If you have kept hardy breeds at thirty below, tell us your secrets.
Thirty Below?
- Thread starter SunnyAlberta
- Start date
There's no secret. It's brutal.
Since -30F and -30C is virtually the same, there's no nitpicking here.
We have -10F to -20F with some regularity, meaning, it happens almost every winter, for at least a night or two three, Ok maybe even for 4 or 5 nights. LOL
But -30? Not this past winter. It was too mild. But the year before, 2011 and the year before 2010? Oh yes. We had a -30 night. Scary cold, to be honest. This is a guy who doesn't think single digit F temps are really cold, quite honestly, if the sun shines, one doesn't even need a heavy coat. But -30? That is just plain cold.
Since -30F and -30C is virtually the same, there's no nitpicking here.
We have -10F to -20F with some regularity, meaning, it happens almost every winter, for at least a night or two three, Ok maybe even for 4 or 5 nights. LOL
But -30? Not this past winter. It was too mild. But the year before, 2011 and the year before 2010? Oh yes. We had a -30 night. Scary cold, to be honest. This is a guy who doesn't think single digit F temps are really cold, quite honestly, if the sun shines, one doesn't even need a heavy coat. But -30? That is just plain cold.
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A dry, draft free, well insulated coop with a thick bed of straw, and a red heat bulb. Most of the winter I don't use the heat bulb but on very bitter cold nights I'll turn it on. You will still get frost bitten combs though.
- Jun 16, 2012
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Where does all of the humidity the birds create go under those draft-free conditions?
- Thread starter
- #5
What is your definition of "very bitter cold"?
Your question betrays a genuine concern. Can I keep birds in a cold climate. The answer is yes. Chickens have been kept in North America for 300 years, long before the invention of the light bulb. Stay with hardy breeds, breeds made in North America, not the smaller, lighter, more exotic types. Our fore-parents bred these birds for our climate.
First, the bitter nights of -30 only occur a few times a year. That's worth saying. The average night isn't that cold. Look at your monthly average low. Likely it is more like -10F during January and February and perhaps, not even quite that bad.
Second, that temp is usually touched just for a few hours, say 4 am to 6 am. That is just the pre-dawn bitter period.
Third, the inside of the barn/coop normally is a few degrees warmer. There is a thermal mass there that was warmed during the day, there is chicken body heat, heat from the manure, and the earth below. Whenever I've checked, the temperature is 10-12F warmer inside than out. That's good to know.
Our barn isn't insulated. That would just be a play ground for the mice. It is remarkable dry and well ventilated, two things often repeated as key, and it is true. I've not employed a heat lamp, even on the worst nights. The fire danger possibility is just too risky for my blood. The birds have done fine. I've only ever seen the very slightest nip of frost bite on the extra-ordinarily prominent, over sized combed birds and in every case, recovery was very quick. Frankly, those birds with the huge, showy, pointed, spiked combs should just be culled or have the combs dubbed. I no longer keep any bird with showy, spiked comb.
First, the bitter nights of -30 only occur a few times a year. That's worth saying. The average night isn't that cold. Look at your monthly average low. Likely it is more like -10F during January and February and perhaps, not even quite that bad.
Second, that temp is usually touched just for a few hours, say 4 am to 6 am. That is just the pre-dawn bitter period.
Third, the inside of the barn/coop normally is a few degrees warmer. There is a thermal mass there that was warmed during the day, there is chicken body heat, heat from the manure, and the earth below. Whenever I've checked, the temperature is 10-12F warmer inside than out. That's good to know.
Our barn isn't insulated. That would just be a play ground for the mice. It is remarkable dry and well ventilated, two things often repeated as key, and it is true. I've not employed a heat lamp, even on the worst nights. The fire danger possibility is just too risky for my blood. The birds have done fine. I've only ever seen the very slightest nip of frost bite on the extra-ordinarily prominent, over sized combed birds and in every case, recovery was very quick. Frankly, those birds with the huge, showy, pointed, spiked combs should just be culled or have the combs dubbed. I no longer keep any bird with showy, spiked comb.
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Draft free means the wind is not hitting them direct. If your vents are higher than their heads when they are roosting, they will be out of direct breezes, yet the ammonia and moisture can escape.
Kind of think how you can walk around a corner of a building and get out of a wind. As long as the openings are higher than their heads, they will be around that corner no matter which direction the wind comes from.
- Thread starter
- #8
Fred, you are right. I looked at the stats and although we do go to -30, the average lows are much milder. I suppose on a bitterly cold night I hold put the girls in an XL dog crate in the basement. I've also thought of surrounding their teeny coop with straw bales.We do get nasty wind here; that's what brings warm air over the mountains.
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I'm interested in this discussion. I'm in SE Wisconsin so we usually don't get quite as cold as some of you. It's been years since we saw -30 but it does happen. This is my first winter with hens and I want to do the right thing. I only have 2 but have a small well made coop that's very dry. I have one good size vent on an upper wall and the door to the run. I'm thinking I'm going to close the vent all the way on the cold nights and leave the door ajar a little.
I have vents under the edge of the roof. This offers ventilation without causing a draft.
Well below zero, I have Polish in my flock so I turn on the bulb for their sakes. They do quite well. If I didn't have the polish I probably wouln't turn the bulb on until -15 degrees.
Exactly
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