Keeping the chooks warm

It's cold, wet and dark, but at least I now know that the chickens are going to be alright. I'm still keeping a beady eye on them and my fingers crossed, but as far as I can tell, they seem to be doing absolutely fine. Yay!

They enjoyed another little outing yesterday (I sit out with them most days and hand-feed them corn, even Cissy is eating out of my hand now) and are getting braver and braver. My herbs won't be safe for much longer! I was trying to get some little jobs done while the girls were pecking the grass and it seemed that as soon as I turned my back they made a beeline for the sorrel. I had to stop turning the compost or filling up their feeder and run to shoo them off the raised bed. It makes me laugh now, but I know I'll be in trouble later. I think I really will be needing that netting.

The grass is slowly turning into mud, thanks to all the rain, and it can't be long before we get some proper frosts. I had a taste of the joys of chicken keeping in winter already, in the form of frozen water. I thought apple cider vinegar was supposed to help to keep the water from freezing. Apparently not. I have to start either emptying the water out on frosty evenings or de-freezing it the first thing in the morning.

I know the eglu is well insulated and should be warm enough for my girls, at least until the temperatures drop below -8°C. The chooks snuggle up side by side in the coop at night, so they should keep reasonably warm, but it worries me that there's only two of them in the coop. So what's a panicky hen keeper to do, order one of these?

It's a heat pad for pets, it can be heated in the microwave and in the case of chickens, put under the roosting bars to keep their fluffy bottoms warm. It should release heat slowly and keep the coop warm up to 12 hours. It comes with a lovely cover, which is probably wasted on the chickens as I think I'd rather use the pad without one, for cleanliness issues. I might even wrap the pad in a sheet of newspaper to make sure it stays clean.

Call me weird, but I don't want any chicken poo in my microwave!