CHICKEN CHAT - Chickens in winter
But even without getting goosebumps, chickens can withstand the cold as long as they have enough to eat and drink. Due to the higher energy requirement, as the chicken needs to keep warm, feed intake will be higher. This also applies to water intake, as a chicken drinks about twice as much as it eats. A well-balanced complete feed supplemented occasionally with extras like mealworms or water fleas and some greens meets their feeding needs.
Chicken talk
24 January '25 • 2 min reading time
Water Freezing and Solutions in Winter
For proper digestion, a chicken must be able to drink enough, preferably throughout the day. Good digestion is crucial in winter, as it releases a lot of heat, which, along with the insulating effect of the feathers, keeps the chicken warm. However, water intake can be challenging in winter because water can freeze. During a frost period, it is advisable to provide the chickens with fresh water several times a day and to empty the drinking bowls in the evening or place them in a frost-free area. Chickens do not need to drink at night, so placing the water bowl in the night shelter is not very useful; moreover, it increases the humidity in the shelter, which can lead to the freezing of (very fine water droplets on the) comb and wattles. Most drinking towers are made of plastic and can easily freeze and break or get damaged when removing ice remnants.
Adding sugar is not recommended
However, metal drinkers are not preferred in winter; under humid conditions, chickens can freeze to them with their wattles! Provide the chickens with fresh water in the morning, possibly lukewarm to somewhat delay the freezing time. But especially do not give hot water, as the strong evaporation can also make the comb and wattles moist when a chicken drinks, and then freeze. Adding some sugar (which only causes more thirst and hardly lowers the freezing point) or salt (the same disadvantages and also unhealthy for the chicken) is also not recommended. Instead of the usual drink towers, where water in the narrow drinking trough freezes faster, it is better to use open drinkers during frost periods, thus with a larger surface area.
Save the plastic containers from the takeout Chinese restaurant.
My chickens get water in the winter from saved plastic disposable containers (like from the takeout Chinese), these are quick to fill, for example with a watering can, freeze less quickly due to the large surface area, and if one breaks, they are cheap to replace. If there is a power supply available, you can also purchase special drinker heaters; both an electric heating element in the water and a heating pad under the drinker have proven effective in practice and are very affordable.
Happy Chickens in Winter with the Right Care
With a good coop climate, an extra scoop of feed, and always fresh drinking water, chickens feel great even in winter. More about that coop climate in a future blog.
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