Cold Weather Chickens

[Sweet Road Island Reds]

Thanks! My chicken’s judgment isn’t great though, so I lock them in when it gets REALLY cold

This is probably overkill but I don’t let my girls out unless it’s above 25. In Iowa there is just too much snow and it makes me too nervous. I have some hens that will stay outside and lay down in the snow until I carry them inside and pick them up. But I don’t think they mind being in the coop mine is 4 feet tall 8 long 4 wide pretty comfortable.

 

[MissE]

This is probably overkill but I don’t let my girls out unless it’s above 25. In Iowa there is just too much snow and it makes me too nervous. I have some hens that will stay outside and lay down in the snow until I carry them inside and pick them up. But I don’t think they mind being in the coop mine is 4 feet tall 8 long 4 wide pretty comfortable.

Mine would be locked inside from November until April if that was the case. They have a covered run. Even with sub 0 daytime highs, they enjoy hanging out in the run, sunning themselves and attempting to thaw the grand canyon dust bath they dug.

 

[s98330q]

I'm in illinois - pretty cold here too. I do DLM but my litter is frozen under the roost bar where the poop is. I have been breaking up the clumps and adding small new layer. Coop is elevated 3'. There has been no issue with excess moisture - ammonia smell. Thoughts?

Seems legit. We have a weather station in the house so we can monitor the coop remotely from our phones. Humidity is the biggest threat right now. Our coop has a vent high up and one lower. The high up one is always open. The lower one we modulate. Warm moist air rises. Since the upper one is always open, this air escapes and allows fresh air to come in from the other one via natural process. As I write this its 48% and -12F in the coop. Outside its -21 and 64%

As for the poop pans, I built up the hay layer under the roost bars and put the pans on top of the hay. This makes cleaning alot easier. Make sure to fluff the hay periodically. Think of you hay like blow-in insulation. The insulating quality is in the air trapped in the hay.

 

[CluckerFamily]

I also live in Wisconsin. I choose to have Easter Eggers and that’s it, I just love they aren’t a breed and they are technically a mutt just like everyone else.
I have a covered run and put plastic corrugated sheets along the walls of the run in late fall to prevent most snow from going into the run and the maximize the sunlight warmth we get. My flock can come and go from the run to the coop all day.
I don’t heat the coop unless we are -30°F not including windchill.

 

[smac_bags]

I live in Wisconsin and as you can imagine it gets pretty cold here in the winter. We are currently in the middle of a cold snap and the temperature has been in the negatives every day. We have a radiant heater in their coop at night and it stays on during the day so that they can go up there anytime. It’s not that much warmer but it is out of the wind and if they perch right by the heater they can warm up a little. They have tarps on their run to keep the wind out as much as possible but they like to sit right where there is no tarp and watch everything that’s going on in the yard, which isn’t much right now. My question is, how cold should it be before I lock them up in the coop? I have only done it one day this year when it was about -20 windchill but today it is -16 windchill. Does anyone have a certain temperature they wait for before putting them all up in the coop? I know it’s not good for them but frostbite isn’t good either!

I'm also in Wisconsin. This weekend it's supposed to be -20's at night. I have a flock of 12, 11 hens, 1 roo. I haven't locked them in and their run is not wrapped. We did add an additional vent a few weeks ago and that took care of all of our moisture issues. My roo has very minor frostbite but I think that's due to when we were fighting getting the moisture out of the coop. Every morning their coop is about 15* warmer than outside. I'm not worried one bit about them. They huddle when needed, they have dry warm shelter, a heated dog bowl for water in the run, and treats daily. Just remember, if your chickens are cold tolerant, they are fine. I watch a flock of turkeys roost in the trees at night. This helps me remember, they are built for this. Most important thing is to have a dry area they can warm up in.

 

[Three Little Bunnies]

I'm in NM and only have trouble with cold weather a couple times a year. It's supposed to snow on Sunday. My rabbits love the snow. My WLs are, for some reason, the ones who are willing to venture out into the cold. Oh, and my bantam cochin and her ISA brown sis. I'm interested to see how my bantam Brahma will react. I think the chickens don't mind the cold nearly as much as I do. They'll just hide under their shelter or the Christmas tree I gifted them.

 

[karwhit1]

I don't take the wind chill into account for the chickens, who are safely indoors. I whine about it for ME because I am outside, bundled up like little Randy in "A Christmas Story", cursing frozen latches and electric waterers that are filled with ice. And, yet, I continue to choose to live in Iowa and have outdoor critters.

Callender Girl The coop in your picture looks like the prefab one on amazon... I would love to order one but wondered how well it went together .... being square and holes matching up etc. thank you

 

[Chickenclaude]

I’m in CT and baby it’s cold here w 3’ of snow. I have a space/run under the house that I wrap w clear tarps to block the wind and to keep the snow from drifting in. It’s been -temps on and off most of Jan as highs. Even when I open to fill the feeder and heated watered they only look outside...they don’t venture out. I keep a 20’ length of Christmas lights in a tube inside their coop and it keeps the temp much warmer in there. I wrap the perch with the lights and they are warm to the touch...keep those feet warm. They would be out-in the elements as wild birds..sometimes I have to remind myself of that.

 

[leighks]

Yes, do you think I should?

Our avian vet recommends Mushers Secret, which is wax based and doesn’t contain water. We have used it with 100% success and no frostbite. Vaseline contains water which can freeze and contribute to frostbite, it’s not recommended.

 

[Bound to Sea]

I lock my chickens in when it is -15celcius and lower. So this past week, we have had -33celcius before wind chill factored in. About -43 C with wind chill. Overall, every year, they are locked up about a week or so. Reason is, I have had frozen combs on some before and that isn't pretty and painful for chickens. Blood every where too. Vaseline is alot of work when so cold I don't want to spend extra time trying to catch chickens and apply it.