-20 degrees F here tonight, worried about my flock…

[77horses]

I’m in northern New England so we’re used to the cold but tonight is pretty rough. It’s getting down to -20 degrees F tonight and the weather app says it currently feels like -41 degrees with the wind chill. We have a small flock in a well-built wooden coop with a heat lamp on all winter, but I’m worried about them tonight. We have a couple elderly hens that I’m especially worried about. I know chickens can tolerate cold temps pretty well but still…should I consider bringing them inside for the night? Or would that shock their system and make matters worse?

 

[Mr Spot]

I'm not an expert by any means but it would seem like to me if you have a good wooden coop with a heat lamp they should be ok but use your judgement on that. I live in Texas and our local weatherman on TV was talking about how cold it is up where you live. He said at 10pm our time a place up there called Mt. Washington the current wind chill was -104 F. I would hate to know I lived there must less have outside animals to worry about.

 

[77horses]

I'm not an expert by any means but it would seem like to me if you have a good wooden coop with a heat lamp they should be ok but use your judgement on that. I live in Texas and our local weatherman on TV was talking about how cold it is up where you live. He said at 10pm our time a place up there called Mt. Washington the current wind chill was -104 F. I would hate to know I lived there must less have outside animals to worry about.

Yeah -104 is a new record for lowest recorded temp in the US, too. Mount Washington is a couple hours away from us. It’s definitely an extreme, I couldn’t imagine being up there right now.
Growing up here you get used to the cold (heck I love the snow, until it turns into a slushy mess in May/April at least) but this cold snap we’re getting today into tomorrow isn’t the norm. It’s usually only around 20-35 degrees during the day this time of year which is fine. We’ve had a pretty mild winter this year with it mostly being in the 30s to 40s and not much snow. We’ve never had any issues with the cold with our flock but tonight is much colder than usual.

I’ve got a room in the basement that I could set up for them if I needed to bring them in, I just don’t know if I should be taking those measures or if they’re fine. It’s only suppose to get up to 9 degrees during the day tomorrow so I might bring them in during the day to give them a break. But then again I don’t want to shock their systems by going from cold to warm and then back to cold too drastically.

 

[Bhubbard]

If they are out of the wind and roosted I wouldn’t worry. I wouldn’t even add heat sounds like you have a good system already and i agree the shock of moving them in and out could make it worse. I have always left the chickens out. Carried in some goats before in - temps for the night but try to keep them out as much as possible.

 

[Egghead_Jr]

This system moved in yesterday and didn't really start to cool down until noon as it was plummeted past -10 F. It's moving out as we speak, the low here was -22 F at 4 am and it's already up to -18. Should be above 0 F by noon. Not too bad really.

Yesterday morning the birds came to eat with no worries. I went out at noon to break the ice out of water bowl and add liquid. They came out of the coop in a hurry then the cock bird got a blast of wind halfway down the ramp and turned back pushing birds to the side as he scrambled into the coop. More than half the birds came out to drink and eat then scurried back into the coop. This morning I'll toss sunflower seed into the coop and put water just inside the pop door for them. It will hold them over until late morning when they'll freely come out of the coop to feed and drink.

So if you think about it they didn't all quite get all the water they wanted and didn't fill crops for the night. But all did eat and drink yesterday and this morning will be fed something in the coop to hold them over a few hours. Nothing to panic over for sure. Birds in transit to shows get less feed and water than that.

 

[77horses]

Update- they seemed to handle the cold just fine. I’m sure it wasn’t the most comfortable for them at the coldest point, but they came out of the coop perky and ready for breakfast this morning. I gave them a warm mash of oatmeal, corn, minced garlic, cooked egg, and flax meal, which they loved. Also gave them a little extra cracked corn with their regular pellets. Hope everyone else in the northeast is okay.

 

[Mrs. K]

Chickens hate change- Change is hard on them, upsets them a great deal. I think you were smart to leave them. The change in coop, even if nicer than their coop, could really stress them.

While none of us like opening up a coop to a deceased bird, they have died where they are comfortable and secure, in what they know, if we all could be so lucky.

Mrs K

 

[matthennessy]

This system moved in yesterday and didn't really start to cool down until noon as it was plummeted past -10 F. It's moving out as we speak, the low here was -22 F at 4 am and it's already up to -18. Should be above 0 F by noon. Not too bad really.

Yesterday morning the birds came to eat with no worries. I went out at noon to break the ice out of water bowl and add liquid. They came out of the coop in a hurry then the cock bird got a blast of wind halfway down the ramp and turned back pushing birds to the side as he scrambled into the coop. More than half the birds came out to drink and eat then scurried back into the coop. This morning I'll toss sunflower seed into the coop and put water just inside the pop door for them. It will hold them over until late morning when they'll freely come out of the coop to feed and drink.

So if you think about it they didn't all quite get all the water they wanted and didn't fill crops for the night. But all did eat and drink yesterday and this morning will be fed something in the coop to hold them over a few hours. Nothing to panic over for sure. Birds in transit to shows get less feed and water than that.

Hi I hope you’re still on here but we have a couple days coming up where it will be lows of -10 to -14 and I’m just wondering if my 2 black australorps will be okay. We have tarps and plenty of straw inside and out of coop but I’m wondering should I lock them inside the coop all day on those days? Today is 32 still but they haven’t come out yet just because the snow got thru all our tarps and coverings so I had to put straw all throughout run. I guess what im asking is should I give them the option still to come out on those days or not risk it and keep the coop door shut so as less wind possible gets in. They have ventilation at the top of coop little windows

 

[SmiYa0126]

Hello! I wouldn't, sounds like you have a good set up!

 

[matthennessy]

thanks for the reply! since putting the straw out in the run, i coaxed them with some treats so they understood the ground was no longer snow but after eating they went right back up (we have had colder days than today and they stayed out all day no problem, the issue is last night we got our biggest snowstorm yet which our tarps couldnt keep out so it was a winter wonderland in the coop lol) i put a small dish of food and water in their coop as well that i will take out before nightime so at least they can eat/drink if they dont want to leave cozy coop. im just nervous for our below zero days coming up - it may be a whole week of them stuck in their tiny coop. they have 80 sq ft run space but only about 10 sq ft in coop if that. its a smaller tractor supply coop that we built extended area onto