At the time of this writing, we are currently at the beginning of a large winter storm. We always take extra steps to keep our chickens safe in the extreme winter weather. We are expecting wind chills as low as -46 degrees, 70 MPH wind gusts, and 4-8 inches of snow. I’m not so worried about the snow, but the temps and wind will be problematic.
I remember my first winter with chickens, I was trying to figure out what I could do to keep them safe. Here is all that I have learned over the last (almost) three years.
First, we cover the coop and run in heavy plastic. I can’t find the exact roll that we bought last year, but it is something like this. I had to do this part solo this year because my husband has been working insane hours. If I can do it alone, anyone can do this. I secured it with a heavy duty staple gun. When Scott came home, we cut thin boards and screwed those on to sandwich the plastic in. You can see that in the first picture above. Hopefully this keeps it more secured in the winds..
I started feeding the chickens extra mealworms at the beginning of the week. They will get additional treats at night also. Digestion helps keep them warmer. Mealworms help them pack on some extra fat to keep them warm.
Inside of the coop, they get a thick layer of bedding. We do deep litter in our coop through the winter. This means that we do not clean out the straw in the bottom before adding new. We add a new layer of straw each week, unless it starts to smell earlier. If you do this correctly, you keep the carbon and nitrogen balanced so that there is no odor. I had a bag of fine pine shavings that I threw in there also since there is going to be such extreme wind chills.
It is still really important to keep water available for the birds. I go out every hour to make sure their water isn’t completely frozen. I often take out some boiling water to pour over the icy water to make sure it doesn’t immediately freeze again. You can also buy a heated waterer. We don’t have electricity at our coop, so that’s not a good option for us.
I made sure to put extra pavers, bales of straw, or whatever I could find around the base of the coop and run. I’m trying to provide as much of a wind break as possible for them.
Some people do artificial heat in their coop during this weather. IF you do, please don’t use a heat lamp. They are SUCH a fire hazard in a coop, and I would hate for you to lose everything that you’ve worked for. Heat panels are really great options. They keep warmth in the coop, but you can put your hand against it and won’t get burned. We do have this one, which we use for our baby chicks. We did use it in the coop our first winter. Now, we don’t use any heat because we want the chickens to regulate their own temperatures well. I don’t think there’s really a wrong choice. Do your research and come to your own conclusions.
My fellow homesteaders/farmers, know that I am praying for you through this.. and any future storms. We do all we can to protect our animals and practice good animal husbandry. I am praying for minimal losses!