Don't Worry about itThere is only insulation in the roof.
Tonight is going to be really cold, and my birds have windows open, planks with tiny little gaps all over their coop. They survive no problem.
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Don't Worry about itThere is only insulation in the roof.
Question: we're getting a ton of rain here in SC and my chickens are soaked. Tonight it's supposed to get down to 30 degrees with some ice and snow. Our henhouse is not very well built and one "wall" is just some outdoor fabric. It seems to be getting wet inside even though I put plastic over the metal piece we used as a roof. I'm wondering if I should put the chickens in our crawl space so they can dry off. is tyere chance of freezing or frostbite if the temps get below freezing and they are wet?
Sure, I see a decline in egg production during the winter months. But I put that down to the shorter days/daylight in the winter. I could put a light in the coop to simulate longer days. I only have 19 birds, I'm getting anywhere from 5 to 8 eggs a day on average. That's enough for me and my family. I had a bunch of them go through a molt, so I'm expecting the production to pick up as they recover from that, or heads will roll. (Just kidding of course) I don't really believe I get extreme cold here either. I can get temps down into the single digits, not including windchill. I don't get the 20, 30 below I've read about on here. But in saying that, I know people that travel out to Montana in the winter, and they said it feels much colder here than out there, even with -temps. Out there they say it's a much drier cold, it doesn't affect you like the cold we get around here with the ocean and the bays. But, that's what they say, I've never been out there to see for myself.JackE,
I do not advocate heating or insulating for adult chickens but do you see a decline in eggs produced when temperatures in coop get really low. I do see a depression in egg production with my birds housed in pens with minimal protection from wind. I also remember declines in egg production with birds in chicken house holding about 200 hundred hens during periods of extreme cold.
I think I'd like my chickens dry going into a cold (30 in nice for us) snowy night. Chickens do produce and oil that sheds water so they may look wet but they might not be other than a little damp on the outside. They do need a place that is out of the wind and rain if they are wet but I never worry about ours. I have a chicken who is molting and almost bald who did well in our last cold snap, -5, without a problem. Chickens put off and amazing amount of heat.
I think there is a relative chance that your birds can get frost bit with added moisture that goes into the air as that water evaporates off your bird. Especially if they are enclosed with that moisture still on them. I've had problems with some more superficial frostbites this winter have been after a warm up in Northern Minnesota (32 + degrees) in which we get rain or freezing rain and then it switches fast to bitter cold. Almost as if that moisture off their feathers doesn't have half a chance to dry it can set you up for frost bite. Superficial or what have you. That's why ventilation is key to release out that moisture. I also don't give wet food like warm oatmeal in subzero temps as it stuck to my Roos wattles and that created a superficial frost bite.Question: we're getting a ton of rain here in SC and my chickens are soaked. Tonight it's supposed to get down to 30 degrees with some ice and snow. Our henhouse is not very well built and one "wall" is just some outdoor fabric. It seems to be getting wet inside even though I put plastic over the metal piece we used as a roof. I'm wondering if I should put the chickens in our crawl space so they can dry off. is tyere chance of freezing or frostbite if the temps get below freezing and they are wet?