How cold is TOO cold for a chicken?

[mobius]

If heat were necessary and we weren't doing it I think we would be hearing about a LOT more froze-to-death chickens on this forum.

 

[bobbi-j]

If heat were necessary and we weren't doing it I think we would be hearing about a LOT more froze-to-death chickens on this forum.

Good point!

 

[ckelley]

Got to -17 this am. I have a remote thermometer, and it was 50* in there- the sensor was being laid on it think. Lol. Either way, they were very happy girls when I checked on them. Walking around the coop and not all huddled together.

I do have one of those flat panel under the desk leg warmers that issues a very minimal amount of heat. They can get right up under it if they need to- it is mounted at an angel.

I only have 4 girls right now, 8 weeks old, but they are dong very well.

 

[ckelley]

Double post

 

[ShelleyHar]

Yep it got below 0 here in northern Utah and I checked my chickens just before sun up and they were fine. I do use the logic from the previous post made that as long as they are in a draft free, dry area, they'll be fine. Their food or water isn't in the coop they roost in and they were fine with that also. Our coop is made with a small pull up style door where they can hop up in and it's always open. On super cold nights I'll just go shove some straw in the opening to keep the draft at bay and they can scratch their way out of it in the morning. It's like a winter game for chickens.

 

[Blooie]

In response to the post by @Marrum:

We just went through a cold snap here in northwestern Wyoming - temps of 23 below zero. Even the Silkies are fine with no supplemental heat. I know that the theory is that if the heat lamp is secured there is no way for it to fall into the bedding and cause a fire. But that lamp doesn't NEED to fall into the bedding to cause a fire. Panicked birds can fly into it and those feathers are extremely combustible due to the oils and dander in them. Dust accumulates on the bulb and the housing of the heat lamp and that, too, is combustible. I had wisps of smoke that came up off a regular 60 watt light bulb I was using when I flipped on the light just to do my chores out there in the early darkness a couple of years ago.

The risk of fire is too great to ignore, in my opinion, especially when all the other logical reasons not to provide heat that @Beekissed cited are so solid. So far this season two people lost their coops and chickens to heat lamp fires within a couple of days of each other. I'm going to give you the links, and as you read their posts just listen to the anguish of their losses.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/1145874/only-joined-after-my-coop-burnt

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/1145876/dont-use-heat-bulbs

And we had one very close to home this spring, just a few miles down the road from us. The final investigation on this fire determined that it was, indeed, the heat lamp which caused it:




If nothing else can convince you not to use artificial heat, at least be sensible and don't use a heat lamp. There are other options, such as Sweeter Heaters, etc., but again, with the superb insulating qualities of feathers, the common sense approach to a dry environment, and not trying to base their needs on ours, they'll do fine all winter. The day I took this photo it was -9 degrees. We just opened the run door and out they came, and they didn't mind it a bit. Notice that there are 2 Silkies out with the other chickens.

 

[Radena]

Might not be too cold for the chickens. But I think I need to have a low heat nest boxes. Eggs keep freezing if I dont get them collect.

 

[Beekissed]

Might not be too cold for the chickens. But I think I need to have a low heat nest boxes. Eggs keep freezing if I dont get them collect.

What kind of nesting materials are you using?

 

[ckelley]

What kind of nesting materials are you using?

I've had this happen too. I've used fine wood chips. What would you suggest?

 

[Beekissed]

I've had this happen too. I've used fine wood chips. What would you suggest?

Hay...always...hay. Wood chips and straw both move to one side when a hen settles into a nest and tries to form the nesting materials into a bowl shape, leaving the eggs at the bottom on bare wood, metal or plastic, with no real insulation from the cold because these materials never form a bowl. Keep a deep lip on your nest boxes and fill them with a deep helping of hay, using your hands to sort of form that familiar bowl shape with plenty of hay pulled up on the sides and a thick layer at the bottom. The hens will take it from there and perfect that bowl.

I can leave eggs in the nest all day long until evening in -18* weather and nary a frozen egg. If I leave them overnight in that weather, I'll get a few that will freeze but I don't normally do that in subzero weather. Anything 20* and above I can leave those eggs in the nest a couple of days and nights while I'm out of town and no freezing at all.