Fresh Eggs Daily® | Lisa Steele

Learn some easy ways to winterize your chicken run to keep your chickens (and ducks) happy, healthy and warm through the cold winter months. As winter approaches, it's important to winterize your coop  to provide your chickens and ducks a nice warm, dry place to sleep at night. But it's just as important to winterize your chicken run.

Chickens don't need heat in the winter, but there are some things you can do to prepare your flock for winter. Winterizing your coop is a good place to start. Chickens do far better in the cold than you might imagine, but there are still a few simple things you can do to winterize your chicken coop and make it more comfortable for your flock As the temperatures drop below freezing, a few modifications to your coop will help it stay warmer through the winter months (and no, I'm not talking about adding heat! )

Summer heat is rough on backyard chickens but you can easily "summerize" their run to create a more comfortable place to spend the hot days. Summer can be tough on backyard chickens. If left to free range, they'll naturally seek out the coolest spot they can - under bush, likely, where there's a nice cool breeze blowing. So it makes sense that in order to "summerize" your chicken run, you'll want to mimic the conditions they would be able to find roaming your yard.

Here's your ultimate winter chicken care guide! As a general rule, chickens handle cold far better than heat , but in the winter they still will appreciate being provided a draft-free, dry coop, a sunny area in the yard out of the wind, fresh water and some treats that provide extra energy and warming properties. Boredom is also a worry in the winter, so keeping them busy can help alleviate pecking and other issues. I've put together my best advice to help your chickens through the winter.

Being prepared for blizzards is part of living in the northeast. Prepping your chicken coop isn't difficult but it's pretty important. There's a blizzard on the way. But although more than two feet of snow is predicted this go-around for us here in Maine, there's not a whole lot I need to do to get ready for it - as far as the chickens are concerned. But it is important to be sure my supplies are stocked and I have plenty of feed and bedding on hand.