Can chickens stand the cold weather?

[mcclucks]

Thanks all of you for your input. I am going to make sure the wind issue is taken care of, (blanket or tarp) and keep the light on just under their sleeping area. The cold has definitely slowed their egg production. We've been -3 at night to highs of 6 and 7 in the day. Supposed to be this way for another week. I feel I have to do something for them.

 

[Chicklet2]

Mine have been okay and it is really really cold here. I finally brought them in and put them in the bathtub for tonight. It is supposed to get down to 23 below F without the wind chill.. It was 17 below last night and they were okay, but a couple had frost on their feathers this am. They actually roost outside unless I make them go in the coop, which I have been during these exceptionally cold nights. Should I leave them outside even at this extreme? I feel so sorry for them, and I thought one night in would help them get some stamina back. It is supposed to warm up tomorrow..if you call 0 warm.

 

[Camp Leader]

I'm a first time owner. My girls started laying about a week before thanksgiving. They are doing fine in the sub-zeros here in Colorado. Temps turn up tomorrow. Maybe double digits. BTW. They are laying in this cold as well. Just adding light at night to make sure they get 15 hours.

 

[surlyoldjarhead]

I have 6 hens and they seem to just fine in the cold. 4 Rhode Island Reds, 1 Bard Rock, and 1 Golden Sexlink. The trick is to make sure they get good ventilation yet still provide a dry coop. I leave their coop door open so they chose when to go to the run where their water and food is located. I do not let them free range in the snow because they are not smart enough to protect their feet from frostbite. They can go out on to the run and pace if they need to for the week or so that it is below zero. I use a heat lamp when temp drops below 10 degrees and this keeps their coop above 32 degrees inside. When temp drops to -10 the lamp really makes the difference. I live in Central Oregon so it does not get below freezing for months on end like some places. Just remember to break the ice on their water twice a day, refilling the waterer with lukewarm to warm water, and keep their feeders full. It takes more energy for them just like it does us, so fighting the cold means lots of fresh water and good food. Do that, and give them a dry coop and they will be fine. Mine are still laying eggs at -10 degrees at night.

 

[chickenkeeper12]

Help!! Tomorrow night it is supposed to drop down to -6 degrees. Should I put a heat lamp in. The coops are 100 yards away from the house. Also I'm in southern ct

 

[Camp Leader]

I kept a light in my coop when CO had the -teens temps a month or so ago. Rooster still ended with a little bit of frostbite on the comb. I have hardy breeds for the altitude and temps expected. My girls do fine in really cold temps without extra heat. Was using light to help with laying too. My son didn't use any extra heat during the cold. His girls all made it fine and kept laying too. So depends on how you feel about it. Was teens the last couple of nights and I only gave them 6 hours of light after sunset. Like my eggs!

 

[real_redhead]

I have never used a heat lamp in my coop but tonight it is going to be -11 not counting wind chill and the wind is whipping like crazy (has never been this cold in the 3 years I have had chickens). I cleaned the coop and put extra bedding, gave them cracked corn (which I never do but read somewhere it will help them in extreme cold). Filled their feeder and will take fresh water out tonight since it is freezing immediately and put it in the coop. Do I need to put the heat lamp out just for tonight? I have told myself all along these are farm animals so they will be ok but I am worried since they are our pets as well.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

I am a firm believer in giving a bit of help with a heat lamp if it can be done safely when unusual cold is present as they are not used to that kind of cold.

Many on BYC don't believe in supplemental heat but as for my pets I want them to not get frostbite. It is a sure thing that my chickens will get frostbite if I don't give supplemental heat when it is truly super cold.

Everyone has a different setup and microclimate. It is best to go with your gut but do make sure there is no risk of fire. Hang lamps at least two ways not including the clamp so there are impossible to knock down. Use only ceramic sockets. Use only lamps with guards. Keep all bedding far enough away from lamp.

Don't use space heaters where if shavings are kicked onto the heating elements they may start a fire.

Mine get a heat lamp when it goes into the mid-20's and below.

 

[real_redhead]

Thanks, I just went and checked on them and my one banty was in a nesting box. I brought her in and she is resting in a cat carrier in the basement (if I had enough carriers I would have brought them all in). I am still on the fence about putting the heat lamp out there...would it hurt them from going from 10 degrees feels like -10 with to being heated with a heat lamp? I can hang it so there would be no risk from the shavings.

 

[nop169]

Here in SC it is supposed to drop to 5 degrees tonight... we prepared ahead of time by enclosing the runs in heavy plastic and that seems to suffice for the majority of my poultry, however, my seramas were also given heat lamps, around 9 pm I checked on everyone and the seramas were huddled so I decided to bring all 19 adults & 8 young adults into the house tonight. Set them up in the coolest room of the house in hopes that the temp change will not cause illness once I return them out to their coop tomorrow or the next day. It has been a very windy, cool day - temps began dropping after 3 pm and by 4pm water was freezing over in the outside troughs. Normally we see some winter nights dip into the teens but typically never below 18 degrees (at least not in over 20 years). The serama breeders are in smaller 4 x 6 coops which were covered with plastic and typically the addition of a heat lamp with a 100 watt bulb suffices yet from the signs of discomfort I decided not to risk it tonight. The other poultry (standard chickens, bantam polish, peafowl, turkeys all appear to be fine with just the plastic wind blocks - their coops actually feel warm just from wind control & body heat, the ducks seem to not even notice the cold.
You could say we are a bit protective, but I want to insure comfort of my animals. The sheep & goats all had a heavy grain feeding around 5 and plenty of barn space out of the wind, 14 y.o. potbelly pig had a large warmed meal & heat lamp over her bed, horses grained & then feed warm beet pulp. All of the dogs are inside!
Typically we do not go to the extreme we did over the last few days or feed the warmed beet pulp but as we do not get this type of weather often, we felt the normal measures should be added to. Usually I do not worry overly about winter as we provide good quality feed & hay and protection... but I think you have to also think about what is normal for your animal and as this deep freeze we are all experiencing isn't normal down here, well we spoiled them all a bit today. Better safe than sorry I say.