How cold is TOO cold for a chicken?

[ChickenNOOB]

I'm sort of worried about some cold fronts coming around my area. it hasn't been a problem until now, because I live further south. can anyone tell me when chickens will catch sicknesses or need a heat lamp? In farenhiet OR celcius?

 

[NYREDS]

I live in upstate New York. Winters here are long & fairly cold ie: 20 below is not unusual.
I don't try to heat my coop & don't know anyone who does. If your coop is draft free & dry you shouldn't have any illness problems.
Pheasants, Partridge & Turkeys,all relatives of barnyard birds, live outdoors all winter. They come with down coats remember.

 

[Wildsky]

Mine made it through last winter with only a heater for their water.
Our low went down to -26

 

[ebonykawai]

I'm between Buffalo and Niagara Falls, NY and don't use any heat. My neighbor has bantams and doesn't heat either. The chickens are out all winter and frolic in the snow, lol.

 

[Mrs MIA]

Someone else mentioned this once before, but think of the chickadees that you see outside all winter... they don't have a heated coop to go to sleep in every night. I put my 6-8 week olds out in the main coop/pen when we were dipping into the 40s at night. We now routinely dip below freezing and beyond and the chicks/chickens are just fine. Added a little extra corn to the diet now, but no heat in the coop yet. All their down-covered bodies keep the coop so warm I haven't even had to chip out the waterer yet.

Biggest thing is going to be ventilation. They generate a LOT of moisture. But we see -30 to -40F most winters for a month or two, never getting above 0F, and I ALWAYS see the birds outside.

Y'all worry too much.

 

[JonB]

I'm continually amazed by how many people keep insisting on heat lamps, despite constant assurances on the lack of need. When people from Alaska, Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin, the Dakotas and the like are not using them, that should tell you right there!

When you have cold hardy breeds, you have nothing to worry about. These birds are considerably tougher than you could ever imagine, and they know how to survive and adapt. When they've been raised all through the year, nature sets them up for survival, if they're healthy.

I live in Gaylord, MI. Lots of snow, lots of cold, lots of wind. This is my first year of chickens, and this site, along with constant observation and interaction, has taught me lots of information. I haven't had a single problem with my birds yet. Two have been moulting, and even on the -25 base temps days; not a problem. They'll eat snow, huddle together and generally just do what they need to, in order to satisfy their needs.

Please don't take this the wrong way, nor view me as a know-it-all. Far from any of that. I just really paid attention and go by what my birds tell me. I've also read and read and read about chickens. I'm quite satisfied by what I've learned and gained since March of this past year. Next year, will be even better for my girls. Enjoy your birds everyone!

 

[Beekissed]

Quote:
Faulty logic. If you have been wearing a down and feather coat all your life and have been slowly conditioning to live outdoors and then conditioning for cold weather all fall/winter, then you could possibly say the chickens would be feeling like you are feeling. But you have not and are not wearing winter feathering, nor have you been living outdoors conditioning for this kind of life, nor do you have the same circulation that a chicken has, which is specialized and designed for outdoor living.

So, you add heat to the mix because YOU want to feel warmer, but the poor bird now has two climates with which to contend....an outside temp, to which it has slowly acclimatized and is well suited for and now a heated interior that it has to move in and out of if it wants to be a chicken, living a chicken's kind of life. As it moves indoors to the heat it will start to throw off humidity due to the temp changes, then move outdoors where that humidity will chill and cause it to be even colder because now those warm feathers are a little moist.

Imagine wearing down from head to your knees and having to come in by a wood fire and sit for awhile....pretty soon you'd be sweating, then go outdoors in the cold and see how that sweat renders your down a less efficient due to the sweat layer on your skin.

14* is hardly too cold for a chicken...there are chickens on this forum that are living in -35* temps right now that are thriving, as they do every year, even in open air coops like the Wood's design.

To each his own, as they say, but not a lot of logical thinking going into the process and sure makes it tough on the birds when humans start putting the birds in a human's place.

 

[WthrLady]

-22° F ad out of the wind. Yes. Neg 22.

They were fine. They did guilt me into warm grits and peas for their breakfast.

 

[jermoatc]

You wanna talk about COLD hardy? Last night when I went out to shut my coop door for the night it was 1 degree F. This morning when I went out to open the door and feed it was -9 F. I apparently didn't see one of my 15 week old white plymouth rock hens curled up in the snow last night. She came happily clucking over to me this morning after staying out side all night in -5 F - -10 F. That is what I call a tough bird. I never heat my coop and we have had several cold snaps into the negative teens. This is my first incidence of accidentally not getting all my birds in for the night in these temps. Amazing how tough they are.

 

[TalkALittle]

Not Bee, but I'll chime in on the subject of your insulation. I would remove it at the eaves. I know you want to keep in warmth, but in doing so you are also keeping in any moisture produced by the birds and the poop. Moisture laden warm(er) air rises, so up high is exactly where you do want the coop open.