What temperature does is too cold at night? When to add heat lamp and door on coop?

[CedarLane]

Actually, it does not have to be "super warm" even for chicks. They need one warm place, big enough for them all to sleep at once (under a heat lamp, or under a brooder plate, or something of the sort.) Other than that, anything above freezing will do. The chicks will run to eat and drink and play in the cool areas, then back to the warm spot to warm up. In just a week or two, they will be spending small amounts of time warming up, and large amounts of time running and playing.

(That is like what they would do with a broody hen: go under her to get warm, then run off to eat and play again.)

I agree. Make sure they have enough room that they can get away from the heat if it gets too hot for them.

 

[kodster]

It's starting to get cold here in SE North Carolina, but only in the evenings. Our chickens are 8 months old this is our first year raising doing this, so I'm unsure when it gets to be too cold for them at night. It got down to the 40s last nigh.

What temperature is too cold at night? When should we add heat lamp and a door on coop? We had an electronic coop door on a timer but it didn't operate correctly so we took it off. Should they be closed inside in the winter with a heat lamp or is just a heat lamp enough?

Thanks for your help!

Just give them a dry, out of the wind, shelter, and they'll survive just fine in your area, without supplemental heat. Those feathers are like a down coat, so they fluff the feathers up, and the downy feathers underneath the outer feathers trap the air, which insulates them well and keeps them warm.

I live in nw North Dakota... we get down into the sub-zeroes, and with wind chill, it drops even more. So, I'll use supplemental heat for them during those periods where it's dangerous for them, as well as humans, but when we don't get into the sub-zeroes with wind chills, which happens in spurts, then I don't provide it for them, and they're fine with it. They have a large coop that they can stay in as long as they want, and I leave their run door open so they can come and go as they like. Most of the time, they don't like walking on the snow, it freaks them out, but once they get used to it, they're fine with being outside. I lock them up in the extreme cold conditions, though, until it warms back up above zero. There are ventilation vents at the top of the coop as well as three windows that are left cracked a couple of inches, to allow for airflow to prevent moisture and ammonia build-up when I close it up during the coldest times of winter.

 

[RubyLady]

Heck, we put the 5 week old chicks into a coop and then the nights went below 60 and into the 40s, so we just put a few water jugs with hot water in and they were fine. Chickens are remarkably hardy. It's going into the 30s next week at night and they'll be about 7 weeks old. They are running around outside in 45F+ and they seem fine and happy to do so. They don't seem to be clumping up together as if they are cold and they do have the coop to go into if they need to with wool fleece on the wall, two feather duster "mamas" and a roll of synthetic fleece to stand on or curl up with if they feel chilly. They should be outgrowing that pretty soon.

 

[HockeyMom328]

If the temperature is above zero (fahrenheit), healthy adult chickens should not need a heat lamp. Many people have chickens that are fine in lower temperatures than that.

Here is a thread from last year that talks about chickens and cold temperatures. It has a number of posts from people in cold climates:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/how-cold-is-too-cold-for-my-chickens.1557629/

One thing that might be important is for the chickens to get used to the temperature gradually, as the seasons change. (This would come up if you took a sick chicken into your house for a few weeks, or if someone moved chickens from one climate to a very different climate.)

If you provide a heat lamp, and the chickens are adapted to the temperature that provides, they can have trouble if that heat quits (the electric power goes out, or the bulb breaks, or something like that.)

They do need liquid water to drink, so if it gets cold enough to freeze their water, you need to either bring them fresh unfrozen water, or have a heated water dish. I don't know enough about your climate to tell how often this will be an issue. If you get temperatures where water freezes at night but not during the day, putting out fresh water each morning will take care of the matter.


Don't close them in. Just make sure that the roost where they sleep does not have actual wind blowing on it. "Actual wind" meaning enough to stir up their feathers.

Chickens stay warm by trapping warm air in their feathers. If the wind blows their feathers around, the warm air blows away, and their body will have to warm up some more. But if they are in a spot that is not windy, they can keep that nice layer of warm air under their feathers, and be cozy all night long. In the daytime, they can sit there and be warm too, or they can run around (exercise makes heat).

Question regarding “do note close them in”….understand needing the ventilation, but can I assume this means don’t close them in 24 hours? So cold weather (Minnesota cold), if I have the windows closed, and the chicken door closed at night (but open during day), I’m assuming closed up overnight is fine?! It’s about an 8x10 shed/coop with 13 chickens. I can imagine there will be many subzero days as well, where they may appreciate us keeping their coop door closed for a bit? (We do have a small hole cut in wall to feed electric cord… so maybe that is just enough for fresh air on the extreme days?!

 

[rosemarythyme]

So cold weather (Minnesota cold), if I have the windows closed, and the chicken door closed at night (but open during day), I’m assuming closed up overnight is fine?!

You need ventilation even more at night when they're in the coop, breathing and pooping add a lot of moisture and ammonia to a closed environment.

 

[NatJ]

Question regarding “do note close them in”….understand needing the ventilation, but can I assume this means don’t close them in 24 hours? So cold weather (Minnesota cold), if I have the windows closed, and the chicken door closed at night (but open during day), I’m assuming closed up overnight is fine?! It’s about an 8x10 shed/coop with 13 chickens. I can imagine there will be many subzero days as well, where they may appreciate us keeping their coop door closed for a bit? (We do have a small hole cut in wall to feed electric cord… so maybe that is just enough for fresh air on the extreme days?!

Actually, ventilation is recommended even on those very cold nights.

Some people post nice drawings of airflow with the air going in one opening and out of another in a way that does not blow on the roosting chickens (because it is above their heads, or under their feet, or on the other side of the coop.) Any of those patterns will take out moist air and ammonia without ruffling the chickens' feathers enough to matter. The air near the chickens is only moving slowly, but the air near the windows or vents is doing enough total moving to make a big difference.

Here is one article that talks about ventilation:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/repecka-illustrates-coop-ventilation.77659/

 

[HockeyMom328]

Actually, ventilation is recommended even on those very cold nights.

Some people post nice drawings of airflow with the air going in one opening and out of another in a way that does not blow on the roosting chickens (because it is above their heads, or under their feet, or on the other side of the coop.) Any of those patterns will take out moist air and ammonia without ruffling the chickens' feathers enough to matter. The air near the chickens is only moving slowly, but the air near the windows or vents is doing enough total moving to make a big difference.

Here is one article that talks about ventilation:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/repecka-illustrates-coop-ventilation.77659/

Thank you! Great info!

 

[noelgeorgia]

Just give them a dry, out of the wind, shelter, and they'll survive just fine in your area, without supplemental heat. Those feathers are like a down coat, so they fluff the feathers up, and the downy feathers underneath the outer feathers trap the air, which insulates them well and keeps them warm.

I live in nw North Dakota... we get down into the sub-zeroes, and with wind chill, it drops even more. So, I'll use supplemental heat for them during those periods where it's dangerous for them, as well as humans, but when we don't get into the sub-zeroes with wind chills, which happens in spurts, then I don't provide it for them, and they're fine with it. They have a large coop that they can stay in as long as they want, and I leave their run door open so they can come and go as they like. Most of the time, they don't like walking on the snow, it freaks them out, but once they get used to it, they're fine with being outside. I lock them up in the extreme cold conditions, though, until it warms back up above zero. There are ventilation vents at the top of the coop as well as three windows that are left cracked a couple of inches, to allow for airflow to prevent moisture and ammonia build-up when I close it up during the coldest times of winter.

Thanks so much for the reply. I guess if they can survive sub zeroes in ND they'll be just fine here in NC

 

[Dragonfly Farm]

It's starting to get cold here in SE North Carolina, but only in the evenings. Our chickens are 8 months old this is our first year raising doing this, so I'm unsure when it gets to be too cold for them at night. It got down to the 40s last nigh.

What temperature is too cold at night? When should we add heat lamp and a door on coop? We had an electronic coop door on a timer but it didn't operate correctly so we took it off. Should they be closed inside in the winter with a heat lamp or is just a heat lamp enough?

Thanks for your help!

I used to have a heat lamp for my girls til I read on this website that they don’t need heat-we were in Maine, it was cold. I don’t use any heat source now except that their water is in an electric dog water dish so it never freezes. I would say yes, you will want to close them up at night. Better to have doors than heaters. My disabled hen winters with us in SC. She is never cold and doesn’t even have a heated water bowl

 

[noelgeorgia]

I used to have a heat lamp for my girls til I read on this website that they don’t need heat-we were in Maine, it was cold. I don’t use any heat source now except that their water is in an electric dog water dish so it never freezes. I would say yes, you will want to close them up at night. Better to have doors than heaters. My disabled hen winters with us in SC. She is never cold and doesn’t even have a heated water bowl

That's so crazy they don't need heat but I'm learning . Good to know my girls and roo are comfy without it though. I do close them in at night but they have an open door to the run until I go let them out to free range in the morning. It sounds like I could safely raise chicks outdoors in a coop with little warmers for them to get under too. We had them inside up until they were almost 2 months old which I will never do again lol. I was so afraid the cold would be too much for them. So sweet you have a hen that winters in SC with you. She's a lucky girl!