Short answer: hold the heat in with curtains, deeper dry litter and well-serviced heaters — but never seal the shed completely. Keep a small, steady air change running day and night. At Vital Feeds (Private) Limited, most winter “sudden loss” calls we take are about the second half of that sentence, not the first.
A shed in a Punjab winter leaks heat all night, so birds burn feed to stay warm instead of growing. The natural answer is to shut every curtain. But the birds, the litter and the heaters pour water and waste gas into that closed air, and the shed can turn bad within hours.
What temperature should the shed be in winter?
Winter does not change the target. It only makes the target harder to hold. The Aviagen Ross Broiler Pocket Guide asks for these conditions at placement, measured at chick height where the feed and water are:
| What to measure | At placement |
|---|---|
| Air temperature, whole-house brooding | 30°C |
| Air temperature at the edge of the brooder (spot brooding) | 32°C |
| Floor temperature | 28–30°C |
| Litter temperature | 28–32°C |
| Relative humidity | 60–70% |
The same guide says houses should be preheated for at least 24 hours before the chicks arrive. In a cold month that is not optional: a cold floor pulls heat out of a chick all day. Our broiler brooding temperature guide has the week-by-week step down to about 20°C.
Why does a closed shed lose more birds than the cold?
Because the air goes bad quietly. The Ross guide gives these levels for shed air:
| Gas | Ideal level | What happens above it |
|---|---|---|
| Ammonia | under 10 ppm | You can smell it at 20 ppm; above 20 ppm birds catch respiratory disease more easily; above 25 ppm growth can slow |
| Carbon dioxide | under 3,000 ppm | Above 3,500 ppm causes ascites (water belly); fatal at high levels |
| Carbon monoxide | under 10 ppm | Above 50 ppm affects bird health; fatal at high levels |
| Humidity (after brooding) | 50–60% | Wet air means wet litter, and wet litter makes ammonia |
Those numbers are easy to pass in a shut shed. University of Georgia Extension reports carbon dioxide measured as high as 10,000 ppm in broiler houses — during preheating, with no birds inside and no ventilation running. That is why Aviagen’s rule is a minimum ventilation rate from day one, to carry out moisture and waste gas, while avoiding draughts.
A free farm test: judge the first 30 seconds after you walk in. Stuffy air, stinging eyes or a smell of ammonia means the shed needs air now — after a few minutes inside, your nose stops noticing it.
How should I set the curtains?
- Open curtains from the top down, so cold air enters above the birds and mixes with warm shed air before it reaches them.
- For young birds, keep the top opening to about 1 m and widen it slowly as the birds grow and as their behaviour allows.
- Close the top curtain when it rains, to keep water out and cut wind chill.
- Patch every tear and gap at bird level. A small hole near the floor is a cold draught aimed straight at the chicks.
- Use circulation fans in cold weather. They move the shed’s own warm air around and even out cold corners without letting more cold air in.
Open up a little more on a sunny winter afternoon — that is the cheapest litter drying you will get all day — then close down again before sunset.
How deep should the litter be in winter?
Deeper than in summer. Ross recommends 2–4 cm of litter in a temperate climate and more than 4 cm in a cold climate, because deeper litter insulates birds from a cold floor. Below 2 cm is not recommended at all: it gives poor insulation, absorbs less moisture and puts birds in closer contact with droppings.
Dry matters as much as deep: wet litter makes ammonia and chills birds. Break up caked patches, start your round under the drinker lines, and fix a leaking drinker the day you see it.
Are my gas heaters safe?
Check the flame. UGA Extension notes that a yellow flame on a brooder or furnace can be a sign of an improper burn, which produces carbon monoxide — a gas nobody can smell that can kill birds and people. A clean blue flame, clean burners and a service after every flock is the whole job.
Heaters also make water. University of Maryland Extension gives the figure: every gallon of propane burned releases about 92,000 Btu of heat along with about 108 cubic feet of carbon dioxide and 6.8 pounds of water. That water lands in your litter, so the harder you heat, the more you must ventilate.
Why does dry winter air feel colder to the birds?
Because humidity changes what the bird actually feels. The Ross guide’s apparent-temperature table shows a 44 g chick needs about 36.0°C when the air is at 40% relative humidity, but only about 29.2°C at 70%. So in the dry air of a winter morning, the same thermometer reading feels colder to the chick. If the shed is dry and the chicks are huddling, lift the temperature a little.
What should I check every day in winter?
- Bird spread — even is right, huddled under the heater is cold, pressed to the walls is too hot, bunched to one side is a draught.
- Temperature at bird level, by day and at night. Sheds fail at 3 am, not at noon.
- Litter — put a flat hand on it: warm and dry, never cool or sticky.
- Air — the 30-second test as you walk in.
- Heaters — flame colour, and no soot marks on the hood.
- Water — lines flowing and not icy. See our broiler water guide; birds that stop drinking stop eating.
- Weight — weigh a sample against the broiler weight chart so a cold week shows up early.
Do broilers eat more feed in winter?
Yes, and that is the hidden bill. A cold bird spends feed on body heat, so less of every bag turns into meat and your feed conversion (FCR) gets worse. A warm, well-aired shed is the cheapest FCR tool on the farm, and it usually costs less than the feed it saves.
Winter mistakes that cost the most
- Sealing the shed to save gas, then meeting the ammonia a week later.
- Lighting the heaters on the morning the chicks land instead of a full day before.
- Opening curtains from the bottom, so cold air runs across the floor.
- Thin litter on a cold floor.
- Judging the shed by a thermometer hung at head height.
- Blaming the feed before anyone has stood in the shed at night.
Written by Waqas Rafiq, CEO, Vital Feeds (Private) Limited.
A warm, well-aired shed lets good feed do its work. See our broiler starter, grower and finisher feed, find your nearest dealer, or message the mill on WhatsApp (UAN 0311 1555136) before your winter flock goes in.