Baby its cold outside!

[Jenthehen127]

Merry greetings all! I know, no heat in the coop! My question is...how cold is too cold for chickens? This is our first winter with our girls and so far, so good! But we are supposed to get a cold snap over the next few days. I'm a little nervous. They have a good amount of straw and I have made sure there are no drafts, just ventilation up high. The hen house is cozy. The girls roost all together in a row. The outer part of the coop that is not enclosed is wrapped in plastic to keep wind out. I feed them corn before roosting to.e to help keep warm. I just worry I'm missing something. How cold before I have to do something different? Thanks!

 

[aart]

The hen house is cozy.

Define 'cozy'?
Temps and humidity should be the same inside and outside the coop.
Newbs tend to close coop up tooo tight.
Pics of your coop, inside and out, might help us help you with reassurances and/or improvement suggestions..

First winter is scary, but you'll see just how tough they are.

How cold before I have to do something different?

Multiple nights and days of -10°F or colder.

 

[21hens-incharge]

Western PA....I looked it up based on that location.
It looks like your lows will be in the teens with Saturday being a low around 6°.

How old are your birds?

Fully feathered healthy birds should do fine in those temps. That is IF ventilation is adequate.

 

[artsvarc]

Real feel of -21 here tonight in Iowa. Freaking out a little.... First winterer here also.

 

[21hens-incharge]

Real feel of -21 here tonight in Iowa. Freaking out a little.... First winterer here also.

What is the standing air temp without the feels like factor?

 

[Mrs. K]

I am in SD, and I would not do anything unless it was going to be more than 35 degrees BELOW zero. Mine got through 5 days of dang cold weather, with the coldest night reaching -35F. And were just fine.

We are an arid climate here, that might make a difference, but negative 10 degrees does not even phase mine. We usually spend several weeks below 0 at night, and sometimes even during the day.

Mrs K

 

[21hens-incharge]

Real feel of -21 here tonight in Iowa. Freaking out a little.... First winterer here also.

Looked up eastern Iowa. Looks like single digit overnight low. Still above zero so with good ventilation they should be ok.

 

[aart]

Real feel of -21

"Real Feel" includes wind chill.

 

[Ladyxan]

"Real Feel" includes wind chill.

Yeah, windchill is the worst here in Iowa. I had to bring my two girls in. I just couldn’t allow them to be out there when I know that coop isn’t adequate. I was gifted everything and very little money to work with currently.

 

[Ladyxan]

Real feel of -21 here tonight in Iowa. Freaking out a little.... First winterer here also.

You must be farther north than me. Alexa said low of -11° with windchill