6 month old chicks and the cold weather

[nharbison0722]

Hi everyone!
I wanted to ask about the cold weather and my chickens. I have 10 approx 6 month old chickens here in Texas. Our weather here is really crazy and I'm wondering if my chicks that are used to warmer temps will be ok in the cold? (Tonight it's supposed to be down to 28) I've filled their coop with a good amount of wood shavings and hay, as I was told by the guy at the tractor supply store that hay would help to keep them warm. I'm also supplementing their feed with scratch to give them something to "work for" and help to keep them warm in the winter. Just wondering about everyone's thoughts and suggestions!

Take care!
Neil

 

[sourland]

As long as they are well fed, dry and draft free they will be fine. They have their built in insulation systems.

 

[ejcrist]

Hi everyone!
I wanted to ask about the cold weather and my chickens. I have 10 approx 6 month old chickens here in Texas. Our weather here is really crazy and I'm wondering if my chicks that are used to warmer temps will be ok in the cold? (Tonight it's supposed to be down to 28) I've filled their coop with a good amount of wood shavings and hay, as I was told by the guy at the tractor supply store that hay would help to keep them warm. I'm also supplementing their feed with scratch to give them something to "work for" and help to keep them warm in the winter. Just wondering about everyone's thoughts and suggestions!

Take care!
Neil

They'll be absolutely fine. Chickens can hack the cold way, way better than they can hack the heat. If you have any with large combs like leghorns you could put some vaseline on them but I wouldn't bother unless it'll be below about 32 for an extended duration. Other than that though I wouldn't even worry about it - they'll probably enjoy it.

 

[azygous]

I have a flock of varied ages, from four months to going on nine years. Here in Colorado we had a very warm fall and it's only just now turning ugly. So the youngsters, four to seven months old have never experienced real cold before. It was zero degrees (F) this morning, and it didn't warm up above 14 all day. The water froze. The fermented feed froze. This chicken mama froze. But the chickens did just fine.

They have no heat in their coops. I have several with very large single combs, and no frost bite. Chickens handle cold amazingly well. Just because we humans whine and complain about it being colder than the freezer in our fridges, doesn't mean our chickens are suffering.

 

[nharbison0722]

As long as they are well fed, dry and draft free they will be fine.  They have their built in insulation systems.

Thanks for the info!!

 

[nharbison0722]

They'll be absolutely fine. Chickens can hack the cold way, way better than they can hack the heat. If you have any with large combs like leghorns you could put some vaseline on them but I wouldn't bother unless it'll be below about 32 for an extended duration. Other than that though I wouldn't even worry about it - they'll probably enjoy it.

awesome!!
Thanks!!

 

[nharbison0722]

I have a flock of varied ages, from four months to going on nine years. Here in Colorado we had a very warm fall and it's only just now turning ugly. So the youngsters, four to seven months old have never experienced real cold before. It was zero degrees (F) this morning, and it didn't warm up above 14 all day. The water froze. The fermented feed froze. This chicken mama froze. But the chickens did just fine.

They have no heat in their coops. I have several with very large single combs, and no frost bite. Chickens handle cold amazingly well. Just because we humans whine and complain about it being colder than the freezer in our fridges, doesn't mean our chickens are suffering.

Very cool.... thanks for the great info! Makes so much sense!!!