Keeping Hens Laying All Winter: Essential Health & Cold Weather Care

Keeping Hens Laying All Winter: Essential Health & Cold Weather Care

Unless you live in a warm climate, you need to prepare your flock for cold winter months. While you will naturally experience an egg decline, exposure to harsh conditions can affect the overall health of your flock. Rest assured: giving chickens the protection they need is not as difficult as it may seem!

Our winters are not overly harsh, but we frequently see days in the teens and twenties. It's normal to worry when temperatures drop, but chickens handle the cold quite well—often better than extreme heat. Focusing on a few key factors will ensure your flock remains healthy and happy.

1. Dry, Draft-Free Housing is the Foundation

The single most important factor in winterizing your coop is ensuring the chickens can remain dry and out of the wind.

• Dry Conditions: A wet hen exposed to freezing temperatures is a recipe for hypothermia. Ensure their run has a covered area so they can stay dry on snowy or rainy days. If you experience heavy snow, access to a dry, enclosed space is crucial.

• Insulation & Drafts: A cold hen is fine; a wet hen or a drafty hen is not. When cold weather approaches, we winterize our coop by adding a layer of reflective insulation to the outside, then covering it with fencing planks. This provides a double layer of protection that blocks wind and drafts.

Crucial Design Tip: Regardless of the insulation, you must maintain upper-level ventilation(vents near the roofline) to allow moist, ammonia-laden air to escape. This prevents frostbite-causing humidity from building up while they sleep. (For full details, see our guide: [Link to Coop Design Post]).

Winter Pest Management

Chickens require dust baths to manage mites and lice. We ensure we maintain a permanent, covered area with dry, sandy soil or fireplace ash so they can bathe even when the rest of the ground is frozen.

2. Essential Health & The Deep Litter Method

The Deep Litter Method

We insulate the floor of our coop using the Deep Litter Method. Starting in late summer/early fall, we build up the litter by adding a layer of pine shavings. As the chickens fill that layer with manure, we add a new layer of clean straw. This continues throughout the winter.

• This method provides natural, safe insulation.

• The decomposition of the manure and litter generates a small amount of heat inside the coop.

Roosting & Warmth

A chicken's body temperature is 107 degrees. When your chickens go to roost, they are nestled next to one another, generating combined heat. Provide a flat roost a 2”x2” is ideal so they can fully cover their feet.

The No-Heater Rule

We do not recommend or use heat lamps or heaters in the coop. We have two key reasons:

1. Fire Risk: Heat lamps are a massive fire hazard in dusty, dry coops.

2. Hardiness: Providing artificial heat weakens the chickens' ability to tolerate the elements on their own. They are naturally equipped for the cold if kept dry and draft-free.

3. The Water Challenge: Keeping Hens Hydrated

Hydration is arguably the most important component of care in any season. Chickens need access to clean, fresh water throughout the day.

We use rubber tubs for our water. Yes, the tubs will freeze, but by simply dropping them on the ground, the ice easily breaks free so you can refill them with clean water. We check on our animals at least three times per day to ensure they are okay and have fresh water.

Immune Boost: During the harsh winter and summer months, we add a little apple cider vinegarto the water, a small step that helps naturally boost their immune system.

4. Debunking the Myths: Heat and Light

Supplemental Light

Many homesteaders add artificial light to coops during the winter months to maintain 14-16 hours of light per day, which is scientifically proven to stimulate laying. However, we choose to let our hens take a natural winter break.

We tried using supplemental light and saw zero difference in overall production that justified the effort. We enjoy our break and are happy our chickens get a rest. We supplement our egg production here on Two Otters Homestead with our quail eggs, ensuring we have fresh eggs year-round.

The Takeaway

Chickens are the gateway into homesteading. Our best advice is to provide them with clean water and a dry and draft-free environment, and do your best not to worry about them—they will be just fine if you follow these easy steps!

Like always, if we can help you in any way, please send us a message, we are happy to help!