We learned:
An average chicken has 8,500 feathers. Like its wild bird cousins, a chicken will fluff up, trap air under her down, and stay cozy, even in below freezing temperatures. However, a sharp, cold wind that ruffles the feathers can sent a chill to the skin. Icy rain on a hen’s head and mud frozen on a feathered legged hen’s legs, can chill her to the bone. So, although that fine-feathered garment can keep a hen plenty warm even in the coldest weather, there are some things to do to keep your chickens comfortable and healthy in the winter.
some hens, and often roosters, have big combs, prone to frostbite. Slather on some vaseline if you know the temperature is going to drop
keep coop shoveled out weekly and bedded with fresh pine shavings
Chickens need to be high and dry. If your run gets muddy, add a few bags of sand, or put down wood chips, to give the hens a place to roam above the muck
One of the most important things to give your chickens in the winter is fresh water. If you have electricity in the barn, get one of these base heaters for the waterer.
give them an added ration of cracked corn or scratch grains
hang a cabbage in the pen. They peck at it (they do like a rousing game of tetherball) and so don’t peck at each other. The added benefit is that they’re eating greens
Hens need 14 hours of sunlight to lay. You can increase the light using a 40 watt bulb on a timer, and you’ll bring production up. If you do decide to use a light, turn it on in the early morning. Do not use it at night – if it’s dark out and the light suddenly goes off, the hens won’t have a chance to settle into their roosts for bedtime. They’ll be miserably stuck on the ground.
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