Cold Nights?

[Caitlyn777]

Hey, I live in Massachusetts and we have pretty mild winters but it's starting to get cold at night. During the day its usually about 30 - 40 F but at night its been around 15 - 20 F. I've been putting the chickens inside during the night because our coop isn't insulated, but it's a hassle to do that every night and I want to try to leave them outside. Is it too cold to leave them out there? I noticed when it gets dark they still go sleep on an outside perch even though the coop would be warmer.

 

[chickencheeper]

We’re in Massachusetts to, here’s what we did with our coop https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/our-coop-and-pre-winter-cleaning.1207676/#post-19181488

 

[chickencheeper]

Hey, I live in Massachusetts and we have pretty mild winters but it's starting to get cold at night. During the day its usually about 30 - 40 F but at night its been around 15 - 20 F. I've been putting the chickens inside during the night because our coop isn't insulated, but it's a hassle to do that every night and I want to try to leave them outside. Is it too cold to leave them out there? I noticed when it gets dark they still go sleep on an outside perch even though the coop would be warmer.

I’ve also noticed that one time during a very chilly night when i has to bring a possiblely sick chicken inside at night(she was fine the next day) I pulled her off the roost and I could feel how warm (almost hot) the chickens were, they will all huddle together for warmth

 

[chickencheeper]

 

[Zoomie]

Chickens are wearing the very best down coat available. The cold does not affect them the way it does us... as long as they are dry! So the thing to do is make certain your coop has very good ventilation. You do not want wind or breeze to blow on your birds - that blows away all the heat they have from their down coats - but you want good ventilation so that the moisture from their breath and droppings does not get them damp or wet. That could possibly lead to frostbite.

I'm not real clear on what you mean by "inside" - do you mean inside your coop? Or inside your house? For protection from predators, chickens should be inside their coop at night with the door shut so that nothing can get in. They sure don't need to be inside your house. They don't need heat, they should be just fine outside in their well-ventilated coop.

And welcome to BYC!

 

[PirateGirl]

It's currently 18 degrees F and snowing sideways at my house. I checked the girls when I first got home and gathered my one, half frozen egg. They were all fine, up on their roost in a row in their unheated uninsulated coop. Your chickens are likely just fine too in a draft free, dry coop.

 

[Wolfgang B.]

Is your coop big enough for your chickens to fit in comfortably at night? Is the ventilation good enough? Temperature inside the coop shouldn't be your problem. More the humidity and size of it.

You could lock them inside the coop for a few nights in a row to make them get used to sleeping in there. Then watch them the following evening when it's dark:

1.Did they go inside by themselves? Good, keep an opening in the coop door big enough for them to get in at night and out in the morning.
2.They are still trying to sleep outside? Keep locking them inside the coop until they go in by themselves.
3. If they won't sleep inside the coop at all make sure the run has a roof and block any wind blowing through.

Generally a dry chicken is a warm chicken but I'd feel more comfortable about them sleeping in the coop anyway.

 

[chickens really]

I would put them in each night also...Wind and cold temps can cause the Birds to get stressed and sick...They need to be warm and dry....

 

[ChickenCanoe]

You all know that most of these breeds we keep were developed over the last several hundred years in pretty cold climates and they had no means, desire or need to heat housing.
Their ancestors, red jungle fowl, are adaptable to a wide range of climates and their original range went all the way into the Himalayan foothills.
Lets look at a few breeds people keep.
Plymouth Rocks - it got pretty cold in Massachusetts in the early 1800s.
New Hampshires - it was very cold in New Hampshire in 1915.
Delawares - it was pretty cold in Delaware in 1945.
Jersey Giants - it got really cold in New Jersey in 1880.
Buckeyes - very cold in Ohio in 1904.
Chanteclers - it is cold in Canada, but it was in 1918 too.
Barnevelders - it got pretty cold in Holland around 1900.
Dominiques - known as the Pilgrim chicken, it traversed the United States with the pioneers, I doubt they had very cozy housing.
Ameraucanas - developed from chickens originating in Chile - very chilly in Chile.
Swedish Flower Hens - yeah it was cold there hundreds of years ago.
I could go on.
I've had about 30 or so breeds of chickens and it gets into the minus teens here. My newest coops have huge windows on both East and West walls that take up nearly a third of the walls. I've never lost a bird to cold but I have lost birds to heat.
A friend has a very nice coop and covered run. For the last 3 years, her birds have opted to roost in the wide open run rather than the coop - all winter long.
Healthy birds don't get stressed or sick from cold if allowed to become acclimatized. Continually going from warm to cold is stressful.

 

[chickencheeper]

Our slw was the one I was referring to about being very warm and cozy