built a chicken coop out of scrap wood that was given to me and DH from a friend when he disassembled his carport but we didnt plan on keeping our girls for the winter a friend said she would take them for the winter cause her coop is heated cause way up north where we are it gets about -20 to -25 in the coldest months so i was wondering if any one has any tips for keeping my 4 girls warm this winter

 My DD has chickens & where she is, then temps often goes subzero in the winter. She has more than 4 hens, but uses a heat lamp with a red bulb, because it helps them get enough light to keep laying. She also uses a heat lamp over the goat kids in the goat shed. She has to check their water more frequently, because it freezes all the time. I would think 4 hens would be enough to flock together & keep warm in a coop. If you are worried, you could always stack a layer of hay or straw bales around the outside of the coop to help insulate it.

Im a cow herder not chicken can some type of heater be put into a chicken coop I use to do that for the cowd after they come in from the cold I was wondering if that can be done for hens.

We live in South Central Pennsylvania and the winters can get cold (although not as cold as they did when I was a kid).

Last winter I had 15 chickens in our coop and I was scared they would freeze through the winter since the house is made from scrap and not insulated.

I told my husband of my fear and he said have you ever stuck your hand under a chicken's wing...it gets pretty warm.

All of the girls survived the winter without a heater.

We had a couple of nights were it was down as low as 5 degrees.

The one thing I did do was to pull the water each night  and place it in the heated storeroom.

If I forgot to do this I was out with boiling water and a hammer trying to get the ice out.

My neighbor's one chicken had 5 chicks during this past winter.

Everyone survived.They settled in under thier mom's wings and kept warm.

We have a solar light set up that we use when we are closing the girls up for the night but otherwise we do not use any type of electric lights to keep them laying.

We just have less eggs in the winter and add what we need to the food budget.

I did loose a hen this summer because of the heat.

There were no signs of anything getting in the pen and she was pretty high in the pecking order plus I do not have any roosters.

My neighbor said sometimes the heat just gets them.

Somebody who's starting a new flock can pick out a cold-hardy breed.  I had Light Brahmas for a couple of years.  We're in Alabama, but high up, so we get both hot summers and cold-for-Alabama winters   The Brahmas are a heavy, feather-legged breed.  They did fine in the cold and laid well with a 60-watt white light.  I gave them a red heat lamp for a while, but the adults didn't bother with it. (They might like one in -15, though!)

They did suffer when the temperature got above 90.  We kept them in a chain link dog pen in the shade, so they got plenty of air.  And I gave them ice water, which perked them up.

I've had chickens in Colorado where winters get pretty cold sometimes, and Mom had them in Wyoming where winters get pretty cold all the time. Neither of us used heaters, but stack hay or straw around the outside of the coop if you can, and give them deep litter and generously line the nests and also insulate the roof if you have a way to do it. Inside, newspapers work great and will even work on the walls. Newspaper is one of the best insulators there are. As others have said, water will be the biggest problem. You'll have to take fresh water to them several times a day or figure a way to keep it from freezing. Someone makes a heated waterer, but I've never used one.

One thing to remember during cold weather is that animals are just like we are - they appreciate a hot meal now and then. I used to cook up leftovers and vegetables, like potato peelings, and add water and grains, then feed it to them and they went nuts over it. Also, increase their protein. You can feed them left over dairy of any kind, dog food or meat scraps or boil bones leftover from chops or steaks, etc., and add it to their hot meal.

we have two hen houses and a small hen house for our Egg girls ..  they all have heat lamps and well built

My dad used to be a chickin farmer before he moved to his moms farm then came the turkeys and chickens then this cows holsteins and some cross breed ones now this has passed down to us I have no ideal about chickens just remembered my father used a 40 watt bulb for 2 to 3 hens they laid great eggs that was in the 60's but I don't rember to much of it just chasing the hens around then I do put only electric heat only in the bar for the cows only if condtions are whit out meaning snow past -0 somthing like that like I said before Im no chicken farmer I wouldn't know what to do for them but I hear they are great company for the cows one sits on the back of one of the cows kinda like friends you can see that at u-tube its cute and funny...

cindy