chickens and cold

[mother o' chicks72]

I might just be paranoid but tonight is the first pretty cold night my chickens have ever experienced. It's supposed to snow tonight and I don't know how they'll do. Some of them are supposed to be cold hardy but others are not. I live in Portland, OR right now it's 37 degrees but it's supposed to get colder, also one of my girls is going through a mini-molt right now. Tell me, am I being paranoid?

 

[bleith]

yep

just keep the drafts down

 

[hispoptart]

My chickens would think spring was coming with temps like that

It's been in the teens here at night.

 

[OregonChickenGal]

They'll be fine. I live in Central Oregon, and as you know, it gets real cold here in the winter. My chickens are always fine. Just make sure there are no drafts in the coop and I always add extra pine shavings to the coop floor.

 

[Fred's Hens]

We have a loooooooong winter ahead. No time like the present to acclimate to it. March is a long way off.

 

[Johnboy78]

My girls are doing OK in the forties and nites in thirties.
They'd better, coop is not heated nor will it be.
This morning I got up and let them out about 8:15,
yeah, they are up earlier than I am.
Checked and found a little egg in the nest area.

Nest area is lined with newsprint which I top with a
handfull of straw, and it was getting poopy so I changed
the paper and put in the straw, came back inside and
had my coffee, etc. Probably due for a change in the coop area too,
been more than half a week. The Cube is like a birdcage,
with sliding trays underneath that I also line with newsprint.
Dig a hole, drop in the poopy papers, cover, reline trays.

One of the girls is by a water bucket, acting thirsty but not really drinking.
Aha! Ice floating on top. I bring the bucket in and refill with warmer water
and they all crowd around for a drink.

My Yokohamas are the only two I'm concerned about. They are not considered
"cold hardy." But we don't really get cold here on Long Island. Our temps
might get to zero but not for an extended time, typical winter spread is
teens to 30's and 40's and I have a south facing sheltered yard that is
typically 10-15 degrees warmer in the daytime than the north side of the house.
My first little flock and my first winter. Meanwhile on youtube I saw a video
of three hens roosting on a branch while driving snow seemingly threatened to
blow them sideways off the branch. I think mine will be OK.

 

[sambia62]

we have already been down to 29 my buff and RIR did fine just look at it this way they did not have heat lamps and such luxury back in the 1600 1700 nor the 1800 and chickens survived back then

 

[featherz]

LOL 37 and it's a HEAT wave for winter.

They will be fine. Someone in one of the other threads had -47 (in alaska) and no heat on the chickens. That would even scare me, but the chooks were fine.

You'll notice that in Winter there are hardly any chickens dying from cold, but in summer there are threads all over the place where they die from the heat. Heat is much harder on them!

 

[toofarout]

mother o' chicks72 :

I might just be paranoid but tonight is the first pretty cold night my chickens have ever experienced. It's supposed to snow tonight and I don't know how they'll do. Some of them are supposed to be cold hardy but others are not. I live in Portland, OR right now it's 37 degrees but it's supposed to get colder, also one of my girls is going through a mini-molt right now. Tell me, am I being paranoid?

Keep the coop dry and draft free, they should be fine.​

 

[wyododge]

mother o' chicks72 :

I might just be paranoid but tonight is the first pretty cold night my chickens have ever experienced. It's supposed to snow tonight and I don't know how they'll do. Some of them are supposed to be cold hardy but others are not. I live in Portland, OR right now it's 37 degrees but it's supposed to get colder, also one of my girls is going through a mini-molt right now. Tell me, am I being paranoid?

I think you are only concerned at this point, paranoia is when your husband has to unplug the hair dryer and drag you out of the coop and back to the house...​