A little worried about the coming wind chills

[Kaesi2020]

Here in upstate NY, Temps will be dipping into below 0 on Friday and Saturday. They say there could be wind chills at night of -25 to -40. I have five 3 year old hens. 4 of them are big and puffy (BO's and EE) but one hen is a skinny (and molting) RSL. Our coop is shut up tight each night and ventilation is good. I'm attaching a photo of the weather report. We have a small heater (the safe kind that looks like a TV set, only emits heat if you're right in front if it) in the coop too. These will be the coolest Temps we have had since they were born. Some friends are saying we should bring the chickens inside but I am not sure what I should do. My thought was that the -40 wind chills would only effect them if exposed- which they will not be inside of the coop. Is that thinking correct? Im especially worried about the little brown hen. Any advice would be very appreciated! Thank you.

 

[nuthatched]

Do you have a garage? That's mighty cold, I'm not sorry what you do with temperatures like that.

 

[CalhounCreekfarms]

I’m In ky and about a month ago we had -25/-35 wind chills for a couple of days. I used a heater (radiant producers pride)like you’re describing (tv looking)and mine did fine. I had 4 hens and a rooster in a small coop.

 

[3KillerBs]

If the chickens aren't in the wind then the wind chill is irrelevant and only the ambient temperatures matter.

 

[David61]

Wind break, anything that stops the wind from blowing on them. A tarp, any plastic, old sheet of anything or piece of plywood up against the fence. Why do chickens want to get naked at the coldest time of the year. I use my heat lamp for the molting chicken in the freezing temps.

 

[Kaesi2020]

Is it currently 0 degrees outside (wind chill of -15). It is still 18-20 degrees in our coop thanks to a few radiant heaters, pine shavings and chicken bodies warming it. I am concerned though that when it goes down to -15 degrees (with a -45 degree wind chills) that the coop temp will be near 0 degrees or even below. I'm still not sure if I should bring them in tonight. Is there a magic number for what they can handle? Would 0 degrees be too cold? Here is a picture of our current temp. Readings (the one that says outdoor is the coop temp). Thank you

 

[littlecoopnextdoor]

Is it currently 0 degrees outside (wind chill of -15). It is still 18-20 degrees in our coop thanks to a few radiant heaters, pine shavings and chicken bodies warming it. I am concerned though that when it goes down to -15 degrees (with a -45 degree wind chills) that the coop temp will be near 0 degrees or even below. I'm still not sure if I should bring them in tonight. Is there a magic number for what they can handle? Would 0 degrees be too cold? Here is a picture of our current temp. Readings (the one that says outdoor is the coop temp). Thank you

if it's any consolation, we are also having really cold temps and last night went down to -22c overnight (-7.6f) and tonight is going down even lower. I was very worried but my girls stayed dry and out of the wind in their coop and seemed okay <3 I hope the same for tonight. Lots of snacks before bed!

 

[Jsaller]

I’m in the same boat right now and I’m not sure what to do!! My thermometer is reading 18 in the coop… I have a radiant heater too, but I don’t think it will be able to keep up with these temps (I’m in Massachusetts). If anyone has an idea of what temperature is too cold I would appreciate it!! I have barred rocks.

 

[Kaesi2020]

We shut the door to the run and now the coop temp. Is up to 29 degrees. Still going to get colder tonight so it will still drop but I'm hoping we may be OK.

 

[Kaesi2020]

I’m in the same boat right now and I’m not sure what to do!! My thermometer is reading 18 in the coop… I have a radiant heater too, but I don’t think it will be able to keep up with these temps (I’m in Massachusetts). If anyone has an idea of what temperature is too cold I would appreciate it!! I have barred rocks.

18 is not too bad as long as they are protected from wind and they are dry. Hopefully neither of our temps will drop too much lower!