Can chickens stand the cold weather?

[all4him13309]

I have packed the walls with wood shavings from a local sawmill. I tacked up the empty feed bags to hold it all in. Surprisingly, it's nearly 10 degrees warmer in there now. I do have plenty of ventilation up high as well. I turned a heat lamp on them last night as it was -20 F overnite last night. They did well, but I did catch my leghorn loren shivering-poor girl....brrrrrrr. Orpy was ok by herself on the roost, while others were huddled together. Sylvie my silver laced wyandotte took the center under the heat lamp nustled next to Barney my rooster! Smart girl. I did once catch a brown leghorn hen trying to nestle her head under Barney's wing feathers. Overall, if you have cold hardy chickens they should do well in the severe cold, just keep those drafts off them. Give them plenty of extra warm tap water and they will love you for that. I even gave them leftover veggies and warmed them up for them too and they liked that as well! Good luck

 

[rancher hicks]

We live in one of the coldest parts of Norway, and our chickens(a bantam silkie, a bantam kochin, and five buff orps) are doing great in their unheated coop. They do have a heatlamp, mostly because of my good nights sleep lol, but they rarely are seen sitting under it. For the last couple of weeks we've had temperatures down to -38c, and no heat except for the 150W heatlamp and two horses (they do give out some heat, but not alot). They don't spend time outside though, their coop is a room built inside our stable and they have to exit through the stables main door. They prefer to leave their coop but instead of going outside they roost on the horses or my saddlery and everything gets full of chicken poop

Our orpington roosters have some frostbite on the tip of their combs, but nothing serious. We put vasolin on them every day to prevent it from getting any worse. The only real issue we have is our eggs cracking if we don't get them inside soon enough. But at least they're laying! We got the first egg (they're all 6 months) three weeks ago and since then we've gotten one or two every day. I actually didn't expect them to start laying until spring

I'll bet there is a lot you can teach us on dealing with the cold. Make sure you stay around.

 

[rancher hicks]

I took a piece of fleece and stapled it in the BM's coop so it's just above their heads and hangs down a bit in front to hold their body heat down where they are on the roost.

I prefer a low ceiling so any heat generated will be held near them as they roost at night.

 

[TheReadyBoys]

-35 celsius today.

 

[AVintageLife]

That's a wonderful idea!

 

[Izzymoon]

I had a cracked egg yesterday too. All 5 are laying daily, which is good. I give them a can of warmed corn (25 seconds in the microwave) bread and warm water in the morning. It's minus 7 in Mass today. We've had the heat light on 24/7 now, (reptile 75 wt. bulb) so they have somewhere to warm up, during the day. They all seem to be taking it well so far and hopefully the weather breaks soon

 

[aoxa]

-35 celsius today.

It's inhumane for us to be doing chores in this weather.

I had to pump gas, and couldn't even make it to 20$ without giving up because I couldn't feel my fingers (and I had gloves on!!)

 

[rancher hicks]

It's inhumane for us to be doing chores in this weather.

I had to pump gas, and couldn't even make it to 20$ without giving up because I couldn't feel my fingers (and I had gloves on!!)

thank God we have two full service stations nearby which I use even if it isn't cold. To me the extra 25 - 50 cents is worth to not have get out of the car.

Lord have mercy I was worried I'd find frozen chickens this am. I just realized why the chicken in the Del run are hanging out at night near the waterer. It's heated and must be warm to them, poor things. I do need to dump some more wood shavings in their side of the coop. Only thing is I don't have the Nobles brand which is more chips than saw dust.

I do hope CM has them next month when they go on sale. They didn't last time and the woman there didn't say I could get a rain check. She's not there anymore. Got fired for not being nice to the customers.

One thing to keep in mind these days folks is with the internet people can complain all the way to the top. If you're a manager keep this in mind and warn your employees. This is what happened to her and the manager got orders to let her go.

 

[lymanmomof3]

As someone from Southern Maine I wanted to put my 2 cents in. It was -11 this morning. I don't have electricity out at the coop. I've been worried sick about the girls but they appear to be fine. I've done everything I can to keep them warm. I wrapped the entire run in plastic from ground to top. The top of the coop (run and henhouse) is covered in hardware cloth so they are getting ventilation. The floor has two hay bales that they have strewn around and is now about 6 inches deep throughout the run. Their henhouse has 2 inch foam insulation in the walls. I put a blanket over 2/3 of the roof.

This morning my Australorp had two frozen peaks on her back which I am assuming is from her burying her head in her feathers last night. She wouldn't let me near her this morning...probably due to the oatmeal I had just brought out...I think I've done everything but it's really nasty out and I still worry.

I will for sure be wiring the coop for next year. Like I told my husband, just because they are "fine" doesn't mean they are happy or thriving.

 

[rancher hicks]

We can only do our best. One thing is sure Gramma and Grampa survived this type of cold as did I suspect their chickens. I had a friend lose two to the heat one year.

Face it we can't fix everything. As the song says, "Only the strong survive"..

I'll admit I may run cords to all the coops to turn on a heat light when it gets this cold. I doubt it will disrupt things so much that it will harm them. It's not likely to be enough heat to spoil them and it may be just enough to take the edge off.

Make sure you buy heavy duty or medium duty outdoor cords. And don't go to Walmart. They are NOT cheaper there.