Preparing A Winter Chicken Coop

It’s important as the weather starts to turn colder to make sure that your chickens aren’t going to be freezing their little feathers off. Some are fine the way they are especially if you prepared it the year before but it’s still a good idea to check things and over and make sure that everything’s in proper working order. There are a few important steps you should take to make sure that your chickens will be safe over the winter. Providing additional lighting is one of the most effective ways of heating the inside of the coop and helping with egg production.


One of the best ways to prepare a winter chicken coop is to add in lighting. While in the summer there’s enough regular daylight to keep the hens producing eggs, in the winter when it gets dark at such an early hour egg production tends to drop. Installing a light on a timer is the best idea, so you can have it go on at a certain time each night automatically instead of having to turn it on and off on your own. You should also use some insulation in the ceiling and walls of the chicken coop if there isn’t enough or any already.


Insulation works well in the winter for heat but also during the summer to trap in the cool air and keep the chickens from overheating. Ventilation is important when preparing a winter chicken coop. Proper ventilation is always important in a chicken coop, especially during winter. There should be at least a single window in the coop to keep up proper ventilation.


To ensure proper ventilation the simplest thing you can do is add a fan into the coop. Just make sure, and especially if you’re working on building your own coop, that the windows aren’t too low to the ground because then if you open them there’s a chance the chickens will escape. The last thing you want is to have your chickens flying around and getting caught in the fan. These are just a few basic steps that can be taken.


It’s very easy to prepare a winter chicken coop. If you’re planning to buy an entirely new chicken coop for the winter, there are some pretty fantastic features that you can get included with it. If you’re really creative and eager you can even build your own chicken coop from scratch. This way you can install in everything you want and get it to specific measurements.