Chicken boarders

[Thalia]

Hi All,

 

The chicken addiction has prompted me to add two new girls to my existing flock of two, so yesterday I went to collect a Cream Legbar (Iris) and a Lavendar Araucana (Selene) in the hopes of eventually getting some . At the moment I have two young chickens living in their temporary home of a converted rabbit hutch, and I'm a bit concerned that with the weather getting colder at night they're not warm enough with so much room. The two of them were squeezed up together into a corner last night, so took up about 10% of the available space. I don't worry about my girls in the Eglu because I know that's been tested down to darkest winter temperatures, but should I be adding a heat source in the hutch?

 

The hutch also came with a thermal blanket and I'm wondering if putting that on might make a difference too and perhaps just give them enough extra warmth for me to stop worrying! Is there any reason why I shouldn't use it?

 

This post is going to make me sound completely mad, but my chickens bring out the worrier in me!

[Olly]

You could do, but I doubt they will be too cold. Remember, wild birds roost in trees all year round! Huddling up together is what hens do when they sleep, it doesn't necessarily mean they are too cold.

[Thalia]

I hadn't considered it in those terms, chickens have been domesticated for such a long time, but I guess they're just like wild birds really! Thanks for the reassurance.

[chriss]

Don't heat them or put the blanket on!

 

More domestic hens are killed by overheating than by the cold! They have their own personal eiderdown, and so long as they get some corn in the afternoon they will stay warm and toasty all night. Rabbits live underground where the temperature is pretty much the same all year round, so they need more protection in a hutch in winter.

[Thalia]

Thanks Chriss, I vaguely remembered reading something about chickens needing good ventilation, which was what was concerning me about putting on the blanket. This explains it all.

 

I'll still be much happier when they're in their Eglu with the other two. And I'll only have one house to clean.

[Redwing]

I had quite a few chooks in hutches last winter

 

I cut some strips of clear shower curtain and used battens to drape them over the wire front over night

 

The way they hang there is still good venilations as the battens make it hang a couple of inches out from the wire but it cuts out the worst of the draughts

 

You simply lift them and rest them on the top of the hutch during the day