Arctic blast -- unheated uninsulated barn coop

[hagoesch]

Hello from the tundra in Wisconsin. We are up to -10 F at 1030AM, with the windchill -30 F. Our coop is built into the corner of our uninsulated pole barn and is itself completely unheated. We are deep littering, and have put plastic over the windows and blankets on the walls. There is good ventilation in the barn, but no drafting into the coop. Before this arctic blast I added fresh litter and topped up the nesting boxes with fresh straw. Because there are only two small east-facing windows into the coop, it doesn't get terribly warm on its own, and is sitting at 7 F right now.

My question: The sun is shining in a bright blue sky, wind at 12 mph from the west. There is an 8-ft roll-up door on the south end of the barn next to the coop. Would it be better in terms of warming the coop to open the door for sun to shine into the coop, OR would the general cold (a 17-degree difference between inside and out) and wind make it worse in the coop? Hope that makes sense.

Thanks!
Heather

 

[Kirkwooder]

As long as they have liquid water and a dry floor they should be fine. Feed them some cracked corn or sunflower seed for more energy to make heat. They will gobble it down. I would leave the door closed to eliminate drafts.

 

[mamajos]

If they are out of any drafts and have good ventilation, food and water, they should do fine. As others (like @aart, thank you!) have suggested on other threads, I feel better feeding them their regular pelleted food, made into a mash, with Save a Chick or Nutri Drench water before bed and early in the morning. That gives them important nutrients they need for this extreme cold rather than treats.
It was -17°F this morning here-I don’t provide extra heat.

Edit: Only add Save a Chick or Nutri Drench once a week to the mash. They can get too much of a good thing....

 

[DougVC]

I am right here with you in Wisconsin. Our chickens are in a non-insulated coop as well. We make sure they have water, plenty of food and give them some scratch. They seem to do just fine with that. Keep them draft free with plenty of ventilation and they will be fine. We even got 8 eggs from 12 chickens today with it being -21 overnight

 

[ChicNmom]

If the roll up door is metal the sun will warm it up and some of that natural heat would help warm up the barn a little so I would also leave it shut.

As long as there are no drafts they should be OK.
I add straw to the area under my coop in the winter where they hang out in case they want to snuggle in it.
Also makes the poop clean up easier since it sticks to the straw and/ or freezes to it and I just rake it out.

 

[hagoesch]

As long as they have liquid water and a dry floor they should be fine. Feed them some cracked corn or sunflower seed for more energy to make heat. They will gobble it down. I would leave the door closed to eliminate drafts.

Yes, thank you! We decided it's better to keep the door closed as well bc of the wind. In the winter I always offer a pre-roost snack of BOSS, sometimes green split peas or random shnibbles of popcorn we have from our own evening snacks Appreciate your help!

 

[hagoesch]

If they are out of any drafts and have good ventilation, food and water, they should do fine. As others (like @aart, thank you!) have suggested on other threads, I feel better feeding them their regular pelleted food, made into a mash, with Save a Chick or Nutri Drench water before bed and early in the morning. That gives them important nutrients they need for this extreme cold rather than treats.
It was -17°F this morning here-I don’t provide extra heat.

Absolutely agree about incorporating Nutri Drench on extreme weather days -- provided it yesterday before the super cold overnight and am offering it throughout today as well. I did the warm "mash" of pelleted feed this morning as well! Great minds. Thank you, and stay warm!

 

[hagoesch]

I am right here with you in Wisconsin. Our chickens are in a non-insulated coop as well. We make sure they have water, plenty of food and give them some scratch. They seem to do just fine with that. Keep them draft free with plenty of ventilation and they will be fine. We even got 8 eggs from 12 chickens today with it being -21 overnight

Brrrrrrr, right? Up to -5 now, yikes. We decided ultimately to keep it closed to avoid the wind. They're getting plenty of food, have warm Nutri Drench water fill-ups regularly and will get some of my homemade "flock block" shortly before roosting. We had four eggs from our six hens so far today -- just remarked to my husband that I can't remember the last time they offered that many in a day! Coop boredom Thanks for your reply, and keep warm!

 

[hagoesch]

If the roll up door is metal the sun will warm it up and some of that natural heat would help warm up the barn a little so I would also leave it shut.

As long as there are no drafts they should be OK.
I add straw to the area under my coop in the winter where they hang out in case they want to snuggle in it.
Also makes the poop clean up easier since it sticks to the straw and/ or freezes to it and I just rake it out.

Absolutely! Great points. Thanks so much for your thoughts! CHEERS

 

[aart]

As others (like @aart, thank you!) have suggested on other threads, I feel better feeding them their regular pelleted food, made into a mash, with Save a Chick or Nutri Drench water before bed and early in the morning.

I just give some EL/Vit once a week during extreme cold.
You can overdo the EL.

Details here:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/aarts-extreme-weather-spiel.75893/