I really would like to raise chickens for eggs. My issue is having freezing below zero winters that may start in October. Does anyone raise chickens in a similar atmosphere? What do you do? I have a basement but I'm afraid the temperature will still be too cold there & I'm concerned about the smell & such. I'm scared to take the plunge people!
I've heard it suggested that you need a heater in winter to keep chickens warm but you don't need heaters. If you intend to keep the chickens in your basement then use the deep litter method. Log InAs all the organic material on the floor composts, it produces heat, which will keep the chickens warm. In any case if they are quite cold, the birds will huddle together and keep themselves warm. Even in winter, keeping chickens doesn't have to be all that difficult.
The cooking blog, OneHundredDollarsAMonth.com has many articles on raising chickens - since the author of the blog has recently started doing it as well. There are many pictures on there showing how she has it set up, but with regards to heating them, I believe she is using those plastic rope lights - it's like clear plastic bendable tubing with little lights inside of it. She has it running all around the tops of the enclosed chicken coups - apparently they give off enough heat to keep them warm during the colder months. Plus I'm assuming the clear tubing helps prevent the chickens from pecking at the lights. Otherwise, perhaps come up with some other sort of lighting solution that will give off heat safely. Another precaution is to protect them against raccoons - If you are raising them outside, you will need to enclose their living areas to protect them from getting eaten by other animals. You may also need to secure your property a bit further if you start attracting other wild animals into your yard. Even when my parents gardened, we were always getting an assortment of creatures grazing on our veggies - from horses that escaped from a nearby pony farm, to deer, and even some kind of bobcat/wildcat once.
Well you can commission someone to build you a winter-proof coop that lets you raise as many as 50 or more chickens at once. The winter-proof coop should come with a built-in heater or at least a spot where you can let the heat seep through and prevent your chickens from contracting hypothermia.
