Bantams and cold weather

[mommy2pnutty]

Hi, I'm new!

I'm doing some research on chicken breeds and standards vs. bantams. I received my coop yesterday and I'm stoked! My biggest worry is how my furture chickens will handle the winter in Norther IL. Right now we are at -5! I plan to get 5-8 chickens depending on if I get standard or Bantams.

So, how do your bantams handle the cold weather?

thanks!

 

[TheNewMrsEvans]

As long as you keep them in the brooder until they are feathered, and have a solid coop they would do fine...don't get ones with huge single combs, they can freeze. You can put a light bulb in the coop if it stays really cold day and night. They fluff up and cuddle and if they are in a tight coop they'll do great!

or you could get egg laying ducks/khaki campbells instead and not worry so much

 

[sandypaws]

yes.. you need to supply them warmth/heat lamp untill they are fully feathered...
i dont live where we get alot of cold.. at the most we get a week of snow.. and 2-3 weeks of 10 degrees.. the rest of our winter is usually 30-50 degrees..
after my chickens are adluts i dont supply heat.. i DO supply a coop that is dry and full of straw or grass hay.. i never had a problems with either my full size chickens OR my banties

 

[seriousbill]

Depends on the type of bantam. My Buff Brahma Bantams (pea-combed) handle cold exceptionally well. They are much less of a concern than my (single-combed) standard Delawares. Our low temp last night was -4 F. I had to put the big roos in the garage to avoid frostbitten combs. But, my two little bantam males were fine in their respective coops.

 

[moduckman]

Bantams handle cold weather much like their standard counterparts. We stayed below zero last night and it was below zero the night before. What I did before the frigid temps hit was to Vaseline my roosters' single combs to help them avoid frostbite. But, again, to answer your question, standard and bantams handle temperatures pretty much the same.

 

[EweSheep]

I've got four bantams and they did just fine in this sub zero temps!

 

[FrontPorchIndiana]

Depends on the breed. I would suggest looking for breeds with a pea or rose comb. Large single combs become troublesome.

 

[backforty]

I have 2 buff columbian wyandotte banties and they are doing great. I live in north central Wi and we've had temperatures down to -23 this past week. They are in a cage in a shed without ony heat just alot of bedding and a nest box they never use!

 

[B. Saffles Farms]

I have Old English Game bantams, and ist not been above freezing for the past 3 days here, and down in the single digits, at nights. They are all doing great, mine arent in a draft free coop either, and no heat lamp or any other heat is added to mine. They are much more cold hardy than youd expect.

 

[blackclownfish16]

We just got over a three week cold spell where the average temp was -30 degrees and all my bantams are great. I have silkies, phoenix, americauna and a few others. I use a heat lamp from about feb. to april to help egg laying but during the coldest months, they handle themselves. The single combs can have problems but if your coop is well insulated they will not freeze in my experience. Also be sure to have a waterer not a water bowl because if birds get excessively wet when they drink then they freeze on the breast/wattles/combs/crest/beards which is not comfortable but worse for me to see than for them to feel...haha. Hope that helps