Cold Weather Concerns

[lovechickens101]

We have been having cold snaps in Eastern Washington. The insulation I installed in the sides, bottom, and top of their roosting and nesting area keeps the air temps 10 to 15 degrees higher than outside. The girls have wooden roosts and plenty of straw and wood shavings. The bottom half of the coop is wrapped in heavy plastic with good ventilation. I built the coop on a block foundation which I filled with construction sand and the outside runs have the natural dirt floors. They are still giving me two to three eggs a day. They seem happy enough to continue laying eggs and there is no artificial heat source in their coop. They have the best coats with their feathers and down. This is my first winter as a chicken owner and I also worried but study nature as to the benefit of the natural methods to keep it simple. I did install a heated water bowl which makes it so much easier for all concerned. Loving being a chicken owner.

 

[RonP]

We have been having cold snaps in Eastern Washington. The insulation I installed in the sides, bottom, and top of their roosting and nesting area keeps the air temps 10 to 15 degrees higher than outside. The girls have wooden roosts and plenty of straw and wood shavings. The bottom half of the coop is wrapped in heavy plastic with good ventilation. I built the coop on a block foundation which I filled with construction sand and the outside runs have the natural dirt floors. They are still giving me two to three eggs a day. They seem happy enough to continue laying eggs and there is no artificial heat source in their coop. They have the best coats with their feathers and down. This is my first winter as a chicken owner and I also worried but study nature as to the benefit of the natural methods to keep it simple. I did install a heated water bowl which makes it so much easier for all concerned. Loving being a chicken owner.

Keeping them dry is more important than warmth, which nature prepared them adequately.

Good ventilation helps keep the humidity in check.

Sounds like you have it under control...

 

[jladdy]

Hi Blooie....and everyone else.....
I'm in Montana and have been wondering about when I'll be able to put my chicks outside in their new coop. Like yours, no insulation but well vented and draft free. I have 10 babies this season; although I got them much earlier than I ever have before. Forgetting how quickly they grow, 10 babies in a horse trough are going to get crowded quickly. When you put your girls out in those temps, did you provide a heat lamp in the coop to get them through until the warmer months? I'm torn if I should put them out there (maybe just keep them locked inside their coop) with a heat lamp, or just force them to live in tight quarters until they are older? Our temps have been so inconsistent this year, it's hard to say what our weather will be. The last two nights were below zero with highs in the 20's-30's. By the weekend our highs are expected to be in the 50's with our lows in the 20's-30's.... What should I do with these girls? I knew I got them too early this season....

 

[tjo804]

some of the things I have read for cold weather are

Frost bite fear slick combs and waddles with Vaseline This will keep the water off and prevent damage from frostbite.

Another is the feet!
The chicken feet are a wonder and do alot to help regulate body temps and if the roost in the coop is wide enough that they can sit on their feet it will help them to stay warmer. I use 2x4 or 2x6 in my coop for my ladies to sleep on.

 

[Blooie]

Hi, Jladdy. We're going through the same thing here....been exceptionally warm for weeks. We've seen temps in the 60s, unheard of for this time of year. Last night it was 2 below. <sigh> I put mine out at 5.5 weeks, which was April 1st last year. They were pretty doggone close to fully feathered, (the key factor in deciding when to put them out) with still some down on their little heads, but in all honesty I just couldn't stand the dust one more day! Our coop wasn't even finished when they went out. It snowed right after we moved them out, and we got our last snowfall on June 4th.

I got them ready to put out by turning off the heat lamp in the house during the day. After a day or two of that, I started cracking a window in the daytime, just in the room they were in...not a direct draft on them, but it did cool off the room somewhat. Then I turned the lamp off at night too. Oh, they hollered! "Mom, it's dark! It's dark!" But when I finally put them outside they were used to the idea that nighttime is for sleeping, not running around all night. That process probably took a week or 10 days...I can't recall now.

When I first put them out, I did put a heat lamp out there for them and I put a wireless thermometer in there too, with the receiver in the house next to my bed. Stupid, stupid! I'm so OCD that I was awake more than I was asleep, staring at that darn thing, seeing it go down to 20 degrees. I'd get out of my nice, warm bed, put my boots on with my jammies, and head out to check on them. They were fine. I was freezing! I'm embarrassed to tell you how many times the first night that scene was repeated. They were all huddled in a pile of butts and beaks, and not even under the heat lamp. Nope, they were snuggled in front of the pop door. The next night was a repeat, except that I only checked on them once or twice. Again, same story....not even near the heat lamp. The next day it came out and I've never put it back in. Oh, and I stayed in bed from that night on, too!

I can't tell you when you can put your chicks out. I don't know how old they are, what kinds they are (some deal with cold a little better) or what your coop construction is like as far as adequate ventilation and/or direct drafts. But I will tell you to be patient, wait until they are fully feathered (or mostly) and prepare them ahead of time for what is waiting out there the best way you can. I certainly don't want to tell you to go ahead and put them out, only to have you lose some to the drastic change. Nor do I want to tell you to put a heat lamp out there for them and have your coop become one of the ones that we read about burning down. You know your situation far better than I do and what worked for me might be all wrong for you. I'm sorry, I know that you probably would have preferred a more black and white answer, but all I can tell you is what I did. Your final determination has to be made by you.

This year I'm not even using a lamp in the brooder. I'm using a heating pad in the brooder and the little boogers are thriving with it.