I have Golds & Silvers, now almost 6 months old, hitting winter. Last night was 12 degrees, high today was 38. When they say "cold hardy" does that mean really cold hardy? I don't have a chicken size door on the chicken house, just a 6 x 2 foot door. It leads to a secure 10 x 20 run with chicken wire top and it is inside another chainlink horse paddock with electric fence on the outside of that to keep coyotes etc off of it, so very secure at night. Once they were fully feathered I was leaving the chicken house door open at night, but now I've been closing it because of cold temps at night. If it's windy or snowy I would think it would be necessary for sure, but what about just a still cold night? The house is 8 x 7 feet. It is only about 5 degrees warmer in the house than outside, but because the door is a people size door I fear the drafts would be dangerous. This is my first go at raising chickens. There are 9 hens and 2 roos. Keep closing the door all winter or do any of you have really tough birds that have proved that cold hardy is really cold hardy? Thanks in advance from a newbie!
Keep the coop clean and well ventilated and they will be fine. The problems occur when a coop isn't kept clean and the ammonia smell causes respiratory issues during longer coop up winter times. I also add more shavings for them to burrow into but their feathers keep them well insulated. I had a few nights of -19 and my birds were snuggled up together but fine.