watering system for the winter here. It’s been a blessing. Just ensure your flock is used to the nipples before the winter months.

Supplements To Keep Chickens Warm in Winter

• Here’s a list of supplements you can use in the winter to ensure your flock’s health:
• Grit: Chickens naturally find grit outside when it’s nice out, but in the winter, they must have grit supplemented. I use eggshells for my chickens.
• Herbs: I use herbs for my chickens all year, but they become more vital to their health in the winter. I use a mixture of garlic powder (to keep lice away), cinnamon (to help with respiratory), and cayenne (to help chickens maintain heat) in the winter. Just mix it in their food.
• Meal Worms: I love supplying my ladies with mealworms in the winter since they can’t find bugs. You can purchase some at your local pet shop or breed them to keep a constant supply. Here’s a great post by Lisa at Fresh Eggs Daily.

Well, that concludes my tips and tricks to keep chickens warm in the winter. If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment! I also would love to hear your experiences with winterizing your flock and what you learned!