Cold weather

[Giggles Chicks]

It's supposed to be 42 tomorrow in my area. My girls are 8 months have not started to molt or been exposed to any cold weather yet. I do have a silkie and an EE. The rest are big girls. They have a 4x8 coop with about 8 inches of pine bedding. Lots of ventilation. Should I do anything for them? Let me know what you think.

 

[Blooie]

They'll be fine. I live in Northwestern Wyoming. We've already had snow...5 inches on October 12 and more earlier this week. As long as you let them acclimate to the ambient temperatures naturally, they do great, and you seem to be doing that. Here sub zero temperatures are not at all unusual and the first year I had chickens I put them out on April 1st. Two days later it snowed, and we got our last snowfall of the year on June 6th. My chicks were 5.5 weeks old when I put them out to live in the coop.

I don't heat or insulate my coop/run, and I don't even use heat lamp for chicks out there...just a heating pad cave in a pen within the run. They thrive, even though our springtime temperatures are in the teens and twenties at times. So as long as you have good ventilation (and lots of it) keep them dry,and have no chilly winds ruffling their feathers around and allowing trapped body heat to escape, they will handle your Florida temperatures with no issues. Humidity buildup from droppings, their respiration and the waterer (if it's in the coop) are the enemies, not the actual temperatures. Oh,and yes, I have Silkies, Easter Eggers, and several other kinds out there.

 

[Giggles Chicks]

Thanks very much!

 

[SueT]

It will never get too cold in Florida for chickens! (We used to live in Eau Gallie.) It's 24º here in MO this morning and our chickens are happily foraging outdoors. They do the same in the snow. They have down to keep them warm, just like the wild birds.

 

[suezeaa32]

I am in Tucson AZ and we are having unusually cold weather. I am afraid they will get too cold. I like idea of letting them acclimate to the lower temps naturally. I will begin that tonite. What is this heating pad cave mentioned?

 

[Blooie]

How old are they? What do you mean by "cold" - how cold? If they are feathered and have a dry place out of the wind, they'll be fine. We are supposed to be 10 degrees, 3 degree, and -1 degree over the next three nights, with high winds and blowing snow. I don't heat my coop and my birds have done just great over the winters here, even in -20 degree temps. I don't think you'll be seeing temps like that. If you are allowing them to acclimate, they will most likely come through any cold snap you have just fine.

The heating pad cave is what I (and many others) use to raise chicks. If your birds are older and feathered, it really won't do you any good. Once they are past the "little chick" phase, usually around 4 weeks, they don't need it anymore, and trying to get older birds to suddenly use it will be an exercise in futility.