A Question About Cold Floors

[Pony Trotsky]

Okay.

This is kind of a trivial problem, but it's been bothering me for a whole month, and I still don't know what to do. Time to ask the experts, I guess.

I live in Maine, and I have three (super fluffy) Wyandotte pullets who free range from sun-up to sunset. They have a small (4'x7') coop inside a snug, well insulated horse barn, and free access to both the barn and the outdoors. I'm not worried about them being cold in general, but I am worried about the floors, and about frost-bitten toes. Here's the set-up:

~ The coop (which they never hang out in, except to sleep) is well off the floor and deeply bedded with saw dust. No problem.

~ The horse stalls (which are horse-free in the day time) are sunny, have tightly fitted rubber mats, and are also deeply bedded. Again, no problem.

~ The barn aisle, however, is plain old cement, and that's what worries me.

Will my girls get frost bitten feet if I let them run around freely all winter? I priced rubber mats for the whole aisle, but this would cost a thousand bucks (!) and that ain't happening.

Thank you!

 

[AccentOnHakes]

They'll be fine.

 

[WoodlandWoman]

When my chickens get too cold outside in the middle of winter, they come inside to warm up for awhile. I would think that if the concrete is too cold in the worst of winter, they'll just move to one of the other areas in the barn that has bedding on it.

 

[waterchicken]

Quote:
Agreed, mine do that.

 

[Pony Trotsky]

Thank you - this is just what I really wanted to know: are they smart enough to know when it's time to warm up. (Apparently I'm not smart enough myself, since I managed to get frost bite just a couple of years ago . . . )