keeping chickens warm

[adamhartree]

hi, i want to keep chickens on my allotment plot but have no way of heating them in the winter as i have no electricity down there. do you have to have heat lamps in the winter for chickens or will they be ok without heat.is there any other way i could help keep them warmer. thanks for your help all.

[BUFFS]

you dont need heat for them in the winter but they must have a dry coop,free of drafts but ventilated and a covered area that they can run around in,we have had two winters now with the temp down to -16 for days and weeks on end,they can handle the cold, but must be able to stay dry in those temps,fresh unfrozen water is a top priority and we always gave ours some cheapo cooked rice just before they retired so they can use the energy from that to stay warm,ours loved skating round on the solid ice,one would run,wings flapping across the ice,then the rest would stupidly follow,great to watch.if the weather gets bad you could put some vaseline on the combs and wattles to protect them,so fed and watered and able to keep dry =no great problems...good luck with it..

[baldrick]

yes they snuggle together. water is the big problem in the cold. last year i was putting warm water out at 6.30 am before work and getting home at 3.30 to find it frozen again.

[its hilly]

As long as they have somewhere dry to hide, preferably sheltered from the prevailing wind, they will be fine. They will snuggle up together at night, and it's amazing how much heat they generate. That's why coops need good ventilation even in the coldest weather. It's really only young chooks that need extra heat.
I've got an old kitchen table I bought for a couple of quid at the local furniture auction, cut it's legs down and nailed some corrugated stuff to one end and one side. I hang feeders and drinkers under it, and keep a sand pile in the sheltered corner for a dust bath. It's easily shifted for cleaning under, and in grotty weather gives them all the protection they need.