Do your chickens stay on the roost when cold?

[Yardmom]

I placed my waterer just outside my coop last winter. 48 hours later some Wyandottes had not gone out to get a drink. They might be cold hardy, but they sure do not like to go out in the cold or snow. I now keep a waterer in the coop at all times. Can you place food and water in the coop just during the day when it is coldest/windyest?

 

[aart]

We've had a spate of cold and windy weather and I'm having quite the time of it getting some of my girls to emerge from the coop.

Do you have a run?
And is there some wind protection there?

 

[buffy-the-eggpile-layer]

Do you have a run?
And is there some wind protection there?

Yes! I have a large covered run, with tarps protecting the sides that get the predominant wind. Snow does blow into the run anyway, so I often have to end up shoveling out some parts of the run to ensure the area around food and water is clear.

 

[buffy-the-eggpile-layer]

I placed my waterer just outside my coop last winter. 48 hours later some Wyandottes had not gone out to get a drink. They might be cold hardy, but they sure do not like to go out in the cold or snow. I now keep a waterer in the coop at all times. Can you place food and water in the coop just during the day when it is coldest/windyest?

that made me smile. I'm glad my Wyandotte isn't alone in her fussiness about the cold. I was thinking I might've gotten myself an oddball GLW.

Last time I ended up putting some heavy-bottomed dishes of feed in the coop, and she ate from that. It's tough because my girls are messy eaters, and since my coop is small and deep litter, food can easily get lost (and I want to keep rodents and predators out). There's not really room for a waterer (at least not the one I have).

We plan to design a new walk-in coop since we've learned so much since our first one, but it won't be until Spring/Summer. The current one is not walk-in and too cramped for me to get in there and do much.