Cold winter weather can be the worse for homesteading animals, not only is it checking on the water multiple times per day in heavy overalls and coat, but it is checking on the animals as well. From experience, here are some of my tips to help your chickens and ducks in the cold weather, and help your peace of mind.
Insulation in the Chicken Coop
We have a small 4’ x 8’ chicken coop. It is tall enough to walk into, but once inside it fits just one person. The siding is just boards that are relatively close together, but there are a few small gaps that cold wind can blow through.
The night before cold weather sets in, or earlier, the walls of the coop need to be insulated. My husband’s plan was to use cardboard and lots of it, but we didn’t have as much as we really wanted. We also were doing this the morning of the cold weather. It was cold, but it was rapidly cooling down further. So hauling out some of our large pieces of cardboard wasn’t the best option after I shared my idea.
We had pellet bags laying by both of our pellet stoves from the fall and early winter months. I actually wanted to throw these away a week before but never got to it. Good thing! We layered the pellet bags onto the inside of the walls, using a staple gun to secure them to the walls. We had enough pellet bags to insult where the wind would be the greatest.
Check-Ups During the Cold
If one is home all day with the animals, check them more often than usual, especially the first day. We usually check our chickens and ducks two to three times per day. So, the first day of the cold, I was out checking on the chickens about every two to three hours.
If one’s schedule is including an 8-hour work day, check on them before you leave, and as soon as you get home. Try to plan ahead and have everything ready the night before.
Keep Chickens and Ducks Indoors
On the ultra-cold days with fierce winter winds, it is best to keep the animals indoors and sheltered. I know some other people in the area have a chicken coop in a barn or shed, so they were able to let their chickens out of the coop, but their chickens chose to stay within the confines of the larger shed where there were no snow, ice, or wind.
My chickens have some room underneath the coop, but cold winds can blow right through it. With our current set up, it is best for us to keep the chickens and the ducks indoors, even if it is more crowded than what they are used to. For most of the day, they stay huddled up anyways.
Cold Chickens
Sometimes the days are not that cold, but the nights are. Or sometimes mistakes are made where the chickens are let out in too cold of weather.
If when checking on the water, majority of the chickens and the ducks are deciding to be indoors, it is too cold outside. Check all around the fence for any chickens that have not gone inside. If it has been a couple of hours, it is best to take the chickens indoors where there is some heat. Yes, bring them into the house or the heated garage or the cellar.
Use a box, tote, or a dog crate to put the chickens. Provide some water and a little bit of food. This is for the chickens that are able to walk around themselves, but may have some frozen feathers on their backs.
Check for frost bite on their combs and their feet. Frost bit can cause infections and create a sick chicken.
Chickens with Worse Symptoms from Cold Weather
If the chicken has worse symptoms, hold them in a warm, old blanket- one that you are willing to throw away. Wipe away any snow from its nostrils or mouth. Hold close, and keep an eye on it. Depending on the severity, be prepared that it may not survive, but also have hope that it will.
I did have one chicken in the severity category. We bought adult chickens a few months before winter. One did not have its feathers on its back. On the first bitter cold day, it was hiding underneath the coop, but right along the outside where the cold wind and snow was hitting it. If I wasn’t checking on their water, I wouldn’t have caught the chicken in distress to then bring it inside.
After I held it for some time in an old blanket, it was more alert. I laid it in the blanket on the rug in my living room, adjusting the blanket so the wet part was more on the outside and the chicken had a dry part of the blanket surrounding it. It stayed huddled in there for some time. I knew it was better whenever it decided to leave the blanket and start walking around a little. It was time to move it to the dog crate with some food and water. I actually gave the blanket to it as well. Yep, after the cold spell, the blanket was thrown away!
How Long to Keep Chickens in House
Keeping the chickens in the house can vary for how long. Some of the chickens were moved back to the coop within a day. The other chicken was let to stay in the dog cage for a few days. Do make sure to provide a transition period too before returning them to the coop. Keeping them in the cage, move the cage to a garage or a cooler basement. Our basement is relatively warm, similar to the house, so we moved them to the garage. The garage was cooler, but it was still warmer than the coop.
If you do find yourself in the case where you have a severely cold chicken, do your best in helping and caring for it. You may just save the poor thing’s life.
Water in the Cold Weather
With two ducks with our chickens, we keep our water outside for them. This doesn’t work during the ultra-cold weather. They need their water indoors, especially when it gets so cold they need to be kept penned up in the coop.
Ducks will splash any water around in the coop. I didn’t want to use their rubber water bowl. I figured the ducks would knock it over in 2.2 seconds. So, I found an extra dog bowl, something big enough for them to drink from, but not big enough for the ducks to sit in and knock over.
After filling it up, and letting about 2-3 hours go, I checked the water only to find it was knocked over and emptied. Instead of focusing on the problem, identify it and focus on finding solutions.
I brought in a large rubber water bowl, after stomping ice out of it. I placed the dog bowl inside of it with some hay surrounding the dog bowl. Then I added the water.
This kept rather well. The water did freeze, but it wasn’t being knocked over. I even saw the ducks walk through it without emptying the water.
Heat for the Chicken Coop
I know there’s the debate out there whether to use heat lamps and lights in the chicken coop or not. We do choose to have one in our coop. We have it to provide extra light in the morning hours to keep up egg production with the chickens.
For winter days with negative wind chills, it dramatically changed the temperature inside the coop. We kept the timer on, but switched it over to “outlet on” for during the day. The chickens did not need light. They needed heat. One day filling their water, I forgot to turn on the light. It was morning, so it wasn’t that big of deal to go back inside and turn it on afterwards. Later in the day checking their water, their coop was warm. It took the edge off the blowing cold winds and the overall outdoor temperature, more than boards, hay, and pellet bags would do alone.
This is not the only heating option available. I’ve seen other chicken owners seek other electric heaters that are specifically designed for the outdoors.
Reflections on Caring for Chickens in the Cold
Saving a chicken from the bitter cold has taught me to be prepared in a creative way. It is using quick problem-solving skills to assess the situation and then act on it to make it better. Pellet bags were our new windbreakers for the coop. Hay was our insulation and bedding versus pine shavings. Heat lamp was our heating source. A dog cage was our new indoor chicken coop. And our living room was our animal hospital. By the end of the winter cold, all was well, and it taught us some key lesson to prepare for the next negative degree Pennsylvania weather.
