How cold is too cold?

[Ilovemychicks08]

You make the world a warmer place for us all

I try to help all people and animals!

 

[countrybumpkin5]

Birds do die in winter, we find them in the woods after a cold snap. They make nests inside trees or in barns/house roofs. Animals or bugs eat the dead.

And chickens are not bred to live outside, they are bred to give an unnatural number of eggs and make minimal feathers. (Feathers cost feed and don't increase sale price of flesh or eggs.) My Leghorns lay 365 days a year, but they have lots of bald spots and no fat on them, two of them never have belly feathers, 3 are molting at the moment. (The timing is not genius, my RIRs did their molt weeks ago) Where my RIR have nice fluffy butts, they do not lay as often, and sometimes stop for a while younger than my LH.

Don't forget wild birds lay only to breed, in the spring, and put on a layer of fat before winter. They sleep through the cold temperatures by hibernating. They are not equal.

That's absolutely correct. Many birds died here this last couple of days, SW Missouri, where wind chills were in the negative 40s and temps 10 to 15 below for extended periods. There are places that are littered with dead birds. Almost no evergreens left for them and brushy fence rows have long been bulldozed out. Also, birds don't have combs and wattles. There are many differences, as you note. I have one rooster I noticed today that clearly got pretty serious frostbite on his comb and wattle and they were inside an unheated heavily strawed coop because they refused to come back outside after the snow and cold hit the first afternoon. They are just 8 months old and this was their first experience with severe cold temps and strong wind.

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

You probably know this but check their beaks - ex batts often have have their upper beaks trimmed off. They might not have grown back yet or might be growing back odd so that it is more difficult for them to eat than it should be. I don't know how long it takes for them to grow back.

Battery hens with trimmed beaks don’t grow their beaks back

 

[Cinnaminute]

It doesn't get very cold here in Georgia but the other night as it fell to 12°F (negative with the wind chill, that wind was intense), I went to check on my 6 EEs and I could see that they were visibly uncomfortable. This is my first year of having chickens, their first winter, first coop... so I'm learning a lot. I really had no idea how warm they'd stay but just in case I had the coop packed full, the vents closed a bit to try to keep out the draft, cardboard around the run to keep wind from whipping up inside and around the coop, a tarp over the roof... I was in full panic mode, haha. I tried to put petroleum jelly on their combs/waddles but they were being weird about me putting stuff on them. Figured it was worth a try. They were out of the wind and their coop was dry.

But still, they looked so miserable I went ahead and brought them in. Even my feistiest girl (who'll avoid me picking her up and will pinch me because she's a brat and the boss of the group) huddled into my arms like a big baby when I scooped her out of the coop. Each let me cuddle them as I brought them inside (and really only two of my six are cuddly so that says a lot to me). I like to err on the side of caution myself. It at least eases my anxiety and helps me sleep at night. Plus, I like to save money so usually it's only in the 50s Fahrenheit in my own home so they still get some cold. And it's not too different from the 30s-40s outside usually is.

 

[Chickeeaholic]

But still, they looked so miserable I went ahead and brought them in. Even my feistiest girl (who'll avoid me picking her up and will pinch me because she's a brat and the boss of the group) huddled into my arms like a big baby when I scooped her out of the coop. Each let me cuddle them as I brought them inside (and really only two of my six are cuddly so that says a lot to me). I like to err on the side of caution myself. It at least eases my anxiety and helps me sleep at night. Plus, I like to save money so usually it's only in the 50s Fahrenheit in my own home so they still get some cold. And it's not too different from the 30s-40s outside usually is.

I have a feisty girl too who is bossy and slaps me in face every time I put her down because she doesn’t like being picked up in the first place

Your a good chicken mama

 

[centrarchid]

Mine chickens survived outside, some in trees during the worst of this storm event, and also not frostbite excepting to the comb and wattles on the roosters. All my chickens outside this round were fully adult and in good feather. Those that were not I moved inside. That said, all the birds outside where stressed, even those living in a barn. The cold was enough to cause behavior changes and less interest in feeding for at least 36 hours. I have had them survive even harsher conditions in the past, again with some living outside and without buildings. The key is the birds must be able to protect extremities and when they can, they will retreat to more protected locations.

 

[theoldchick]

Six degrees at my farm this morning. My 12 year old Jersey Giant is totally rocking this frigid air. I'm totally amazed. Of course she and her companion are in a nice dry area that is protected from the wind. She and her buddy enjoyed a handful of dry dog food and warm sweet peas as a reward for surviving the night.

 

[Iluveggers]

Yesterday was a low of 4F. Today was high of 21F. Ladies did pretty good at night, and this afternoon when it was 20 for a significant amount of time they were foraging around like a heat wave. I’m shocked how well they did. We should have high of 50 by the end of the week. I am impressed on how they all did for their first cold snap. Glad I picked breeds known for being cold hardy.

 

[FloppyGirl]

We had several days of -35C to -40C> and it was rough.

 

[Mother-Hen-Michele]

The reason for not rubbing combs that might be frost bitten is that the tissues are much more susceptiblame to damage from shear forces. It is similar to bed sores in people in this aspect.

Thank you, that makes sense.