i think i asked this last year aswell but i was wondering if apart from the obvious ie. putting extra sawdust and hay in their coop there is anything else we can do to keep our girls warm is this weather? i know they are hardy birds and good at regulating there own body temperature but just thought id ask in case we missing doing something obviouS! xx

Make sure there are no draughts but plenty of ventilation and they should be fine. You can wrap an old hessian backed carpet around the outside of the coop to add insulation but make sure you get rid of it asap as it's a haven for mites! There's a few herbal things you can do such as garlic in the drinking water to stave off colds etc too. I tend to replace a portion of the layers pellets with barley and wheat (bought direct from my farmer) as they're higher in energy, but changing to growers from layers pellets will have a similar effect.

Some people spoil their hens with warm porridge or pasta instead of mealworms as their tea time treats but I dont bother with that and have had very few problems.

Listen out for sniffles and sneezes in case of respiritory problems but they do get colds just as we do.

i think i asked this last year aswell but i was wondering if apart from the obvious ie. putting extra sawdust and hay in their coop there is anything else we can do to keep our girls warm is this weather? i know they are hardy birds and good at regulating there own body temperature but just thought id ask in case we missing doing something obviouS! xx

have you thought of putting them in the oven? :D

sorry. probably not the first to think of the obvious. good luck.

i think i asked this last year aswell but i was wondering if apart from the obvious ie. putting extra sawdust and hay in their coop there is anything else we can do to keep our girls warm is this weather? i know they are hardy birds and good at regulating there own body temperature but just thought id ask in case we missing doing something obviouS! xx

Hello Elenab: we went to our local poultry farm this afternoon, to stock up on food for the hens over the holiday period, and I asked the same question. I've already put extra straw and a large cardboard box inside the house, and covered the whole house with a tarpaulin (heavy-duty plastic sheet for garden waste: apparently old carpet will do just as well.)

This is what we were told:
The extra straw cuts down the amount of cold/freezing air inside the house, as well as acting as insulation: lining the house with cardboard cuts down the draughts.
They cope quite well with below-zero temperatures (to about minus eight degrees) for about a week but if it gets colder than that, or lasts longer, there isn't much you can do, unless you get a proper henhouse heat lamp. [This is a heat bulb - no light - that needs to be wired in, if your henhouse has the ceiling height, but most 'garden' henhouses aren't tall enough.

Good Luck!

Thanks for that, doing all of the above so hoping they will be ok.

I heard you shouldn't use hay as it contains spores that can cause respiritory (sp) problems. Straw would be a better choice. I recently saw a thermo-image photo of a hen, and the heat only showed up on it's head, which means they lose very little heat from their bodies.

you could always make them some jumpers...http://littlehenrescue.co.uk/jumpers.aspx

Dont know if this would be any good but got loads of duck feathers might be ok for in coop :hihi:
I only use small amounts for other birds to use as nesting material.But loads if you want any.

Hayley, you're right about the hay.

Please do not put jumpers on fully feathered hens. They really are only necessary for a small minority of ex-battery hens that have recently been released and have very few feathers. Most ex-batts will not need a jumper at all. Putting a jumper on a feathered hen will only flatten the feathers and mean she is unable to fluff them up to keep warm so the jumper is in effect making her cold.