Wintering Over Your Chickens

Don't fret over cold or drafts for your grown chickens. Chickens are startled by the first snowfall if it's heavy enough to completely cover the ground. If we scatter a little straw on top of the snow, making a path between the waterier and the chicken house the chickens will venture out willingly. They quickly get used to snow after they've seen it once or twice. In the old days, farmers liked to use straw litter in the chicken house and scatter some grain in it every day. The chickens would spend hours hunting for the last morsel, and scratching around in the litter would fluff it up and keep it from caking. Something for the hens to do indoors during bad weather. The rule of thumb is the rate of lay falls whenever the chickens are exposed to daytime highs below freezing. Frostbitten combs are more a sign of excessive dampness than excessive cold. Most of all, don't let chickens run out of feed or water in cold weather. They can stand a lot of cold if they have plenty of food energy, and to eat, they must also drink.