Chickens dying from cold

[micstrachan]

One other thing... I wrap my roosts with towels in the winter and my girls love it. Yours might enjoy that, too, as long as you can guarantee they will stay dry.

 

[bobbi-j]

What temperature is it at your house? I've never had chickens die, even at 0 degrees Fahrenheit. However, I do always put a heat lamp in, not only to provide heat but to also keep them laying. If you think that they are dying of the cold, then I would say definitely put a heat lamp in. If that still doesn't help and you get desperate, you might even need to keep them in a shed or garage. Good luck, and I hope you figure this out!

It's not the cold that stops them from laying in the winter, it's the short hours of sunlight. Just putting in a regular light on a timer so they get around 14 hours of light would have the same effect.

By keeping heat in the coop, people are doing a disservice to their chickens for two reasons. Either they don't get a chance to acclimate to the cold and will suffer from cold if electricity is lost, or they do get a chance to grow their nice thick down coats, and then their keeper puts a heat lamp in the coop. Now they have these warm coats that they can't take off, and are uncomfortable because it's too warm. Think about it: put on all your winter gear. Everything you need to stay warm. Now go outside for an hour or two. Go tromp around in the snow, go do chores, whatever. Not too bad, is it? That's because you're properly dressed. Now come in the house. Don't take off your gear, though. Keep it all on for at least a couple of hours. How is it feeling now? I have had chickens in their unheated coop in -25* weather and not lost a bird. There are definitely other factors at play. How is your ventilation?

When I first started keeping chickens, I thought they had to be sealed up tight in the coop, with a heat lamp. I had problems with frostbite and respiratory problems every year. Now that I keep it well ventilated and not heated, they do so much better. Large combed birds will get frostbite, so I try to keep chickens with smaller combs and wattles. Keeping chickens has a steep learning curve.

How many chickens do you have? How big is your coop (in feet by feet)? Do you have any ventilation? (I don't even put the windows back in the coops until it's 20* or so. I will shut them when it hits zero. I leave the pop door open until it's in the teens below zero.) What do you have for bedding? How cold does it get where you live? Have you checked your birds for parasites? They can weaken a chicken and make it harder for them to survive the cold.

 

[Smartlink]

Today it was a glacial -13f (-25C) outside... inside =the coop it was a cosy 23f (-5C). they spent most of the day outside..... They could at anytime go back in the coop, but they seem to enjoy the cold weather.

During the night the temp in the coop goes down without the light bulbs, but since it's well insulated , temps never went below the low teens.

i think cold is not your issue.

 

[Minky]

I cant believe your chickens like the cold!! What kind do you have ? It was -28C here at 9 am, and only made it up to -23C around 3 pm.... but my chickens do not even think about coming out!! They are all laying well, but I am also concerned about the cold, since MY FINGERS freeze (to the point of pain) while feeding them and adding some water to their bowl. I have 2 that have large combs, seem ok so far- what does frostbite look like? I use straw, and my barn is 25 x25 or thereabouts.

 

[Stayc]

What was the temperature?? What kind of chickens are they??

 

[Blooie]

An ammonia buildup can sneak in and even when it's still almost undetectable to us, it's enough to be a risk to them. Combined with moist air, it's a combination that they can have difficulty coping with when they are already using so much of their stamina to handle the cold.

The others are right - more information will help us tremendously in helping you. And I'm sorry you are having so much trouble.....hearing how well mine did in the extreme cold doesn't help you one bit, I know.

 

[bobbi-j]

I cant believe your chickens like the cold!! What kind do you have ? It was -28C here at 9 am, and only made it up to -23C around 3 pm.... but my chickens do not even think about coming out!! They are all laying well, but I am also concerned about the cold, since MY FINGERS freeze (to the point of pain) while feeding them and adding some water to their bowl. I have 2 that have large combs, seem ok so far- what does frostbite look like? I use straw, and my barn is 25 x25 or thereabouts.

Yes, but your fingers aren't covered in a nice thick down coat.

 

[centrarchid]

My chickens and I clearly have communication barriers that prevent in most instances what either likes or dislikes. Beyond that, it is clear weather impacts their behavior. When is it cold, they avoid areas that drain them of heat, if they can. They will brave locations of extreme cold for eats, but they spend less time there when it is very cold. When real cold snaps hit, they will sometimes go off feed for a couple days and then fly a lot more than typical of chickens to avoid contact with snow. I am venturing a guess they do not like like cold, at least not when temperatures drop below freezing. My chickens are not sissies so do not think in those terms.

 

[AmazingRachel]

The cold isn't really the problem, it's the humidity inside the coop. Make sure they have adequate ventilation (1 sq ft of vents per 10 sq ft of coop floor space). I heavily recommend NOT getting a heat lamp, they will huddle around it all winter and if you have a power outage, they're as good as dead. Not to mention the fire risk involved.
Also, don't keep water in the coop at night and change dirty litter.

 

[dfalchek]

You will not likely have any problems. Chicken's metabolism is much different than our and they are not unlike wild birds you see through the winter. So long as you picked birds that emerged from cooler areas, they will be expecting cold. I'm in the Northeast, and my birds are all breeds from New England, England, Chile, and cold hearty French muts. If you talk to chicken keepers in Nova Scotia, Alaska, or Maine -- they would tell you they've never lost a chickens to the cold. (Heat, however will kill a chickens -- as keepers in GA, FL and TX can tell you).