It's 13 degrees outside...And I am worried

[muddy75]

I do not have electricity for my coop or run...

I have put out straw and hay in the run...

I have fine pine shavings in their coop...

I go out each day and toss each to keep it fluffed and not matted...

But tonight, it has dropped to 13 degrees...I have brought out warm to hot oatmeal each dusk for them to have as energy overnight...

Each day, I bring them some sort of greens to eat as well as Grubblies...

But this is the worst frigid cold...I look every day to see if there is frostbite...none yet so far...but some of my girls are lifting their legs to tuck under their bodies...who could blame them!

I am stressed because the temps are just brutal and I do have a thermal dog dish to keep their water from freezing which I change EVERY day (I have an extension cord running 50 feet to the run to power the bowl) and have completely wrapped the run as best as I could but it is not solid and the winter winds and snow can still get in...but MY GOSH it is colder than a Husky would like it!

I have 2 of each...Ameraucanas, Barred Rocks, New Jerseys Reds, Lavender, and Buffs...each I chose because all are cold & hot tolerant but jeesh....how can I make them through double to single-digit cold...I have already had to do miracles with triple digits this past summer!

What am I do to do...I am afraid of everything...I have tried to think of everything I could and I will go out tomorrow and I am afraid to find one of my girls frozen with frostbite or dead...

Is there anything I can do?

By the way, the temp just dropped to 12 degrees...HELP!

i have pheasants, chukar, and coturnix quail in my aviary (they can’t be cooped trained like chickens). it’s been in the teens and 20s so far this year and all are doing well overall. the youngest ones are 6-7 weeks and very small....they pretty much stay inside a plastic bench with food and “unheated” waterer and i break the ice on it every morning.
the other birds and my rabbits have heated waterers on thermostat plug to heat below 45*

 

[Crow-ded house]

Last year in their old coop/run, hubby had built a spacious, warm coop for our birds. Ventilation, roosts everything. One group would play, scratch around, lay eggs, spend the day in their coop. But at night, they would roost outside even in the cold rain no matter how cold it got and we dropped down to single digits a couple nights. They were fine the next day. We now have rebuilt and relicated them all but only have sheltered areas for them at night and added a longer covered run. If my bantams survived that then yours should be ok if you keep them dry. Our first coop experiment we enclosed it for heat and had some birds get frostbite. Now we know about ventilation thanks to this site.

 

[Bhubbard]

My entire flock loves the cold. They are hardy and will be fine. -30 last year in the polar vortex was only time I kept my door shut. I leave window open and vents and keep adding fresh shavings for them to stir up. Also feed them a little cracked corn on the nights below 0 for little extra fuel in them.

 

[sciencegrrrrl]

It's hard in both summer and winter. I do run a heat lamp for mine when it gets into the teens and below, which we've already had. For cold days with little sun, use a q-tip and coat their combs and wattles with olive oil to help prevent frostbite. I had a rooster a few years ago that refused to come in to his shelter on a very cold night and he ended up losing part of his comb and half of his wattles to frostbite. I struggle with keeping their run dry and have to watch for bumblefoot as a result. Keep medicated corn pads and sports tape on hand for that- the "bumble" will come out cleanly if you use these. Totally made that up on my own- the bumblefoot surgery videos are terrible and we're too far from a vet for post-up mishaps!

 

[Dbendell]

I live in Colo where the climate is dry. We've had a very cold fall. 2 feet of snow at Thanksgiving hasn't melted.Temps in the teens and 20s every night for weeks. I have 3 barred rocks, no heater in the coop, and my girls are fine. During the day I let them free-range in my yard so they can find the warmest spots. I mix a little corn or peas into their feed. When it's really cold I mix in suet.

 

[Kellow1]

It’s already been below zero several nights here. I’ve come out in the mornings to find water buckets literally frozen into solid blocks of ice. My chickens are fine. The ones with single combs (as opposed to rose or pea combs) sometimes have a bit of frostbite. If it troubles them, they don’t show it. They were in a metal shed, uninsulated, deep bedding, ventilated at the gable ends for all of last super-cold winter and up until a month ago. Now they’re in a double-wall unheated greenhouse (maybe slightly warmer) but the coldest weather so far was in the metal shed and they’ve been fine. Yours will be fine, too.

If you are having issues with frostbite it is because you have too much moisture in the coop. You need to add more ventilation but avoid drafts!

 

[Kellow1]

Thank you for your post...I am a bit crazy about being a little crazy about my girls but your post will help me through the night until I go out tomorrow. I am worried though and until tomorrow, I won't know right? Every day I worry about them...kindof weird right?

It's not "weird" to love your birds. Just don't put Human traits on them. Their normal body temp is between 105 and 107 degrees and they are wearing down jackets! Give them a dry, draft-free coop with good ventilation and let them be chickens!

 

[nbryan]

Flock of 24 Buff Orps and Black Australorps here in SE Manitoba. 2 Buff Orp roos get their combs trimmed by frostbite, and though they always look ugly as the're frosted down to a pea comb size remnant, they've always ended up fine. I'm sure it's somewhat stressful (do their combs hurt?) but unless you commit a lot of heat to large-combed birds appearance it seems they adapt anyway. Mine all did. It's been < 0F for days or weeks on end but they still want to come out and hang in the sunshine. In those conditions at night I put on 250W ceramic black infrared lamp inside their night coop, but they've been without that and been fine in their coop with -40 temps outside! I have enough ventilation to keep the humidity down but not loose too much heat.
But I would NOT expect a backyard chicken raised in the southern USA to fare very well if dropped into our winter living situation! Any breed! But they are remarkably adaptable and tough birds. A comfortable, well vented roost and they'll be fine.

 

[Kellow1]

First of all, stop feeding cooked oatmeal as it is not healthy for the chickens.
And when you feed extra greens and treats, you are diluting the nutrients in their layer feed which, hopefully, is well-balanced. https://the-chicken-chick.com/the-shocking-effect-of-oatmeal/

 

[JLS]

I live in Maine. My coop is not insulated and I do not heat it either. It was mentioned before in this thread but it is vital, so it is good to repeat:
In freezing temps it so important to have roosts that are wide (e.g. 2x4 on it's side). This allows their feet to stay close to their bodies thus preventing frostbite on their toes. Frostbite on the combs & wattles won't cause disability like frostbitten toes can.