Overwintering Your Flock: Avoiding Dangerous Mistakes and Safer Methods
As fall transitions to winter and temperatures begin to plummet, many backyard chicken keepers are looking for ways to overwinter their flocks and prepare for the anticipated cold weather. While steps to winterize the coop and pen will yield positive impacts, there are potentially dangerous mistakes to avoid when overwintering your flock. The most destructive of these is heat lamps.
In this post, I will explore the dangers of heat lamps and new and safer methods to implement in overwintering backyard chickens. While it is good husbandry to see to the needs of your flock, the most dangerous mistake a chicken keeper can make is judging the flock’s comfort level by your own.
Heat lamps-synonymous with chicken coops-began in our grandparents’ days. During the 1940s through the 1980s, heat lamps were used in brooders to keep chicks warm and then used in the coop during winter as a supplemental heat source. While the intentions of these generations of chicken keepers were good, many unfortunately suffered the consequences of using heat lamps in these settings.
During the early 2000s, better methods of providing heat to the brooder setting reduced the need for heat lamps and the associated unintended consequences. However, despite the development of safer products specifically designed for the needs of a backyard chicken keeper, the tradition of heat lamps has progressed through time.
Large, inconstant bulbs, blasting long wavelength red light at an impressive 250 or 500 watts, may seem benign, harmless, or passive. However, the dangers of these bulbs when used in the coop environment are anything but innocuous. A chicken coop filled with dry wood shavings, dust, and feathers is prime kindling for a swift, vehement, and exhaustive fire.
The path of destruction set forth by these bulbs is possible in two primary ways. First, there is no assured way to mount heat lamps in a habitat where the residents can fly. Heat lamps, by the antics of the chickens, are easily knocked down. Once they fall, if the bulb does not bust, the radiating heat will quickly ignite the dry shavings, and a fire ensues.
Secondly, due to the incandescent nature of heat lamp bulbs – at the end of their lifespan – the filament within the bulb can burst, causing the bulb to explode. Releasing a burst of light, heat, and sparks, the instability of heat lamp bulbs when making contact with the kindling in the coop will result in a fatal fire.
Despite best efforts to mount a heat lamp in a chicken coop, the flighty nature of the residents inside makes a coop fire an ever-present danger. Given the volatility of heat lamps in an enclosed environment, there are much safer ways to keep the flock comfortable as the winter weather rages.
To successfully overwinter a backyard flock, only two things are required – a clean and dry place to call home. Chickens are wearing down coats, factory installed. Artificially warming the coop can be life-threatening in severe winter weather. The loss of power is common in winter storms. We survive these events by wearing warmer clothes, huddling under thermal blankets, and consuming warm food and beverages. All of these creature comforts are unavailable to the freezing flock outside.
When faced with the same situation, a flock that has become dependent on supplemental heat can freeze to death. During the winter, I will receive several correspondences from other chicken keepers seeking help after a power outage that accompanied a winter storm resulted in death among their flock. In addition to sharing their sympathies, I will take the time to educate them on why this happened and how to avoid a reoccurrence in the future.
Chickens evolved to live outdoors and acclimate to the changing temperatures naturally. During molt, in addition to growing in new feathers, chickens will also grow in winter down to keep them warm during the winter. When the coop is artificially warm during this time, a variable that will cause a flock to be ill-equipped for the coming cold weather is introduced. With the added consequences of power loss during winter storms, flock’s dependent on artificial heat sources suffer when factors outside their control ensue.
Installing plastic sheeting around the coop and pen does two things. First, the plastic is a wind barrier. Secondly, winter precipitation will stay outside the pen and coop area. This simple improvement will keep the flock’s living habitat clean and dry, which makes cleaning much easier in the winter.
The natural body temperature of a chicken is between 107- and 109-degrees F, fatal for us but necessary for their survival; chickens are little furnaces wrapped in down feathers. A wind barrier is crucial for overwintering a flock because it allows the chickens to trap this heat next to their body where they need it to keep warm. Exposure to winds will lift their feathers, and they will lose the heat they worked hard to maintain. Given a draft-free place to call home, the chickens do the rest.
Is it safe to free-range the flock during the winter? The answer to this is absolutely yes. A winterized coop and pen protected from the wind, elements, and temperatures will allow flock members to determine their comfort level. Given access to the outdoors, individuals will spend some time free ranging, if they get a chill from the wind or precipitation, they will come to the coop, warm up, and then continue free ranging. Access to the outdoors will keep a flock happy and healthy as they have natural resources such as sunshine and fresh air.
While it may seem daunting, overwintering a backyard flock is simple and affordable. Providing a clean and dry coop and pen stocked with fresh water and feed is all that chickens require. Keep it simple and let the chickens do the rest.
I hope this post was helpful and made the process of winterizing your coop and overwintering your flock much easier. If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment. You can also reach me as the following e-mail address: kuntryklucker@gmail.com
I check my e-mail often and will respond as soon as I can.
To watch a YouTube video on my procedure of winterizing The Kuntry Klucker, please click here.
To watch a YouTube video where I go more in depth on overwintering my flock, please click here.
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The Kuntry Klucker 