Winter - do chickens need knitted coats?...

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With Winter rapidly approaching I have one healthy well chicken who is 7 months old, and, on the way 4 battery hens (garybaldies). Apart from knitting them woolly coats ;) don't laugh just seen a pic of a chicken on facebook with a woolly hat as a jacket...is there anything in way of heat or bedding that I have to do extra. This is my first winter with chickens. I know if we get snow it is best to clear it away as they don't like change. i.e. wake up and gordon bennett it's white!

Does anyone lay old carpet over the top of the hutch or put down extra straw or install heaters for the bald battery hens?

Or does their own body heat keep them warm and we carry on as normal?

In their run they have gravel and wood chip so I don't have the wet mud problem.

Thanks
Mrs Tweedy
 
Hi, as long as you keep them dry and draught free they will be warm enough- they dont like the cold wind and rain but can survive low temps as long as your coop/house is dry and not too draughty- they should grow new feathers when they moult out- normally around now.
regards, David :)
 
Thanks David, it all is draught free and dry so I'm sorted!
 
Hi
I am new to this and have been keeping 4 warrens (Rhode Island/Sussex crosses) for about 6 months. They have a coop inside a large run and the end where the coop is is also under cover from rain. The run has a sand and gravel base and well drained so mud or damp is not a problem. I read somehere that a light bulb should be installed inside the coop in the winter for added warmth. Is this necessary and if so should it be switched on all night? Surely this will keep them awake or disorientate them regarding time of day? I love them dearly but do they really need to be pampered with an electric light?
 
there should be no need for the light , as i understand people only leave lights within the coop to make the birds think they have extra daylight hours so they lay more i mite be wrong but i am sure thats what i have read in the past .

as long as they are dry an cosy the birds will keep themselves warm when the snug up close on the perches also you will be surprised just how warm their feathers keep them.
someone on another forum last winter took thermal heat image pictures of thier birds at night and it was quite amazing to see :D
 
Both our hen houses have tube heaters which come on automatically if it goes below 8 degrees but then again we are crazy. Apparently chickens don't need this as they generate heat by huddling together. :-)07
 
I have ordered a knitted chicken coat off Ebay for £3.50 for Nugget, I know I seem to have lost my mind! But she is tiny, thin and shaking, it is -5 out there today, have given them warm mash, all the others look fine, just need to get Nugget through the next week of cold weather!
 
Hi, Now I'm new (very new) to this but, it has been SO cold the last two nights -15 with us, so I put an old duvet over the house end of the chicken arcs last night am I doing the right/wrong thing or am I just mad/paranoid??? All feathered friends seemed fine this morning!!

Gabz x
 
Hi,

The more experienced keepers amongst us would probably think we are all bonkers! BUT i'm with you both on this one. The house has been moved into a metal shed, and I too placed a blanket over the girls house. Even though the house is in a metal shed, and it keeps the worst of the wind/rain/snow off them, their water is still frozen in a morning, as is the inside of the shed.

Duvet on standby ;)

Nugget will be the envy of her friends!
 
i would put a jumper on one if it was totally bald , its quite amazing really as i was frozen solid the other day well hands were after holding the metal part of a shovel to poo pick with as my plastic dustpan thingy is broken so i just scoop the poo onto shovel an place in bucket but i went to pick up some of my girls tp put them to bed and i was very surprised at how warm there were under their bellys .
 
I too have put a cuple of layers of old duvets over the house. what worries me is their combs, i have a few cockerels. i read somewhere to rub abit of vaseline on the combs to prevent any frost bite, which i did. seem like they loved it ;) . also i've been feeding them instant noodles (10p from most supermarkets) in the mornings, they go crazy for them! mixed with the usual chick feed. but it is amazing how well they keep themselves warm at night. its my 1st winter with them & i hope they pull through.
 
MrsTweedy said:
I have ordered a knitted chicken coat off Ebay for £3.50 for Nugget, I know I seem to have lost my mind! But she is tiny, thin and shaking, it is -5 out there today, have given them warm mash, all the others look fine, just need to get Nugget through the next week of cold weather!
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No,you haven't lost your mind,I bought 4 hens coats from a site called happy hens for my ex-batts.
 
Just make sure there is adequate ventilation if the huts are covered up as being too stuffy can cause respiratory problems :)
 
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