Cold weather housing

[Krayfish57]

I am new to backyard chickens and I have a ? concerning cold weather.

It is supposed to drop to 29 degrees here in North Florida tonight with a wind chill in the mid 20s. Even though my 3 girls have a coop I was wondering how cold is too cold for them to be left outside all night?
Should I just insulate with hay or should I bring them into the garage? I thought I could put them in a dog kennel for the night.
I have 3 chickens that are 4 months old. 1 Ameracauna, 1 RIR and 1 Golden Comet.

 

[JackE]

You'll be alright. You have chickens that can handle the cold well. I regularly get temps like that, and the chickens have no problems with it. Check out the pic below, the temp was around 11F when it was taken. And yes, the front of the coop is wide open, year round. No heat, no insulation (except for what the chickens have), no problem.
Jack

 

[Krayfish57]

Thank you very much!
It doesn't very often get this cold in Florida but on occasion it does dip below freezing. When it does, us Floridians scramble trying to save our citrus and out door plants. I appreciate your quick response!

 

[Krayfish57]

BTW I love your chicken coop!! My husband is building me a new one in March!

 

[evaarnim]

so you have a wonderful coop is it pretty secure we are in the country by the river and of course comes with that a lot of different animals looking for food would love the plans for your coop

 

[JackE]

so you have a wonderful coop is it pretty secure we are in the country by the river and of course comes with that a lot of different animals looking for food would love the plans for your coop

Thanks, that is a Wood's coop, the design is over 100yrs old. Below, is an on-line view of the book I got from Amazon. The book I have, has some simple plans with measurements, in it. The coop is VERY secure, all of the openings are protected by hardware cloth. In the background of the pic I posted, there is a branch from the Chesapeake bay back there. I have all kinds of predators, on the ground and in the air.
Jack


http://archive.org/stream/openairpoultryho00wood#page/n7/mode/2up