{"id":2799,"date":"2026-10-27T13:34:28","date_gmt":"2026-10-27T13:34:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/confluencemediagroup.net\/blog\/?p=2799"},"modified":"2026-10-27T13:34:28","modified_gmt":"2026-10-27T13:34:28","slug":"how-to-care-for-chickens-during-an-ice-storm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/confluencemediagroup.net\/blog\/how-to-care-for-chickens-during-an-ice-storm\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Care for Chickens During an Ice Storm (Before and After)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The ice came in the second week of January the year Hannah was eight. By four in the afternoon the coop door was glued shut with a quarter inch of glaze, the power was out across Knox County, and I was standing in the yard with a kettle of hot water and a very bad feeling. The girls were fine. I was the one who had not planned.<\/p>\n<p>An ice storm is different from a cold snap. Cold, your flock can handle, and I&#8217;ve written about how in <a href=\"https:\/\/confluencemediagroup.net\/blog\/how-to-keep-chickens-warm-in-winter-without-heat\">how to keep chickens warm in winter without heat<\/a>. Ice is about locked doors, frozen water, slick ground, broken limbs, and no power. Here is what I do now, and what I wish I&#8217;d done that first January.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"cmg-supplies\"><p class=\"cmg-supplies__title\">What I keep on hand for ice<\/p><div class=\"cmg-supplies__body\"><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/dp\/B000HHQDPM?tag=almanachouse-20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Heated waterer base (125W)<\/a> \u2014 keeps a metal fount from freezing solid while the power is on; it does nothing when the lights go out, so see the backup plan below<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/dp\/B00EORGCXY?tag=almanachouse-20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Galvanized double-wall fount (3 gal)<\/a> \u2014 sits on that base and holds a good amount of water; it also works unheated as a reserve<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/dp\/B075SP4X2W?tag=almanachouse-20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Hemp bedding<\/a> \u2014 absorbent and fluffy; I lay extra before a storm so the floor stays dry and warm to stand on<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/dp\/B00GRTA6AC?tag=almanachouse-20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Poultry electrolytes (OTC)<\/a> \u2014 for a hen who&#8217;s gone off her water after a stressful day<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><\/div><\/aside>\n<p>You&#8217;ll also want a headlamp, a bucket, a stiff scraper, and a bag of coarse sand. None of that is a product I need to send you off to buy.<\/p>\n<h2>Before the storm<\/h2>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/confluencemediagroup.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/how-to-care-for-chickens-during-an-ice-storm-02-before.jpg\" alt=\"Storm prep at the coop door: waterer, spare water, oil for the latch, hammer and headlamp\" \/><\/figure>\n<p>When the forecast says freezing rain, I give myself a day if I can. The goal is simple: a coop that stays dry, enough water to last, and a way in and out that doesn&#8217;t depend on a door that can freeze shut.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Check the latches.<\/strong> Cam-lock latches are the right choice for predators, but they can ice over. Rub a little cooking oil or a thin film of silicone on the moving parts, and keep a hammer or a putty knife near the door. Don&#8217;t force a frozen latch with your hand on it. Tap the ice off.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Fill and stage water.<\/strong> Fill the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/dp\/B00EORGCXY?tag=almanachouse-20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">galvanized fount<\/a> and set it on the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/dp\/B000HHQDPM?tag=almanachouse-20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">heated base<\/a>. The base keeps the water open while the power is on, which is great, and useless when it fails. So I also fill two or three extra buckets with water and stash them in the house or a warm garage. A bucket of water that stays liquid is worth more than any gadget in a long outage.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Refresh the bedding.<\/strong> Add a few inches of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/dp\/B075SP4X2W?tag=almanachouse-20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">hemp bedding<\/a> to the floor and the nest boxes. Dry bedding is the single best insulation you have. Wet litter freezes, lets ammonia build, and chills feet. I covered this in more detail in <a href=\"https:\/\/confluencemediagroup.net\/blog\/how-to-winterize-a-chicken-coop\">how to winterize a chicken coop<\/a>, and it goes double before ice.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Feed up.<\/strong> Top off the feeder with their regular layer ration. A full crop at dusk keeps a hen&#8217;s internal furnace running through the night. A handful of scratch at bedtime is fine, and I do it, but don&#8217;t swap their feed for it.<\/p>\n<h2>What not to do<\/h2>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/confluencemediagroup.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/how-to-care-for-chickens-during-an-ice-storm-03-not.jpg\" alt=\"A dry, draft-free coop with no heat lamp and the extension cord left outside\" \/><\/figure>\n<p>I want to say this plainly because it&#8217;s the mistake that burns coops down. <strong>Do not hang a heat lamp. Do not run a space heater in the coop. Do not light anything.<\/strong> Dust, bedding, and an extension cord make a fire waiting to happen, and chickens are much hardier than we are. A healthy, dry, draft-free flock handles cold well. Fire and fumes kill more birds than ice does.<\/p>\n<p>If the power goes out, <strong>never run a generator inside or near the coop<\/strong> or in a closed garage. Carbon monoxide kills. Keep it outside, away from the building, and run cords carefully.<\/p>\n<h2>During the storm<\/h2>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/confluencemediagroup.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/how-to-care-for-chickens-during-an-ice-storm-04-during.jpg\" alt=\"Hens roosting calm and dry in a closed coop during freezing rain\" \/><\/figure>\n<p>Ice storms are about patience. I put the girls to bed early, closed the pop door, and left it alone. They don&#8217;t need me out in the glaze. If the run is coated, I keep the birds in the coop until the worst has passed, rather than watching them skate.<\/p>\n<p>Check on them when it&#8217;s safe to walk, and use the headlamp, not a candle. Count heads, look for anyone hunched and fluffed in a corner, and make sure the air smells fresh. A closed coop in an ice storm can get stuffy, so keep the high vents open and the low ones shut so moisture escapes without a draft on the roost.<\/p>\n<p>If the heated base has gone dead, swap to your reserve water. Break the surface ice on the fount with a spoon, or pour in warm water from a kettle. Warm water, not hot, since hot can crack some containers.<\/p>\n<h2>Slick ground and the run<\/h2>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/confluencemediagroup.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/how-to-care-for-chickens-during-an-ice-storm-05-ground.jpg\" alt=\"Sand and shavings spread over an icy run and ramp, with a fallen limb on the run roof\" \/><\/figure>\n<p>Once the ice stops, your run is a skating rink. Chickens have scaly feet that grip well on rough surfaces and not at all on glaze. I scatter coarse sand, pine shavings, or wood ash across the run and the ramp so the girls can walk without slipping. Hold off on rock salt. It irritates feet and is bad for birds that peck at the ground.<\/p>\n<p>Look up, too. Ice-heavy limbs and wires come down. Walk the perimeter before you let the flock out, and check that the fencing and the hardware cloth are still standing. A fence that&#8217;s been crushed by a branch is an open invitation for a fox, and I&#8217;ve seen that happen the morning after a storm. If you want a refresher on what good hardware cloth looks like, see <a href=\"https:\/\/confluencemediagroup.net\/blog\/predator-proofing-the-run-hardware-cloth\">predator-proofing the run with hardware cloth<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2>Checking the girls afterward<\/h2>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/confluencemediagroup.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/how-to-care-for-chickens-during-an-ice-storm-06-check.jpg\" alt=\"A hen looked over after the storm, comb and feet healthy\" \/><\/figure>\n<p>The first morning, I look each bird over. I check combs and wattles for pale or gray patches that can signal frostbite, which I cover in <a href=\"https:\/\/confluencemediagroup.net\/blog\/how-to-prevent-frostbite-on-chickens\">how to prevent frostbite on chickens<\/a>. I look at feet and legs, and at how they&#8217;re walking.<\/p>\n<p>Make sure everyone has drunk. A hen who has gone a day without water may turn up listless, and a little <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/dp\/B00GRTA6AC?tag=almanachouse-20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">OTC electrolyte<\/a> in her water for a day or two can help her get back to normal. Follow the label, and don&#8217;t go beyond it. If a bird looks truly off, call a chicken vet or your county extension office. I&#8217;m a keeper, not a veterinarian.<\/p>\n<h2>What I&#8217;d do differently now<\/h2>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/confluencemediagroup.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/how-to-care-for-chickens-during-an-ice-storm-07-next.jpg\" alt=\"A storm bin by the back steps with headlamp, scraper, hammer, gloves and sand\" \/><\/figure>\n<p>That first January, I lost nothing but a good bit of sleep. But I&#8217;d have had a spare bucket, oiled latches, and sand by the door. These days I keep a &#8220;storm bin&#8221; by the back steps with a headlamp, a scraper, a hammer, a pair of gloves, and a bag of sand. It takes ten minutes to put together and saves an hour of panic.<\/p>\n<p>If you&#8217;re still building out your first-winter kit, I put the whole year in one place in my book, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/dp\/B0H2LN9Q9L?tag=almanachouse-20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>Raising Backyard Chickens for Beginners<\/em><\/a>. There&#8217;s a chapter on weather that covers exactly this.<\/p>\n<p>Know your girls.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>An ice storm is hard on a backyard flock. Here is how to prep the coop, keep water open, protect the run, and check your hens before and after the glaze hits.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2822,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[4],"class_list":["post-2799","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-backyard-chickens","tag-affiliate"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/confluencemediagroup.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2799","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/confluencemediagroup.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/confluencemediagroup.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/confluencemediagroup.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/confluencemediagroup.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2799"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/confluencemediagroup.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2799\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2829,"href":"https:\/\/confluencemediagroup.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2799\/revisions\/2829"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/confluencemediagroup.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2822"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/confluencemediagroup.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2799"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/confluencemediagroup.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2799"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/confluencemediagroup.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2799"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}