My poor chickens…it’s so cold!

Ok, so I realize that Minnesota chicken farmers will probably laugh at me. And I'm sure my chickens are perfectly fine in this weather. They have been so far with all the cold we've had. They are still producing nicely despite the weather and short days.

BUT, with temperatures forecasted in the low teens for a couple of days, I just don't want to take any chances, or have them suffer frostbite. So I've wrapped the coop with some frost cloth, just to act as a wind break...

And then I added a ceramic "bulb" heat emitter, usually used for reptiles, etc. I've placed that above their roosting area. It seems like it should give them about 5-10 degrees extra heat in their "condo". I did not want to use a heat light so as not to disrupt their day length cycle at the moment. Notice that the roof of their roosting area is still exposed, only covered with hardware cloth (wire). You need to make sure there is always adequate ventilation. Putting a heater or heat bulb into a closed-in, un-ventilated space is never a good idea for chickens. The humidity that builds up is more harmful to them than the temperature usually is. Keeping them dry and keeping out drafts is most important.

But I just couldn't help it...had to give 'em a little heat!