Can chickens stand the cold weather?

[AnneRanch]

It is VERY importent with good food for the chickens in the winter (start in good time)
There are not as many feeding hours in winter as in summer, so the chicks need some good strong food to keep warm in all the dark hours.
Corn + Wheat + Hemp seeds and Chicken mixture with vitamins + a bit of Garlic in their water, then they do well

In Denmark we have - 10 now

 

[Crazy Wife]

I'm in Montana where it can get pretty cold. I have a non-insulated coop with 40 chickens. I only turn on the heat lamp if it gets below 0 degrees. Although it is cold, they produce tons of body heat. I believe you said you are in Canada so I can imagine our winters are somewhat similar. I would provide more ventilation in the ceiling than you would think is needed. Keep away the drafts, but they don't need extra heat unless it gets horribly cold. They will huddle together for warmth and stay pretty happy. Even at 5 degrees, I keep their little door open at night and at first light they are outside. They would rather be outside in cold than stuck in a warm coop all day.

Also, my rooster is also the biggest baby ever, too. Won't even get out in the snow for scratch!

 

[sassyoldchick]

Be careful using heat lamps, they are very high wattage, get very hot and can start a fire. I went out one morning to find singed feathers on my chickens! Depending on your set up. Mine is a small house so a heat lamp is over kill. I use a regular light bulb, and so far a 25 watt red bulb has been enough. ( I like the red to keep them on the right daylight schedule) On a thermostat plug in and timer. So light goes on at 20 degrees and no earlier than 2 or 3 a.m. then off at 6 or 7 a.m. Timer gives the flexibility for various on/off times ( be sure timer is inside or covered protected from wet weather). The thermostat plug keeps it on only when needed for low temps. I find it is best not to have it too warm so that they can adapt to go back out in the cold weather to eat and drink. I am home most days so can monitor their comfort all day. Also during the winter I do not worry about how many eggs I get every day. I feel it is good to let them rest a little. Out of 3o hens I average 6-10 eggs a day right now. I try to feed as natural as I can. I do close the door on my coop at night time as I have great Horned Owls that will steall my chickens right off the roost!

 

[what did I do]

Please know that many fires are caused by heat lamps every year. If you are not showing your birds a little frostbite won't hurt them. Iif you do use a heat lamp make sure it is very secure. I wouldn't use one but I know of one person who lost a garage and another who lost a barn. Both happened this year. Frostbite won't kill a chicken.

 

[myhubbycallsmechickeemama]

I have a Wood's style open air coop with no supplemental heat and we have been getting in the negative double digits for the last couple of weeks. My girls are just fine and even still laying. Lots of ventilation without drafts and they can withstand some pretty extreme temps!!

 

[Eggnog101]

I have five chickens, and two of them are bantams, (One is molting, poor gal, I can't imagine a worse time to do it) and we keep them inside their building, (A shed with windows and two perches, it's pretty nice) and if it's cold outside (36 degrees and lower) we just lock them into the building and turn on their heater. Of course, the heater has a tip censor etc. so if an over excited chicken knocks it over, it doesn't catch on fire, We also have a wireless remote thermometer in the house that tells us how hot it is in there.

 

[jeridge]

myhubbycallsmechickenmama,

please explain woods style open air coop.

thank you

 

[Our Roost]

Welp! Here in Northern Michigan the weather has started to drop and in the next week or so we will probabally be in the teens. I have a thermometer on the inside of the coop and I have already dropped from 31degrees farenheit down to 21in the last couple of days. The winds have reached 50 miles per hour on occaision making the wind chill factor tough on the birds. I finally closed the chute door to the run the last couple of days at night when closing them in for the night. I have low voltage halogen lamps (not heat lamp bulbs) that I had on during the daytime to take the chill off the inside of the coop before nightime. They emit more heat than a regular light bulb, but less than a heat lamp bulb with less chance of fire. It helped bring the coop temp back up to 32 degrees inside. Cross Ventilation near the top of your coop is absolutely necessary! Birds expel a lot of warm moisture. It needs flushed out of the coop or you will have frost on any inside windows you may have. That alone should tell you that you have insuficient ventilation. I think where your birds roost in the coop is also helpful. Not too high and not too low. So anyhow, shut the door!

 

[centrarchid]

A great deal of discussion concerns coop design, insulation, ventilation and supplemental heating. You can work forwards from the spartan conditions I provide. Pen below is used most of year for single hens and their broods but same pens also serve as winter quarters although most such pens are actually taller. Note absence of cover above and as pictured no wind break. During summer and winter cover protects bird from direct sunlight and during winter a single straw bale on north side obstructs wind but you could say bird so contained is exposed to a wee draft during blizzard conditions. Here we briefly experience temperatures as low as the low minus teens with winds pushing 35 mph. So long as birds in well fed state, they can handle such quite well. The birds are very adept at locating areas protected from wind when it is cold. In colder climates like some experience at higher latitudes, you can easily make so birds suffer less cold stress during periods of extreme cold than mine experience by simply providing wind protection. The birds can be tough but you need to make certain they are in good health, otherwise even windbreaks and sometimes even localized heat are not enough. This not simply a game of what the temperature is outside, also learn to read how the birds are feeling based on their behavior. You can do a lot more good if you let birds indicate when they need more coddling.

 

[Mugs]

In Wisconsin we've been in the single digits a few times this winter. I have the run partly sheltered with plastic to keep snow out and it also protects the coop from wind coming in the door. My girls are quite happy in those temps though they do stay in the coop more during the day.

If we get into the negative digits I plan to close the door at night and crack upon the roof for ventilation.