Heated Chicken Spa – photo courtesy of Deb Bino

Wintertime this year has been especially brutal for some areas of the U.S.  In particular, the New England states are reporting 20 year record-breaking snowfalls and cold temperatures.

Deb Bino, an Urban Chicken Podcast listener living in Pennsylvania, has come up with a clever way for her backyard chickens to get some relief from the winter weather — a chicken spa!  Deb’s winter chicken spa is easily constructed and greatly appreciated by the birds who are as tired as their human owner of the endless snow this year.

Here is how Deb constructed her chicken spa to fight the winter blues.  First she buried an electric, heated foot-mat in the bottom of a sand box under a mixture of sand, diatomaceous earth, wood ashes and peat moss.  The sand mixtures is about five inches deep, which gives the birds plenty of material to dig and lay in.  Being mindful of fire safety, Deb wrote that she carefully wrapped the cord to the heating pad in duct tape to keep the spa more secure.

Deb then constructed a simple box frame (roughly 4’x6′ in size) covered with clear plastic sheeting.  This sheathed box frame is leaned against a building and over the chicken spa so that the birds can enjoy the warm sand mixture out of the elements.  According to Deb, her wintertime chicken spa can comfortably accommodate four hens at a time.  The flock has been greatly enjoying their heated oasis from the winter weather!

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