Arctic blast coming to my area

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Trish1974 said:
I plan to keep mine in. I doubt they would go out on their own anyway. They didn't last January when we were below zero.
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Ok then. I wont let them out tomorrow. They should be fine today because the cold isnt coming until tomorrow. Id like to bring them into the garage but i dont think thatd go over well with my SO. Hes parking his car in there so there isnt much room for a flock of 8. Theyre doing a story on keeping pets safe on the news.
 
We live in North Dakota, and heating the coop is a waste. It is -10 outside right now, and about 19-20 degrees in my coop. My ladies are fine. A couple even ran outside for a little bit, but for the most part they are just hanging out on their roosts. I have a draft free, un-insulated shed that I converted into a coop. I don't even have a coop door. Don't be afraid of the cold. Your chickens will be fine.... just ask the sparrows sitting on my fence with no fancy coop hotel to call home lol. Oh, I also use the deep litter method for my coop in the winter. Works well and insulates the floor nicely.
 

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Looks like we are south of you. Our low temps are expected to be around -10F (not including wind chill).

We have an elevated non-insulated coop with electric. Well ventilated. We have a heated dog bowl inside the coop. We have a thermostat plugged into an outlet, with a heat lamp (250 watt, red) plugged into the thermostat. The thermostat only turns on the heat lamp at 15F, turns it off when temp reaches 18.5F. It is centered above 2 roosts, which are ladder style. The thermometer for the thermostat is at the level of the top roost, but is not near to the heat lamp. The coop is a bit warmer than the outside, but not a lot. I figure that it lessens any cold stress, which may keep a bird from continuing to eat and drink - both essential to health. It provides them some warmth but not so much they would be in trouble if the power went out. The heat lamp is extra secured to the ceiling joists with a chain, so I’m not worried it would fall.

When temps have dropped significantly, we feed them a warm mash of their feed- they think it’s a treat, so eat it up. We give them extra “treats” in the late afternoon of corn or scratch. We also put some dry feed in the coop when we lock them in, only during the cold snaps. This way, they can continue to eat as they see fit either that evening or in the earlier hours before we bring them their daily food. We have a light in the coop for 15 hours of light a day. Tomorrow and Thursday, when it will be the coldest, we will likely just give them food in the coop, assuming they might not venture out. The pop door will be opened for them as long as the winds are not going to blow into the coop. Our run does not have any plastic or wind barriers, but the run and coop are fully behind our barn, and are protected from winds out of the west (the usual wind direction in the winter), but not from any other direction.

So, think about what you can do to help, even if you don’t add heat. Keeping them absolutely draft free (but well ventilated), hydrated, and fed are key aspects to get through this cold snap. A little bit of hay or extra bedding to walk around in won’t hurt either!
 

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