Cold snap in Mississippi, garage or coop?

[Lori J]

Tonight it’s going from 65° down to mid 20s with a winter storm warning for the next few days. That may not sound so cold for you Northerners but I think it will be hard for my 2 “southern” hens. Do you I think it would be warmer if I put them in the garage tonight, or warmer in their coop?

 

[PeanutTheChickenLady]

Tonight it’s going from 65° down to mid 20s with a winter storm warning for the next few days. That may not sound so cold for you Northerners but I think it will be hard for my 2 “southern” hens. Do you I think it would be warmer if I put them in the garage tonight, or warmer in their coop?

In all honesty, it depends almost entirely on the size of the coop and the style of the garage. Is the garage heated, and is the coop excessively large for only two chickens? If the garage is heated, and the coop is excessively large (large enough to where they cannot heat it with their own body heat), then put them in the garage. If the coop is of moderate size, leave them in there, but put a bowl of hot water under their perches for overnight. The radiant heat from the hot water will help them keep the coop warm. If it is frozen in the morning, then you know to put them in the garage from then on, until the storm and cold snap passes.

 

[azygous]

Remember when you were small and your mother insisted you wear a sweater and you said why, you aren't cold, and your mother said, you wear the sweater because I'm cold? Well, you are the one dreading the nose dive in the thermometer, not your chickens.

In case you never noticed, chickens, by the time they've reached six weeks old, are sporting nifty down jackets that insulate splendidly from the cold. And I mean cold! Chickens, if they could read thermometers and actually cared, would laugh at 20F.

The temperature really isn't what you need to be concerned about. Is the coop draft-free? Does it have ventilation so the vapor from the chickens respiration can escape? That's really the only danger - that frozen water vapor can't escape and it will instead settle on the chickens' combs and cause frostbite, especially in your state where I imagine humidity is usually present no matter the weather. (And I wouldn't recommend the addition of any water in the coop, warm or cold unless it's in a sealed jug to prevent evaporation.)

You want some cool air coming in from down low, the chicken pop door, and an outlet up higher for the warmer air to flow out of the coop. The chickens will fluff up, trapping warm air from their bodies, and they'll slumber peacefully in their coop. In the garage, they will be stressed because it's not "home".

The first time after I got chickens and it got really cold, I filled 2 1/2 gallon plastic jugs with hot tap water and placed them in the coop. I don't think it actually did much, but it made me feel better. I have one of those flat panel heaters that they make just for chicken coops. You might look into that if you have electricity to your coop. https://www.chewy.com/cozy-products...MIuuqsyY6S4AIVybXACh0vmgOnEAYYAiABEgKQ9PD_BwE

 

[Lori J]

In all honesty, it depends almost entirely on the size of the coop and the style of the garage. Is the garage heated, and is the coop excessively large for only two chickens? If the garage is heated, and the coop is excessively large (large enough to where they cannot heat it with their own body heat), then put them in the garage. If the coop is of moderate size, leave them in there, but put a bowl of hot water under their perches for overnight. The radiant heat from the hot water will help them keep the coop warm. If it is frozen in the morning, then you know to put them in the garage from then on, until the storm and cold snap passes.

I think both the garage and coop are larg-ish. And no, The garage is not heated. The coop has a lot of open air spaces because we have mostly warm and extremely hot weather here. I do have a board put up in front of their roost for the winter but But this next couple days will be unusually cold for this area so wanted to do more. I will post pictures

 

[Lori J]

Remember when you were small and your mother insisted you wear a sweater and you said why, you aren't cold, and your mother said, you wear the sweater because I'm cold? Well, you are the one dreading the nose dive in the thermometer, not your chickens.

In case you never noticed, chickens, by the time they've reached six weeks old, are sporting nifty down jackets that insulate splendidly from the cold. And I mean cold! Chickens, if they could read thermometers and actually cared, would laugh at 20F.

The temperature really isn't what you need to be concerned about. Is the coop draft-free? Does it have ventilation so the vapor from the chickens respiration can escape? That's really the only danger - that frozen water vapor can't escape and it will instead settle on the chickens' combs and cause frostbite, especially in your state where I imagine humidity is usually present no matter the weather. (And I wouldn't recommend the addition of any water in the coop, warm or cold unless it's in a sealed jug to prevent evaporation.)

You want some cool air coming in from down low, the chicken pop door, and an outlet up higher for the warmer air to flow out of the coop. The chickens will fluff up, trapping warm air from their bodies, and they'll slumber peacefully in their coop. In the garage, they will be stressed because it's not "home".

The first time after I got chickens and it got really cold, I filled 2 1/2 gallon plastic jugs with hot tap water and placed them in the coop. I don't think it actually did much, but it made me feel better. I have one of those flat panel heaters that they make just for chicken coops. You might look into that if you have electricity to your coop. https://www.chewy.com/cozy-products-flat-panel-chicken/dp/169444?utm_source=google-product&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=hg&utm_content=Cozy Products&utm_term=&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIuuqsyY6S4AIVybXACh0vmgOnEAYYAiABEgKQ9PD_BwE

Thank you so much! Yes you’re probably right about that. The coop is drafty because High temperatures are usually our concern, not low. But at least they would not have to worry about water vapor settling on their combs from inadequate Ventilation.

 

[Lori J]

 

[Lori J]

 

[Spartan22]

20s and 30s I normally leave my coop windows ajar for ventilation, been doing it for 5 yrs with the coop pop door open to the run 24/7. I only shut them in at night when the temps is on single digits or lower. Humidity is more of concern in the coop so adding water warm or cold is not advisable. Mind you I even have flat panel heater in my coop but only used them few times when it was -20 or less few years ago.