Chunks of ice on back feathers

[AnnPann]

Got down to -7 F last night (real temp, not wind chill). Chickens are in draft free, but well ventilated, uninsulated coop. No heat. No water in coop. Some snow blew in yesterday during the day, but only in an unused corner. So coop is very dry. No frost anywhere, incl on metal roof.

Some of the chickens had small ice chunks on their back feathers this morning (incl 2.5 mo old chicks). All I can figure is it was frozen condensation from their breath (or from another nearby chicken) overnight. Is that right assumption? I looked all over for any other source, but this is all I can figure happened. Anything I’m overlooking?

I moved the ones with ice on them into the garage this morning so they could warm/dry and reset, as some were shivering. Garage is unheated, but certainly warmer than coop. I plan to put them back out in the coop this afternoon (as it will be balmy 4 degrees overnight).

 

[Badchickenpun]

Got down to -7 F last night (real temp, not wind chill). Chickens are in draft free, but well ventilated, uninsulated coop. No heat. No water in coop. Some snow blew in yesterday during the day, but only in an unused corner. So coop is very dry. No frost anywhere, incl on metal roof.

Some of the chickens had small ice chunks on their back feathers this morning (incl 2.5 mo old chicks). All I can figure is it was frozen condensation from their breath (or from another nearby chicken) overnight. Is that right assumption? I looked all over for any other source, but this is all I can figure happened. Anything I’m overlooking?

I moved the ones with ice on them into the garage this morning so they could warm/dry and reset, as some were shivering. Garage is unheated, but certainly warmer than coop. I plan to put them back out in the coop this afternoon (as it will be balmy 4 degrees overnight).

I noticed some... "frost" on the backs of mine this morning as well. The wind is blowing from every direction, so while it is possible it came in UPWARD under a small vent flap, I am not positive. Once they got down and started moving around it disappeared... mine do not want to go out today. Its noon, and still in the negative digits, not including wind chill.
I'm going out every few hours and checking the water. I stuck one of those "snuggle safe" microwavable pucks under their water dish in the coop, hoping it stays thawed a touch longer. I plan to remove all water before dark of course.
On a different note.
I wrapped my run in poly sheeting, clear, but it is always opaque. The wife insisted on clear so the could see out. I bought some clean vinyl visqueen, the only thing I could find that was truly clear, installed it a month ago, much to my disagreement... and yup... just as I thought. Almost all the vinyl is gone, looks like a war zone out there. The poly sheeting held up fine. Note to self, vinyl only works if the thicker than 20 or 30 mil.
So now I have a new chore as soon as it gets above 20 degrees. Wrap it the way I had original intended... live and learn.

 

[DobieLover]

All I can figure is it was frozen condensation from their breath (or from another nearby chicken) overnight. Is that right assumption?

Yes. That is what it is.
They also get it on their chest feathers if they put their faces down into their chests instead of over their wings.
The RIR is picking ice out of the chest feathers of the White Rock in this video on a sub-zero morning.

There's not much that can be done about this. When it gets really cold the vapor freezes too fast to be removed from the coop.