How cold is too cold?

[aart]

They have access to their layers crumble (wont eat pellets?) Which has the right amount of protein, corn, wheat, meal worms, and a small amount of suet treats (advised by vet). On cold days they get porridge mixed with wheat. They just dont ever put weight on?

I'd cut out all but the layer crumble(what brand/model?) and lots of fresh plain water.
Maybe the occasional mealworm treat.
I assume you have a way to keep the water thawed at all times?

My vet isnt too worried as they cant find a cause but would be nice for them to bulk out a bit.

 

[Jenni Hen]

Lowering stress can help. So, things like keeping to a routine, moving slowly and predictably when with them, not reaching over their heads, letting them go up to roost (even not far up can satisfy this instinct) and so on.

I didn't realise that they were so sensitive to stress that I would consider transient. I try to keep the same routine and to behave 'courteously' so they don't get alarmed but I didn't know that there could be knock-on effects.
I've chosen coops on legs so as to increase their living space and they like going underneath the coops, but I didn't know that going up to roost was so important to their instincts. So many coops are just low on the ground, with low perches.

 

[Egghead_Jr]

I have six week old chicks right now that grew up with the flock. Monday morning was -14 C when I opened the back door to bring food. They came running through two inches of snow.

Nothing wrong with small amounts of suet in winter. I use sunflower seeds for fat content. During the cold weeks, we've not gotten there yet, the birds get a few handfuls each morning. When the birds don't readily come out of the coop in morning for food you know it's getting cold. We have a covered, snow free, area in front of the coop for food and water. They are reluctant to leave coop when it's -18 C and below. That's when I start to use the sunflower seed in morning.

The answer to your thread title question is there are days when no animal or bird is moving. -22 C highs for a day and even the chickadee stay puffed up on tree limbs all day. That does not happen often and take it with a grain of salt. A healthy animal will hunker down and conserve heat until warmer weather. I toss sunflower seed in the coop on those days. Your local wildlife will tell you when it's too cold if you observe them. A little extra care for your livestock on those days is not a bad thing but don't confuse that with when you are cold that your chickens are cold.

 

[Jenni Hen]

t don't confuse that with when you are cold that your chickens are cold.

This morning, I was asking myself why I do exactly that! I think it's because they weren't raised to be robust (kept on deep shavings inside a shed until 5 months old) and have me well-trained to attend to their preferences!
Also I had a much-loved Siamese cats who could never grow a winter coats. When he got old, he would cry and gaze piteously at the log burner if the temperature dropped below 18 C!

 

[Egghead_Jr]

Chickens and bees have a similarity. There is a latitude where there are no "feral" bees. They can't make winter. It's about that latitude people need to insulate and perhaps moderately heat coops. Not sure what latitude that is but well North of me and I'm in a 3b climate zone. I realize England does not use our USDA climate zone system but you'd be in zone 8 or 9 if you did. That compares to our northern California or South Carolina winters.

Beekeepers at those latitudes use a lot of insulation and commercial operations move hives into barns/sheds where forced ventilation is needed to clear out the CO2 and keep the temperature low enough the colonies stay in a cluster.

 

[Jenni Hen]

I realize England does not use our USDA climate zone system but you'd be in zone 8 or 9 if you did. That compares to our northern California or South Carolina winters.

Our weather is very changeable and damp due to being an island and getting weather from all directions. If the wind's from the North or East it's very cold, but from due South /Africa it's much warmer and from the West / the Atlantic it's much wetter. At the moment, overnight temperatures are -6 C here (21 F) and rising to freezing point during the day, which I think might be colder than California. We've just had two days of freezing fog, which I never quite understand - how can there be fog when the water is frozen??
We do have wild bees of various sorts but I'm not sure where they hibernate. I think most die out and just the queen survives. We also have solitary bees that live in deep narrow holes eg in walls,

 

[Jenni Hen]

I realize England does not use our USDA climate zone system but you'd be in zone 8 or 9 if you did.

Guess what? After some Googling I've discovered that we DO use the USDA zones! It seems that the RHA (Royal Horticultural Society) has created zones for the UK based on the US system and you're right, most of it is zone 8. So now I live in retired luxury in zone 8 but most of my life I've been in zone 7. It sounds very challenging to live in 3b through the winter.
Here's the RHS map:

 

[3KillerBs]

Guess what? After some Googling I've discovered that we DO use the USDA zones! It seems that the RHA (Royal Horticultural Society) has created zones for the UK based on the US system and you're right, most of it is zone 8. So now I live in retired luxury in zone 8 but most of my life I've been in zone 7. It sounds very challenging to live in 3b through the winter.
Here's the RHS map:

Cool!

I'm right on the border of zone 7b and 8a (literally -- as best I can read the map, the line is within 5 miles of my house). You might be wetter than I am though.

 

[Iluveggers]

I am zone 5. Wish it was a higher number! Can’t even imagine growing in zone 3!

 

[Ridgerunner]

After some Googling I've discovered that we DO use the USDA zones!

Those have nothing to do with growing in the summer. The hardiness zones are about winter temperatures and freezing. What perennials (trees, shrubs, flowers, etc) can survive your winters. You are not going to find hardiness zones assigned to tomatoes, watermelon, or beans. You will find them with fruit trees.

The UK used the basic system the USDA uses but calculate the numbers differently. The USDA uses an average of winter lows, the UK uses lowest recorded temperature. That may explain why the UK numbers are more consistent with the Deep South numbers in the US. I lived in the UK for a year many decades ago, the climates are not that similar.