Every wonder how chickens can handle the cold outdoor temperatures? It amazes me to watch them outdoors during the cold winter season, especially here in Eastern Canada where we can get cold temperatures along with windchill and wind gusts yet these amazing creatures have the ability to enjoy the great outdoors.
A few tips that work for our family farm on how to keep chickens in the winter months are –
- Provide fresh clean water and keep water from freezing
- Keep feeders full with feed. We toss our vegetable and fruit scraps daily to our hens and they devour it.
- Ensure the coop is kept clean and dry. We use straw or shavings to keep the coop comfortable by placing a good base onto the floor of the coop and inside the laying boxes
- Collect eggs daily. It’s ideal to create a habit and collect at the same time each day. We collect every morning to prevent the eggs from being in the coop too long because if exposed they will freeze.
- Allow access to the outdoors. Hens enjoy being outdoors even in cold temperatures and if you allow them the freedom to go inside and outside then they will produce eggs regularly for you. Hens benefit from exposure to sunlight.
- Provide heat source, as needed. We have an infrared light hanging inside the chicken coop for days that the temperature is extremely cold. We do not have this heat source on at all times, we use only as we feel it is needed.
These tips are what works for us and allows us to keep chickens in the winter. If you have additional tips on how to raise hens, we would love to hear your tips. Please share them with us!
