Janie, the answers to your question depends upon each situation. Our bantams are a flock of eleven, in a coop within a shed. We've put in a large insulated window for light and heat. They have a thick layer of regularly refreshed pine shavings and the coop floor is raised several feet above the shed floor. We use a double layer of clear plastic over their door, again inside the shed, to reduce drafts and a double layer of heavy black plastic retains heat that would otherwise be lost through the top of the coop. They are content and lively during the day, and content and packed in together as they roost at night.

Many who keep chickens use a suspended light in the coop to both provide heat and to fool the chooks' metabolisms into producing eggs long into the winter. Our bantams get a break from egg production in winter, and we reckon it helps the hens live better lives. By sometime in February, the eggs begin to arrive again as daylight lengthens, and I know it's a good time to start seeds for the vegetable garden.

As for other livestock, I've cared for sheep, pigs, and horses. All produce a fair amount of body heat. Some need more cover than others. My Chincoteague loved to be out in the winter storms. Sheep and pigs need some cover.