Below 0° Temps

[IslaBean]

I’m from Michigan and we’ve had a very warm winter so far. Just this past week we stayed below freezing consistently for the first time. Tonight it’s supposed to get to -3° and tomorrow the wind chill is supposed to be -20° to -25°. What should I do about my girls? This drop in temperature is so sudden, I don’t think they’re well adjusted to the cold yet. Their coop is somewhat warm and they spend all day in the barn which is much warmer.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I'm in Wisconsin. We are already in those temperatures. My birds are fine. They actually adjusted quite well with just a few older birds looking a bit cold. Everyone else is moving around like normal.

 

[WindingRoad]

I’m from Michigan and we’ve had a very warm winter so far. Just this past week we stayed below freezing consistently for the first time. Tonight it’s supposed to get to -3° and tomorrow the wind chill is supposed to be -20° to -25°. What should I do about my girls? This drop in temperature is so sudden, I don’t think they’re well adjusted to the cold yet. Their coop is somewhat warm and they spend all day in the barn which is much warmer.

They will be ok, if you keep them dry. Have good ( lots ) of ventilation. They will roost and fluff their feathers over their feet and tuck their heads under a wing to keep their comb warm. It never got over 5F today. I was out there several times with both door open to my coop. And the water in a small pint jar never froze in the coop. They spent a lot of time up there but they did go down in the run. I have my run covered with clear tarp. Keeps the wind ( read draft) out. AAMOF I couldn't get my 2 SLW in the coop tonight they wanted to stay down in the run. All four of my chickens are usually up in the coop once it gets dark. I finally got them up there. We got about 14" of snow today and I can't get into the run so I tempted them with their ( empty) food dish. Kinda a mean trick. Sorry babies but it was bedtime.

 

[Joyze172]

I’m from Michigan and we’ve had a very warm winter so far. Just this past week we stayed below freezing consistently for the first time. Tonight it’s supposed to get to -3° and tomorrow the wind chill is supposed to be -20° to -25°. What should I do about my girls? This drop in temperature is so sudden, I don’t think they’re well adjusted to the cold yet. Their coop is somewhat warm and they spend all day in the barn which is much warmer.

I am from Wisconsin as well. All of mine have survived thru last winter when it seemed the whole winter was below zero. This year it has been unseasonably warm but with the recent temps in the minus digits even the hens in full molt are doing ok.

I don't heat the coop and a 8x8 with 7-9 chickens with the recommended ventilation stays about 10 degrees warmer then the outside ambient temp. I heard once that each chicken put off 5 BTU ( another member feel free to correct me if I am wrong) They even wander outside in the frigid temps in the snow if the sun is out and the wind is not over 8 mph. Today it was 3 degrees with windchill I would say really cold and they were all free ranging.

I do help them stay warm by offering room temp oatmeal or MASH an hour before sun down on cold days to give them heat energy before bed or maybe it makes me feel better.

 

[proudmommie31]

I’m in MI too, so far the chickens are doing great. And they are in a unheated coop with one window always open.

Last year we had those low cold snaps like this and we had one chicken running around in the backyard (not ours) all alone, all winter long. Turned out she lived in the gutted out popup all winter by herself with zero problem. I think as long as your chickens are dry and can get out of the wind they will be good to go. Having buddies to hunker down with is a bonus too.

 

[Rajandura]

I have a flock that is recovering from a mite infestation. Some of the birds have feather loss due to it. I have a heat lamp set on a timer to go on and off for an hour every couple of hours to take the chill out of the coop and protect those with feather loss from frostbite or hypothermia. Am i doing it wrong? Its my first winter with birds, and here in Illinois its going to be in the negatives with wind chill the next week or so. I have a remote thermometer set up to monitor the temperature in there, and it seems to stay in the high 20's to 30's throughout the night.

 

[aart]

-15°F here this morning.
All chickens are alive and moving around pretty good...
....even got 4 eggs already this morning.
I gave them some rolled oats soaked in Sav-A-Chick electrolyte/vitamin solution yesterday.
Watching them closely for any lethargy.

 

[proudmommie31]

Just came in from checking on them, they were all up and running around. Super happy to see breakfast and already laying eggs.

 

[proudmommie31]

I have a flock that is recovering from a mite infestation. Some of the birds have feather loss due to it. I have a heat lamp set on a timer to go on and off for an hour every couple of hours to take the chill out of the coop and protect those with feather loss from frostbite or hypothermia. Am i doing it wrong? Its my first winter with birds, and here in Illinois its going to be in the negatives with wind chill the next week or so. I have a remote thermometer set up to monitor the temperature in there, and it seems to stay in the high 20's to 30's throughout the night.

While I will defer to those with more experience, I think* because of the feather loss you have a good system going. But once they have all their feathers I would discontinue it. My concern would be if you have a backup plan in case the power goes out and they have to rapidly adjust.

 

[centrarchid]

Watch how the birds behave when it gets really cold. If there is wind to avoid, see how they respond to it as well. Such observations are big part of my interest in chickens. You can learn to read them to see when they are getting outside their comfort zone and then make often modest adjustments to make things right.