Cold Weather Chickens

[Ksammy]

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.

I feel you all! It was 8° not counting wind chill here today not as cold as some of you but I was out outside wrestling around first thing this am, trying to decide weather to let them out or not. ( Ducks and chickens 7 ) gathered up and stacking more straw making my ducks and chickens stay in what I call the community center, added a another wood plank to the front, that was open, put a blanket over it oh you name it I was doing it! Setting up heaters. Freezing , I did this off and on all day, I'm pooped! I think I have a better set up tomorrow for this cold snap.

 

[JHH3]

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 live in Wisconsin also, this cold is brutal. I'm new to chickens but everything I've read and researched says as long as they have good ventilation and stay out of drafts they ought to be fine. Though I've also read that -20 is the lower limit for chickens.

I've opted to shut them in their coop until the temperatures get up into the positive teens during the day, they don't come out anyway when it's lower than 17 degrees and I didn't want their open door to facilitate too much draftiness in the coop.

They don't have a run, just a fenced in yard and most of it is covered in snow other than an area I've cleared for them. I put down chopped straw for them to walk on when they're outside.

Just added a heater to their coop, I wasn't going to but I have one chicken whose comb is pretty badly frostbitten and I felt sorry for them all for being in subzero temps for so long. It only keeps them about 20 degrees above the outside temperature but that will help them a little when it gets down to -20 tomorrow and -24 Sunday.

That's what I'm doing, maybe it's wrong but as long as they make it through this without frostbitten toes I'll be happy.

 

[s98330q]

Were going thru a severe cold snap with lowest actual air temp of around -34F at night. Wind chills have been around -60F. Our 10 hens have been in their coop since the cold snap. We don't have any heat in the coop due to fire risk. We did DLM and so far they have not been bothered by the cold. Every morning they poke their head out the door for a minute and go back in. Nope. Not today lol. Usually the coop is 10-15 degrees warmer than the ambient temperature.

 

[moxiemom6]

I am in northern illinois, about 45 minutes south of wisconsin. My run is covered with plastic with the exception of one spot for ventilation. So, there is no snow in the run. The coop is not heated and I have a little cross ventilation that does not blow on the girls as they roost. They all have been going out and hang out in the run. If the sun is out, it warms up the enclosed run through the plastic. The door auto shuts at 6pm and reopens at 7 am. So far - so good. They are all ok - combs don't have frostbite. They eat a lot. I feed 18% protien feed and put out a mix of dry cat food, sunflower seeds and dried corn. They recognize the container with meal worms, and the bag to bring out the treat of the day. Water - it's frozen every morning. I use a rubber ag bowl, and stomp the ice out. Around 2-3, more warm water is taken out to keep bowl from freezing.
My girls are all heavy breeds picked to tolerate the cold. At this point, anything above 10 will be a heat wave!

 

[moxiemom6]

Were going thru a severe cold snap with lowest actual air temp of around -34F at night. Wind chills have been around -60F. Our 10 hens have been in their coop since the cold snap. We don't have any heat in the coop due to fire risk. We did DLM and so far they have not been bothered by the cold. Every morning they poke their head out the door for a minute and go back in. Nope. Not today lol. Usually the coop is 10-15 degrees warmer than the ambient temperature.

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?

 

[walleye19]

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?

 

[walleye19]

I live near Sioux Falls, SD. Today the high was -3 and all my layers spent much of the day outside. I keep worrying that this cold snap is going to get to them, but as long as they are out of the wind they don’t seem to kind the cold at all. I put down a nice thick layer of hay in the run and they just love scratching around and laying in it.

 

[Unsworth]

I have a walk in chicken house with a full door so I leave the door open just enough for them to go in and out during the snowy and windy weather. They decide themselves whether they want to be inside or outside. It is snowy here in Michigan so I have a continual chore of sweeping the snow away from the front of the house so they have a little area they can go out if they want to.

 

[Serenityintheverse]

Yes, do you think I should?

I use Green Goo Salve. I find it a better choice than a petroleum based product like vaseline and the like. Just a thought

 

[Little Dickens]

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!