Can chickens stand the cold weather?

[Davy Crockett]

Thank you for the information. I am going to simply set it up so I can house them, before they get here on May 15. I am going to insulate my coop, and have a heat lamp for them. (Although I am not what sure a wattage I should use, and should it be a colored light or simply white.) I have also heard that you need a rooster. I am getting laying hens and prob should have mentioned that. By having a rooster; will it increase the amount of eggs? And what's this about a rooster "keeping the hens in line"? I really don't want one but will if it's a benefactor. As far as the cold, I live in the Maritimes of Canada, and it gets pretty bad. I sure appreciate any and all of your help.

 

[bruceha2000]

Thank you for the information. I am going to simply set it up so I can house them, before they get here on May 15. I am going to insulate my coop, and have a heat lamp for them. (Although I am not what sure a wattage I should use, and should it be a colored light or simply white.) I have also heard that you need a rooster. I am getting laying hens and prob should have mentioned that. By having a rooster; will it increase the amount of eggs? And what's this about a rooster "keeping the hens in line"? I really don't want one but will if it's a benefactor. As far as the cold, I live in the Maritimes of Canada, and it gets pretty bad. I sure appreciate any and all of your help.

You can put your location in your profile so people reading posts later on and in other forums won't keep asking "where do you live?"

You say you you are getting laying hens, not chicks? Skip the heat lamp, they DO NOT need it now and don't need it later. My girls had no heat and it got down to about -20F a few times this past winter. Their coop isn't insulated so your girls will have it easier anyway. What you do need is to make sure they have water so research how people in cold climates are providing water, not FROZEN water

You DO NOT need a rooster to get eggs, and won't get more eggs if you DO have a rooster. In fact, some roosters can beat up the hens quite a bit. The main reason to have a rooster is to get more chickens "free". Your girls will be plenty happy without a rooster.

Bruce

 

[FrozenChicken]

Hello I live in northern Alberta Canada and so we get extreme cold winter days here especially in December/ January / and sometimes February and from experience chickens don't do well in extreme cold conditions. We house are birds in a nice barn which is insulated and has electricity so light bulbs which provide a small amount of heat. But the coop is mostly heated by body heat so I have vents in the ceiling to minimize the stench. My building in -40 C will hover around 0 inside so often egg production will fall off for a couple months. I've had a few hardy birds that would roost in the tree's and were hard to catch and they would sleep up in a tree in -20 C and live although combs would freeze.

 

[Davy Crockett]

Thanks Bruce. I have a electric dish that keeps water from freezing, but I may have to get 2 because it's only about a 10" dish and prob 5-6" deep, and it may not be big enough for 12. I am really excited about getting them and wanna do the best I can for them. I have done a lot of research, and enjoy reading the feedback. Thank you all for your input.

 

[Bogtown Chick]

DavyCrocket: I didn't have heat or insulation for my coop until it got about -15 to -20. Then I brought in a red heat lamp and started banking up the outside of the coop with snow. I did the 250 watt brooder bulb. at -33 F the well ventilated, non insulated coop still stayed at -15 F. And the birds were very 'cautious' on the roost and I could tell they were affected by the cold a bit. When my rooster showed signs of frostbite...I was wishing I had insulation all around too. So I started out thinking like Bruce but now just a bit like FrozenChicken after our winter. If the temps this winter stayed there for just a couple days or even a week I think I would have the opinion that no insulation and a light bulb once in a while would suffice...but after this winter of extremes that seemed to last well over a month or more...I'm thinking that if I have the means and back up plan...I should set up differently next winter. There is a balance to all of this to keep your birds winter-hardy, for example going outside on a 5-20 F degree day and not affected if they are used to a 40 or 50 degee warm coop. Going back and forth from those temps ALSO can be hard on them than the straight cold. So you'll have to find your balance if you want cold-hardy conditioned birds. You sort of just have to watch the birds and see how they do. My hens came through tho okay. But the large comb roo I had it was a bit tough for him. This has just been my experience. If you get the right breeds you probably won't have to do much on the insulation and heat... but having it ready just in case...may not be a bad idea either. IDK. I think living where you live...have it ready to go and your decision for heat and insulation is a good one. You can use your heat stingily and just save it for those nasty nasty cold days/ nights. My thoughts and experience only.

 

[JackE]

Look at the link below. On the top of pg24, you'll see that OPEN AIR coops were used years back in Canada when the temps were -40. These coops had no heatlamps, no insulation, and a wide open front. Let the birds acclimate to the weather. You are doing them no favors by added heat. They also already have perfect insulation of their own, and don't need any help from you. Leaf through the link below and see the way it was done almost 100 yrs ago.
Jack

http://archive.org/stream/openairpoultryho00wood#page/24/mode/2up

 

[bruceha2000]

My building in -40 C will hover around 0 inside so often egg production will fall off for a couple months.

Egg production goes down because of the lower number of sunlight hours, not the temps.

I can go for the "just in case" small heat source, everyone has to decide on their emotional "No colder than" tolerance point, just understand it IS NOT the "no colder than" temp for US, it is way, WAY LOWER than that. I put a 150W red brooder lamp (so I guess I sort of lied a little) in the coop (because my wife was concerned when it was pushing down to -20F and you know you can't say no to the wife

). I think we had it plugged in 2 nights, never during the day. They were well acclimated to cold temps before that being outside every day from summer into the depths of winter. There was NOT ONE DAY they didn't all charge out of the coop as soon as the door was opened in the morning. They often made nests in the shavings on the floor of the alley for their "day beds".

My Anconas suffered a little "graying" of their combs (which are HUGE) and a couple of little black spots on their wattles probably from water drops off the nipple waterer. None the worse for wear. No other breed showed ANY evidence of cold or frostbite issues. All 12 were out of the coop every day. Mind you, they can hang in the barn alley rather than go OUTSIDE outside so they don't have to decide "outside in the sun and wind or inside the coop". They didn't go out much when there was snow over a few inches but as it disappeared and before it reappeared (the sky is falling!) they were in and out every day in 0F or below weather of their own accord. All 12 are happy and healthy today. Well, except the two stupid broodies. I don't think they are happy in the broody buster cage.

Bruce

 

[LittleJJs]

What does it mean when a baby chick Is rolling in the hay

 

[mketchum826]

What does it mean when a baby chick Is rolling in the hay

I asked this the other day. I was told it's just a dust bath. Chickens LOVE dust baths and even when they are babies they are learning these "fun" things

 

[cluckaway]

My orpingtons are 6 months old and well feathered. It got down to 36 last night so I put a trouble light on the outside of their coop downstairs facing the wire mesh enclosure. I went out just now in the dark and they were all downstairs milling around like it was day time. I wonder if they were trying to stay close to the light to stay warm or if they thought it was daytime ... all night long??
I turned off the light and hope they are resting- upstairs where their nesting boxes and perches are located.
Any comments?