Are my chickens gonna die?

[MissE]

Wow.... I guess someone forgot to inform my chickens they do best at 70F. Seems they really dig my Canadian weather, deep freeze or not they were out dirt bathing in their sandpit at -2F yesterday happy as happy can be.

I'm glad no one told mine that little bit of info, too. They aren't thrilled right now, but will be sunning themselves in the run in a couple hours.

They seem most active when temps are below 60 in the summer. If it gets much above 75, they just hang out in the shade and pant. 20-60 is probably their preferred temp, but they do better in the cool weather than they do in hot weather.

 

[Callender Girl]

I live in northern (read that as "flat and windy") Iowa, and I rejoiced yesterday when it got up to 0 degrees after a night time temp of minus 21. It happens every winter, and every winter, I worry about my poultry. They didn't appear to love it, but everyone survived the weather.

Again, the key is keeping them dry, making sure they have water (I have a few coops with electric waterers, but even those froze so I rotated a bunch of plastic waterers in and out of my house) and adequate feed. Scratch is not a part of the daily feeding routine, but I do offer some when it's extremely cold. Everybody can use a little pick-me-up when the weather is so incredibly undesirable.

 

[Sally PB]

I just wanted to give them a corner in the outer run to get out of the wind if they wanted to.

You're doing fine. Like people have said, make sure they have water, food, and shelter. They will supply their own warmth.

It's my first winter with chickens too. They're doing well at 5F. Whew.

 

[RojoMarz]

@lasallefamily They should be fine. You've given them protection and a place to hang out. It's scary (for us humans) to imagine how they will survive in the cold, but they do. When you go out to check on them, after the first cold night, you will feel better...and after each subsequent night, your confidence for their hardiness grows.

Be warned though, that if there is snow in their run, they probably won't like it (at first anyways). First time mine experienced a little snow, they tried to stay in the coop. I picked up each one and placed her the farthest spot from the coop, thus she had to walk on it, to get back inside. I do have a covered run, so it doesn't get that much snow, but there is definitely some blown in.

 

[Auntiejessi3]

I'm right there with ya woman! I live in central Texas getting ready for the same crappy weather, lol. We got 8 inches of snow at the beginning of January which is unheard of and it didn't phase my ladies a bit, even with their crappy little prefab coop. Your girls will be just fine

 

[lasallefamily]

That's what I have... a little prefab coop inside a kennel. The chickens seem fine this morning... but we haven't had our lowest temps yet. I do feel a lot better knowing that other "unacclimated" chickens (to really cold weather) have survived the craziness of this winter in Texas.

Mine is like this one:

 

[Auntiejessi3]

That's what I have... a little prefab coop inside a kennel. The chickens seem fine this morning... but we haven't had our lowest temps yet. I do feel a lot better knowing that other "unacclimated" chickens (to really cold weather) have survived the craziness of this winter in Texas.

Mine is like this one: View attachment 2524478

Yep, mine are six months old so their first winter also. As long as they have food and water they'll be ok