Cold?

[Nekatlla]

So I haven’t been too worried about the cold issue anymore, these girls are doing fine. But my question is if they get too cold will they go back in the coop, it’s 1 degree here this morning and they’re all standing around on one leg, guess their feet are a little cold on the snow. There is a little heat in the coop for the 5 & 6 week olds keeps it about 25 in there at night and about 10-15 depending on the wind on days like today.
Thanks for the insights.

 

[Ridgerunner]

It was +4F when I took this photo. I just leave the pop door open and let them decide what they want to do. As long as a strong wind is not blowing they go outside. If a strong cold wind is blowing they get out of the wind. The cold is not what bothers them, it's a cold wind.

They were already outside when this 1" snow started falling so they never bothered to go in. When mine wake up to a fresh white world they tend to not go out for a couple of days but eventually a few will. The snow does not seem to bother their feet at all. I think it's the change to a white world that causes their concern, not the cold. Mine just don't like change unless it's so gradual they don't notice.

 

[BantyChooks]

So I haven’t been too worried about the cold issue anymore, these girls are doing fine. But my question is if they get too cold will they go back in the coop, it’s 1 degree here this morning and they’re all standing around on one leg, guess their feet are a little cold on the snow. There is a little heat in the coop for the 5 & 6 week olds keeps it about 25 in there at night and about 10-15 depending on the wind on days like today.
Thanks for the insights.

Birds are cold hardy and stubborn. -2F here this morning and my birds are out ranging in 1' of snow like it's 40*F... they'll be fine. Like ridgerunner said, it's the wind they hate.

 

[Nekatlla]

Thanks, that’s what I figured just wanted to check. Ridgerunner, I see you have a rooster, how do you keep your hens looking so nice? When I had a rooster he was mean to the girls, constantly doing rooster stuff like yanking on their neck feathers. He also pulled out all the feathers on their backs, they are just now 9 months later getting them back. Feather fixer in their food. We had a cool nice rooster to people but couldn’t see the hens like that so got rid of him. We now have a new one I would love to keep but don’t want those issues again. Thanks for the help.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Thanks, that’s what I figured just wanted to check. Ridgerunner, I see you have a rooster, how do you keep your hens looking so nice? When I had a rooster he was mean to the girls, constantly doing rooster stuff like yanking on their neck feathers. He also pulled out all the feathers on their backs, they are just now 9 months later getting them back. Feather fixer in their food. We had a cool nice rooster to people but couldn’t see the hens like that so got rid of him. We now have a new one I would love to keep but don’t want those issues again. Thanks for the help.

First there is a world of difference in cockerels and pullets versus roosters and hens. If yours were not yet mature, that could have been a big part of the problem.

The other part for me is that when I have a chicken that does not meet my expectations I generally eat them. I certainly do not allow them to breed. When I got the hatchery chicks that formed the base of my first flock I had one male and eight females. Two of the females continued to have bare backs. I ate them and got down to one rooster and six hens. That problem went away. The pullets that I hatched did not develop bare backs. Most people seem exclusively blame the rooster (sometimes the male is the problem especially cockerels) but I also hold my hens accountable.

There are several different things that can cause bare backs so what worked for me won’t work for all. I think there is some trial and error involved.

 

[aart]

There is a little heat in the coop for the 5 & 6 week olds keeps it about 25 in there at night and about 10-15 depending on the wind on days like today.

C or F degrees?
Are the 6 wk olds outside too?

 

[Nekatlla]

C or F degrees?
Are the 6 wk olds outside too?

Degrees F, and they are doing fine, was 18 last night in the coop and when it got to 22 degrees F today I let them go out and play, this is the 5 and 6 week olds, which are now almost 6 and 7 week olds. They were out for 3-4 hours and the breeze picked up just a little they went back in side so I shut them up, coop without heater was up to 32 degrees F so I think they are just about acclimated, its warming to high 30's during the day and mid 20's at night next week so they should be fine without the supplement heat.