32 Degrees and the girls wanted OUT...

[chiknwhisperer]

I'm gonna have to tell DH about this becasue he thinks it is to cold to let them come out to play. I was kinda wondering myself but I went ahead and let them out today. My BO pullet darn near ran out the door.

 

[silkiechicken]

Cut the heat lamps out and let them play out in the cold. Mine sleep outside on their outdoor roosts in the tractors year round, rain, shine, and run through the snow, even on the days/nights in the teens. Not that we get that many in Western WA.

The temp differential from in the coop to cold outside is probably worse than just letting them get cold because they need to be acclimated to the season. They got big feather jackets on all the time, and they're rain resistant too!

 

[Cetawin]

Quote:
I have half of the coop separated with young ones on the enclosed side that does not have access to the run or outside...that is why the heat lamps are on. My big girls are fine and I let them out at 34 degrees and they spent all day outside.

I did turn off the heat lamp on the big girls side and left the one on the little girls side. so the temp on the big girls side is just under 40 as of a few minutes ago....the side with the heat heat lamp is staying around 50 so a little warmer for the little ones.

 

[Portia]

We were in the teens last night, with the light on for the little ones the coop stayed in the mid 30's. At first light when the coop opened everyone happily tumbled out and the temp in the coop plummeted to the mid 20's; this 10 degree difference is typical. I am doing this experimentally to see what is tolerable for the chicks with their mother. When I checked in on them around 7:45 they were happily scurrying around the coop eating and playing. If/when they get cold they run under mama and jump into her breast feathers. This is good to know, b/c it makes a difference on how much I have the heat on in the coop when it warms up during the day. I have a little one that is now 9 weeks who has been comfortably out in the cold with the others since he was 4 weeks. Chickens are not nearly as fragile as we may imagine.

 

[rooster0209]

It was 3F this morning and I waited till 9am to let them out. They were in the run but decided it was better to stay inside.

yesterday it was 22F but with a nasty cold wind chill. The silly birds couldnt wait to fly out and head to the south side of the garage. They spent the day there blocked out of the wind. I don't have heat in my coop and the thermometer reads 20F. The birds don't act like they are cold.

 

[Montana-Hens]

We all do what we think is best....but think that outside time makes them better adjusted. (less likely to have pecking problems, respitory problems etc IMO)

It was 5 here the other am and the door was opened at 8:30 when it was 9 and out theycame.

I remember my mom always said go out and get some freash air, so they get lots of it here.

 

[shelleyd2008]

Mine have the option of going in or out. The only ones that choose to stay in most of the time are the hens with itty-bitties and the small bantam hens. The bantam roos could care less. I have a tractor with 16 2-3 month old standard chicks that get let out every day...it didn't get over 25 degrees here today, and they were out most of the time. They just went in to huddle under their light once in a while, then right back out they went. The chickens are not that dumb, if they get too cold they will go in by themselves.

 

[BJ]

Quote:
True. I learned the hard way last year. I had two hens that I kept inside with heat lamps. One just about pecked the other one to death. I attribute it to boredom. They NEED fresh air. Winter is already hard enough...let them out to play!!

 

[LynneP]

Of course they want out-it's what they do! Ours are digging *under* snow. Another storm hitting us today, our third major snow event. We installed snow boards for this one, not for them- for me! I was getting fed up with shoveling out the run...

UPDATE: The snow boards worked well! No more digging out the run with 12 hens at my feet...and this was a major blizzard...

 

[max13077]

it's 17 degrees right now, my girls go in and out of the coop like it's summer.