Can chickens stand the cold weather?

Thanks for all of these helpful posts. In Chicago, it has gotten down to the single digits already (pre-Thanksgiving!) and I have been surprised how my 2 Andalusians and 1 Leghorn have been doing. They are 31 weeks old and just started laying in the last 4 weeks. Egg production has dropped off (a bit) in the last few days since we got down below 25 F, but they are eating well and don't seem bothered at all. My only challenge has been their water--it freezes in 30 minutes, so I've had to change it a few times a day. If anyone has any other ideas or things I should be worried about, please let me know! But for any first-timers with chickens in very cold weather, I'm here to tell you these girls are a lot tougher than me!
 
Its been around 23 degrees at night which is unseasonable for North GA and I have yet to put a heat lamp in....not sure how I feel about this.

23F is NOT AT ALL COLD for a chicken. REALLY IT ISN'T. They have down coats, wear them 24 hours a day. Fluff them up and stay warm. My chickens have NEVER had heat other than when they were babies. It gets down to -20F here - NO HEAT and NO sick chickens. Your concern should be:
Adequate ventilation so the humidity doesn't go up and so they don't suffer from ammonia in the air (which comes from their chicken poop)

Thanks for all of these helpful posts. In Chicago, it has gotten down to the single digits already (pre-Thanksgiving!) and I have been surprised how my 2 Andalusians and 1 Leghorn have been doing. They are 31 weeks old and just started laying in the last 4 weeks. Egg production has dropped off (a bit) in the last few days since we got down below 25 F, but they are eating well and don't seem bothered at all. My only challenge has been their water--it freezes in 30 minutes, so I've had to change it a few times a day. If anyone has any other ideas or things I should be worried about, please let me know! But for any first-timers with chickens in very cold weather, I'm here to tell you these girls are a lot tougher than me!

They cold doesn't affect laying much, it is the diminishing light. But you should get eggs through this winter. It is NEXT winter when you will wonder why you have very few eggs. For whatever reason, they slow down A LOT in the winter after their first adult moult.
 
Yes they defiantly do slow down...mine are just about done molting and so far this month I've got 6 eggs maybe 8?? I have 13 chickens and 8 of them are layers. I like the idea tho of them having down time from laying. It has been super cold here...I have never had heat in coop and they've surived. They love the snow and the cold doesn't bother them at all! Happy winter y'all!
 
We hit 25 below zero (yes, that's Fairenheit) last weekend and my birds did just fine. I didn't add any supplemental heat either.

I knew the cold was coming and did as much reading as I could about the cold. I finally made the decision to just leave them as is. I brought their water inside so that I could take it out to them first thing in the morning.

The next morning I opened the coop door not knowing what to expect. I peak in and they're walking around like they always do...plus they even gave me 6 eggs that day.

I think the drafts are the worse thing for them because it can get under their feathers. As long as your coop protects them from the wind they'll be fine...even at -25
 
We hit 25 below zero (yes, that's Fairenheit) last weekend and my birds did just fine. I didn't add any supplemental heat either.

I knew the cold was coming and did as much reading as I could about the cold. I finally made the decision to just leave them as is. I brought their water inside so that I could take it out to them first thing in the morning.

The next morning I opened the coop door not knowing what to expect. I peak in and they're walking around like they always do...plus they even gave me 6 eggs that day.

I think the drafts are the worse thing for them because it can get under their feathers. As long as your coop protects them from the wind they'll be fine...even at -25

Yep! I know it is hard for new chicken owners to accept the fact that chickens, like wild birds, are adapted to cold weather in ways people can never be. Think about it, how many wild birds have you seen with frozen feet? Do they have really good winter boots with amazing insulation? I think not. Best not to project our own "opinion" of surviving very cold temperatures on critters that are adapted to it.
 

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