Will my chickens freeze?

Question

I recently got three laying hens. I have them housed in an old playhouse which has insulation in the ceiling and is fully enclosed. There is a door that is closed (there is a small gap around the door) and a towel (folded double thick) hangs over the opening in the door, which at night has a screen "door" that clips on to keep the chickens in (and varmints out). During the day they are free range in my yard. They have nest boxes and straw in their house, food and a no-freeze water dish. During the day I use a heat lamp if it's cold (to keep them laying and to keep them comfy), however I've been told if I leave it on at night they wont' be able to sleep. Some people have told me they will be fine as long as they're dry, others have said they will freeze without heat. HELP! I don't want to freeze my chickens! Will they be okay? It only gets down to the low 20's, right now it's upper 20's overnight and 40-50 in the daytime. Are they okay without heat at night?

Answer 1

I live in an area that can get -35 in the winter. Our chicken house is not insulated at all and our chickens are fine. You didn't mention what breed you have...I might give you a word of caution: Leaving a light on all night will infact keep the chickens busy ...and because they are shut in, make them more inclined towards cannablism. Is the light one of those red ones? If so, (and it actually casts a reddish light) it wil help with that problem and keep them warm. Also, don't let them out during the day if the weather is bad (rain, snow....). A wet, cold chicken will get sick. Also, keep in mind, that chickens also go through a molting period which will cause you to see decreased egg production.

Answer 2

I think I wouldn't worry about the light emitting from the heater. Birds will sleep when they need to, but they won't be comfortable sleeping if they are cold. Like people said on this question: Lots of clean hay changed regularly.
See if you can insulate the playhouse by caulking up the obvious air leaks. I would also suggest getting that heavy-duty plastic sheeting, (it's called "Visqueen" I believe) and covering the house by staple-gunning the plastic to the house. That ought to keep the wind and cold out and the warmth in. Do the roof as well. and have you considered painting the roof black? This might warm things up by getting warm from the sun. Put plastic over the roof as well.
That just might do it.
I remember playing in a snow "Igloo" my friends and I built in the back yard. It had snow walls and we put blankets over the top and kept them in place by nails into the snow. It got hot in there! The snow was such a great insulator and the blankets were dark, which heated up from the sun.
I think the plastic sheeting would help a lot.

Answer 3

I was renting a house from a friend in Florida last year. She had chickens there, no coop for them, there was a small barn/shed, not insulated, but I don't think most of them went into it. Granted, Florida wasn't as cold, but it did drop into the 30's at night. Chickens were all fine. I'd say with your setup they'll be ok. They know where to go to keep warm. As far as the heat lamp, they hay and insulated house should be good enough.

Answer 4

they will be fine my parents raised chickens on our farm and it gets to -35 below thats pretty cold! just keep lots of straw for warmth on the floor and in the nest boxes change it when it gets dirty with poo or it will freeze and then it will feel colder in the hen house. you might want to paint the walls of the house (inside) with whitewash it contains lye i forget why sorry but i know we did this every year I can ask if yu like. Also even with the heat light they are going to slow down laying in the winter and may stop for a period. Mites - i think the whitewash has something to do with mites or bird louse all birds get it but when kept in a house something about it can get out of control the lye in the whitewash keeps it down. - i think-

Answer 5

Yes