!44: Building a Winter Chicken Coop - How to Protect Your Chickens in Cold Weather

!±8± Building a Winter Chicken Coop - How to Protect Your Chickens in Cold Weather

People who want to raise chickens but who live in a colder region should always be considerate of their birds. This means providing them with a coop that will keep them warm and still comfortable even during the winter season. Just like humans, birds do get cold when the weather is chilly.

Farmers and even the ordinary folks who are into backyard poultry raising should understand that in order to benefit from the chickens, they need to do their part in providing them a safe home where they are happy to live. In this way, you can have healthy birds that can give you the poultry meat and eggs you want whether just for family consumption or for business purposes.

So what are the things you need to ensure then to continue raising healthy and happy chickens even during winter time? There are several factors you have to keep in mind.

Provide roosts about six to eight inches for each bird. Chickens usually roost at night to keep themselves warm close to other birds.

Warm or heated water is another need. When the weather gets cold, chickens will be kept warm inside if they are able to drink heated water. Make sure that their water does not get frozen and to do this, you can use heater bases which you can put underneath the metal water containers of your chickens.

Proper lighting is also important especially for hens laying eggs. Ideally, they need 16 hours of daylight every day. If this is not possible during winter, the solution is to provide a 60-watt incandescent bulb in the chicken coop and set it on a timer. Light is vital in keeping the birds active and in helping the hens lay eggs.

Deep bedding about eight to 10 inches thick will be much appreciated by your chickens. You can create this using hay bales, straw, wood shavings or a mix of these materials. This bedding will keep them warm as the composting process proceeds eventually giving off heat for the birds. During winter time, this deep bed of hay and straw which they have pooped on will decompose and warm off their coop.

Ensure your coop's ventilation. You have a lot of options when it comes to this part of the chicken house. You can create an open door but with the proper screen to prevent predators from creeping in. While the rest of the coop is covered as it should be during the cold months, the open door will provide ventilation to keep the birds free from respiratory diseases.

Otherwise, you can create windows on the walls of the chicken house which can be kept close at night. But then again, it is best to put screens to cover these windows to keep small predators from going in during daytime.

Finally, don't forget their feeders. Whatever material you're using for the feeder, the food there has to be replenished regularly. Your chickens will grow into healthy and happy birds if they are well fed so even if it's winter and snowing in your area, do not neglect their food.