Chickens not roosting in the coop

[Bigbluefrog]

True, we had negative 50 F with wind chill. It was a crazy cold year!

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

The worse I recall is nearly -40 with -65 wind chills. Seems that has happened 2-3 winters in my 47 years living in Wisconsin. I'd prefer not to experience that again.

 

[Bigbluefrog]

You

The worse I recall is nearly -40 with -65 wind chills. Seems that has happened 2-3 winters in my 47 years living in Wisconsin. I'd prefer not to experience that again.

Goodness! You must be up north from me! Eek!
Well how do those chickens avoid frostbite in those temps?
I am putting more bedding in!
Feed them some warm food today one was not eating as normal gonna check on her.

 

[aart]

If the birds are inside out of the wind....the windchill is not really in play.

I've found that giving electrolytes can help with cold stress as well as heat stress:
I've started soaking rolled oats in a Sav-a-Chick electrolytes/vitamins solution.
This avoids the 'wattle dippage' of an open waterer.
Gives them a boost and gets them hydrated.
1/8 teaspoon to 1 cup of warm water, mix until dissolved.
Add solution to 1 cup of rolled oats, stir well on occasion until all liquid is absorbed, might need to add more oats. Takes an hour or two, then give it to the birds.

Have done this every other day during the last polar vortex, and I believe it's really helped them, they all stayed mobile. Gives me a good chance to assess mobility, any bird that doesn't go for the oats gets watched very carefully and may be brought to a warmer place for a couple hours to 'reset'.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

You

Goodness! You must be up north from me! Eek!
Well how do those chickens avoid frostbite in those temps?
I am putting more bedding in!
Feed them some warm food today one was not eating as normal gonna check on her.

Once happened when I was a kid, and the other about 20 years ago. Thankfully most years it doesn't get much below -25.

I find at -25 degrees it can be hard to prevent some frostbite on combs and wattles, especially on roosters. Most of mine get dubbed by nature their first winter here. Frostbite on toes will happen if a bird picks a bad spot to roost for the night. I have lots of available roost, but some still come up with their own ideas about what they think is best.