REALLY cold weather

[Kathie816]

We are expecting temps as low as -15 to -20 next week. How cold hardy are cold hardty chickens? Two Buff Orps and a Rhode Island Red share a tractor coop. My chicken dealer (I'm new) said they don't need any heat source during the winter, but seriously??

 

[MaineMooseChick]

I live in northwestern Maine and we've already seen -30 air temps and -60 windchills. I also was told by several people in the area that have chickens that it was not necessary to insulate their coop. One lady told me that her chickens get frostbite on their combs, but otherwise are usually fine. She says once in a while she'll find one poor frozen chicken that had died during the night. Well, needless to say, I went ahead and fully insulated my coop. I have a 250 watt red heat bulb in there to boot, and it is still cold in there. I use wood shavings as a substrate and even insulated under the floor, and the poo and shavings is completely frozen. It's -11 here right now and the wind is blowing and I feel so bad for the poor things. I too have cold hardy chickens: 9 red stars and 6 buff orpingtons. Despite the cold wave we've had, they seem to be alright. I just didn't have the heart to leave them in an uninsulated coop knowing what kind of winters we have. But that's just me.

 

[Egghead_Jr]

Uninsulated and no heat here in Northern NH. Got to -20F mid December, today's high was 1F and will dip to -16 or so tonight. No worries. I've never lost a bird to cold weather. Summer heat? Yes, was not diligent enough refreshing cold drinking water and lack of ample shade. Lost a black Rock.

I've no idea why people state the wind chill. Yes wind does matter if your in the elements but your run should have the prevailing wind sides covered with a tarp hence the wind does not matter. And there should not be "wind" in your coop. For bragging rights I'll say the wind chill was -25F while I was bringing water to the chickens this morning.

 

[queenofrichmond]

Chickens need some cold and ventilation to avoid sickness in the winter. I live in Wisconsin and we do not heat our coop.
My bantams i do take to the garage hutch when its so low because of how small they are. Still no heat.
If they get too used to heat and the bulb burns out they can parrish. They need to adjust.
Ive been feeding oatmeal mash, worms and cracked corn to help them heat them selves.

Its below zero and they will just huddle together.

 

[Naturegirl44]

Its been -25c to -32c every day here in Northern Ontario (NW Algonquin Park area) for the last week and we don't have an insulated coop. Being first time chicken parents we were really worried. We put straw bales around the outside of the coop for a bit of insulation. We have a small heater hanging from the ceiling but it doesn't do much as the water is frozen every morning. (its hanging right over the water) They get a new fresh bucket of water every morning and again at about 5:30pm before it gets really dark. I have found that the pine chips are a pain in the butt! frozen solid!! so I have started using straw in the nesting boxes instead.
So far so good! they seem really happy and comfortable. I screwed a meal worm suet to the wall and they are peeking away at it. I have heard suets should only be used in really cold weather for added fat so it won't be a regular thing. I have also added black oil sunflower seeds to there feed and scratch and they love them!!
Today I gave them a dinner treat. lol they ate it all in 5 minutes flat!! (I have 15 hens and 1 Roo)

It has a can of cooked ham, chopped up bread, blueberries, sunflower seeds, celery and lettuce topped up with some probiotic yogurt lol

 

[fiberart57]

I've not had much luck with those water heaters, if you read the specs some are only good to 15 degrees. A heated dog water bowl is a better option. I've never had mine freeze completely.

Three chickens in a coop might be okay depending upon how big the tractor house is. If they're snug and can heat each other, they should be okay. If there's more room than, say 12 square feet, you might try to protect them. Buffs and RRs are pretty cold tolerant, but have their limits.

I've had success by boiling water, pouring it into a one gallon plastic container, water jug is fine, and burying it in the sawdust or shavings up to the cap. It actually has stayed liquid at 15 below here in Colorado throughout the night. Water loses its heat more slowly, so the bigger the container, like two gallon maybe, the better.

Good luck, stay warm, Mary

 

[Bocrates]

I've no idea why people state the wind chill. Yes wind does matter if your in the elements but your run should have the prevailing wind sides covered with a tarp hence the wind does not matter. And there should not be "wind" in your coop. For bragging rights I'll say the wind chill was -25F while I was bringing water to the chickens this morning.

I've often thought wind chill was an irrelevant measure of temperature when it comes to chicken husbandry as well. If you are concerned anout wind chill then you are failing your chickens. Chickens should always have an option to go into a wind free zone, and it doesn't take much work to give them that. We were at 12F last weekend, which is normal for our gals this time of year. However we had winds that hit 109mph near our place by Kenosha Pass (http://www.corymottice.com/2014/01/11/peak-wind-gusts-from-january-10-15-2014/). So that is a wind chill of -22F, but we have our coop and part of our run wind proofed, so our hens played around like it was another 12F day. Much more lively than on a -22F air temp day. A wind free coop and the right breeds can go well into the negatives without issue. The effect of the wind is totally controllable.

 

[RedMeadowFarm]

I am in North Minnesota with over -40f last winter. We used a 60watt bulb in a cinder block with water over that. Except for extreme days kept water from fully freezing and block acted as a radient heater for the birds.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I would say make sure you pick cold hardy breeds, and I'm not as cold as you here in Wisconsin , but I know south facing windows will be adored by your chickens, and I always wanted a greenhouse run in some form or another, but it is impractical to me, Sun, right breeds, good ventilation without direct drafts, warm water twice a day, warm foods like oatmeal or warm water poured over their layer ration. Some might think to use heat lamps like you are doing for your dogs, but here in Wisconsin most barn fires are from heat lamps, and in my opinion is not only a waste, but can cause more problems because your birds aren't acclimated, your light or heat goes out and your birds are dead. I have never had a bird freeze, gets down to -40 some nights here.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I am in Wisconsin, we get all our winter weather from Canada, so there are a lot of below zero, and minus 20-40 wind chills, and some days that is the high temperature, thanks for that.
If you use shavings make sure they are pine, as cedar can kill your birds with the fumes. I always use hay, straw is just oat stems, no real value as a food source, my birds eat the leaves of things that are in the bales, grass, dandelion, plantains, keeps them busy, and off the floor.