Can chickens stand the cold weather?

[rancher hicks]

I noticed blood on the snow when I came home this afternoon. My BM's roosters comb is bleeding. I'll have to spray it with Blue Kote this evening and then watch to put some vasoline on it. Red is not a good color for a chicken. I expected some frost bite but not to much.

It's supposed to get much colder too. I've cut some fleece to staple up on the back hoop coop. Of course next year will mean more modifications. The BR rooster seems fine though.

The BM's are in a half hoop and no run. I think the more birds the better in the winter.

 

[Boonie Adjacent]

Strange. I got one egg this morning from 4 RIRs.

How many eggs were you getting daily before now?

I've noticed the number of eggs ebb and flow with my 4 birds. Averaging 2 eggs daily, but sometimes 3, other times 0. However, all my birds are still laying regularly throughout the week which has reassured me they're doing fine in the cold.

 

[mkcolls]

We're in NW Ohio and in the single digits this week. Egg production is all over the place.
Thurs - 28; Fri - 19; Sat - 31; Sun -30; Mon - 11; today - 28. One egg was frozen and cracked today.

Our SF roo rarely leaves the barn and he is the only one with any frostbite - got his comb tips.
The rest of the birds are fine, in and out of the barn all day.

The only thing that keeps them in the barn is the wind.

I'm the one who doesn't like it so much - I'm ready for spring.

 

[melina90]

We live in one of the coldest parts of Norway, and our chickens(a bantam silkie, a bantam kochin, and five buff orps) are doing great in their unheated coop. They do have a heatlamp, mostly because of my good nights sleep lol, but they rarely are seen sitting under it. For the last couple of weeks we've had temperatures down to -38c, and no heat except for the 150W heatlamp and two horses (they do give out some heat, but not alot). They don't spend time outside though, their coop is a room built inside our stable and they have to exit through the stables main door. They prefer to leave their coop but instead of going outside they roost on the horses or my saddlery and everything gets full of chicken poop

Our orpington roosters have some frostbite on the tip of their combs, but nothing serious. We put vasolin on them every day to prevent it from getting any worse. The only real issue we have is our eggs cracking if we don't get them inside soon enough. But at least they're laying! We got the first egg (they're all 6 months) three weeks ago and since then we've gotten one or two every day. I actually didn't expect them to start laying until spring

 

[TheReadyBoys]

How many eggs were you getting daily before now?

I've noticed the number of eggs ebb and flow with my 4 birds. Averaging 2 eggs daily, but sometimes 3, other times 0. However, all my birds are still laying regularly throughout the week which has reassured me they're doing fine in the cold.

I used to get 4 eggs from 4 hens. RIR

 

[aoxa]

It's so cold this morning, I think I can successfully do the boiling water to snow.

-36 to -41 with windchill.

Hang in there. Six eggs so far at 8:30 am

 

[ChickenGrit]

I have a "Pig Mat" that I put in the coop where they can stand on it if their feet are really cold. I only turn it on when the weather is really cold. It only heats a little and is moisture (poo) proof. I figure it adds a little heat just in case they are really, really cold. I see them go in and out of the coop on really cold days where they normally stay out all the time.

 

[rancher hicks]

We're in NW Ohio and in the single digits this week. Egg production is all over the place.
Thurs - 28; Fri - 19; Sat - 31; Sun -30; Mon - 11; today - 28. One egg was frozen and cracked today.

Our SF roo rarely leaves the barn and he is the only one with any frostbite - got his comb tips.
The rest of the birds are fine, in and out of the barn all day.

The only thing that keeps them in the barn is the wind.

I'm the one who doesn't like it so much - I'm ready for spring.

You and me both.

What breeds of chickens do you have?

 

[Our Roost]

This last week here in mid state Michigan has been fridgid to say the least. The wind chill factor coming from lake Michigan is nasty. I have to laugh at our chickens. Every morning they come out for a walk around and look see and make a beeline back to the coop! I guess they have spoken. The inside coop temp was 12 degrees farenheit. Down from 32 degrees 2 weeks ago. I must admit that they seem to be doing okay. No frostbite signs as yet. I cant believe the amount of feed we are going through. They eat like pigs! We relocated their heated water dish from the florida room to inside the coop area. The unheated water bowls inside the coop were freezing. So much for that. 1 gallon milk jugs work good for carrying water out to the coop. They all drink a lot of water.
Sometimes a few will come out mid day into the florida room but not the run area. Its covered and theres no snow on the ground in that room. I leave a regular light on during the day inside the coop to take the chill off but shut it down at night. I have 20 birds, 1 rooster, and 2 ducks. I am only getting 3 to 5 eggs daily. I keep their straw bedding pretty thick over a dirt floor and they still manage to make bare spots to lay in. I've lost 4 birds this year but none to the weather so far. We havent screwed in the heat bulbs yet and unless the temp drops more, and see signs of frosbite, we probabally wont. Stay warm chicken lovers!

 

[rancher hicks]

I have a heat light in the main coop simply so they can see to get up on the roost since I also put on a light during the day and usually leave it on til 8-9pm.

The full hoop had a temp of less than 20* this evening. I have temp and humidity gauges in two coops. The rooster doesn't roost though I have tried to get him to do so. He sleeps on the floor. I try to keep it loaded with shavings.

I have read to use burlap over windows that don't close, but right now I have one side covered with fleece and will do the other side tomorrow. It will block the wind but keep it ventilated. You can see the inside part of the hoop coop. The outside has plastic up to the top cross bar to keep the snow out. The door is partially covered with plastic too.