Extreme Cold

[ileggs]

I have had the same problem! I have a heat lamp in my coop and one of the chickens knocked it down and burned a whole in the coop! I was lucky there was not a fire with the coop so close to the house!

 

[suzMEchicks]

That scares me to death! My chicken coop is very close to my house. I have the clamp on kind of light but I nailed both sides of the clamps onto one of the rafters. It cant move. But its scary. All that hay and pine shavings.

 

[ghostwolf211]

This is why i'm concerned...Look at these Temps

• Overnight​
  Periods of snow with areas of blowing snow before 4am, then snow likely with areas of blowing snow after 4am. Low around 5. Wind chill values as low as -8. North wind 9 to 17 mph, with gusts as high as 23 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. Total nighttime snow accumulation of 3 to 5 inches possible.
• Friday​
  Snow showers likely before 7am, then areas of blowing snow and a chance of snow showers between 7am and 1pm. Cloudy through mid morning, then gradual clearing, with a high near 11. Wind chill values as low as -12. Blustery, with a northwest wind 15 to 20 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible.
• Friday Night​
  Mostly clear, with a low around -1. Wind chill values as low as -10. Northwest wind 5 to 8 mph becoming calm in the evening.
• Saturday​
  Mostly sunny, with a high near 23. Wind chill values as low as -2. Calm wind becoming south 5 to 9 mph in the morning.
• Saturday Night​
  Partly cloudy, with a low around 15. South wind 5 to 7 mph.
• Sunday​
  A chance of snow before 1pm, then rain and snow likely. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 35. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible.
• Sunday Night​
  Rain before 1am, then rain and snow. Low around 32. Chance of precipitation is 80%.
• Monday​
  A chance of snow showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 34. Chance of precipitation is 40%.
• Monday Night​
  Mostly cloudy, with a low around -6.
• Tuesday​
  Mostly sunny and cold, with a high near 3.
• Tuesday Night​
  Partly cloudy, with a low around -3.
• Wednesday​
  Mostly sunny, with a high near 15.
• Wednesday Night​
  Mostly cloudy, with a low around 9.

 

[cstronks]

In NJ we are supposed to have temps around 0 only on Friday...wind chills will drop into the negatives, but the birds are well protected from the wind in the coop. When building, I weighed the winter question heavily, and I decided to insulate, and it is now paying its dividends. During the 20 degree days, the coop uses passive solar heating from the sun during the day and achieves temps of about 45 degrees on the interior. I just checked the birds before, and the outside temperature is 15 (with the blizzard in full force), and the inside of the coop is a remarkable 37 degrees! I haven't added heat for this reason. The idea of fire is just too much, and the coop doesn't need it.

On frigid nights like these, I have heard chicken owners say that it is ok to close up most of the coop in order to retain some heat. I have done this on the cold nights, and as long as the coop is dry, the 8 or 10 hours of closure shouldn't hurt the birds. That is just my estimation from what I have heard here on BYC and done on my own. My birds have been doing great this winter, and I attribute it to the insulated walls and closing some of the vents. Since the cold is so extreme, I decided to board them up well, as I have on other extremely cold nights. This keeps the interior temperature higher, and as long as it is above 32 degrees, I don't have to fear frostbite.

To everybody who is enduring the blizzard, stay warm, safe, and get ready to shovel at the crack of dawn!!!

 

[Mrs. K]

we have been consistently cold, and what I am seeing is a loss of egg production, but my birds are getting used to it, they are outside strutting around in pretty darn cold weather. I don't add light or heat.

I caution you on a tightly closed coop, the moisture will build up fast, and that is where you will get frost bite. Instead of adding heat, add feed and make sure they go to bed with a full crop. A lamp, an extension cord, high wind and water and snow, are a darn good recipe for a fire if you ask me.

Mrs K

 

[mithious]

we have been consistently cold, and what I am seeing is a loss of egg production, but my birds are getting used to it, they are outside strutting around in pretty darn cold weather. I don't add light or heat.

I caution you on a tightly closed coop, the moisture will build up fast, and that is where you will get frost bite. Instead of adding heat, add feed and make sure they go to bed with a full crop. A lamp, an extension cord, high wind and water and snow, are a darn good recipe for a fire if you ask me.

Mrs K

Mrs K, I know the standard is more ventilation, BUT...there are some of us, that in these frigid temps, real temp tonight of -10 and tomorrow -28 at night, with horribly high OUTSIDE humidity...I had issues when I opened up my coop more, in these kinds of temps, when I installed a DIY water heater and the OUTSIDE humidity flash froze on every surface of the coop.

Unfortunately, some of us are facing issues that are unusual, for most of the country. I ended up, closing most of my ventilation also. I left my highest vent open, and it does suck out "some" of the inside moisture...if I left my coop more open...I get 1/4th inch of frost on the walls in minutes...I am not heating their coop, and am seeing a bit of frostbite, only in these horrid temps...BUT, my cockerel, got a heavy dose of frostbite on his comb and wattles, when I had MORE ventilation open, than now that I have closed quite a bit of the coop up.

It's hard to adjust for and figure out the right amount of temps and ventilation and can be very dangerous for areas that face high outside humidity with the frigid temps. Someone near here, lost a whole flock...I don't know what there set up was, but all their birds froze. I Have been on the Alaskans thread and read tons of it, BUT, they have dry cold...where as here on the east coast, we have very WET cold....I have yet to get my ventilation right..or maybe I am fighting a battle that is out of my hands...I have tried both..more ventilation, less ventilation...so far, less has been better for the birds and I am getting less frostbite! I do leave the DIY water heater on though, even at night, but no heat lamp...wondering on tomorrow night though....the fires scare me also...I do give the birds a nice hot water breakfast of layer pellets and a few broken up eggs, shell and all, early in the AM( bout 7 amish )water warm and about an hour before sunset, I give them some pretty warm water too...that seems to be helping them also. The warm AM food seems to help them maintain their body temps through out the day...it's the frigid nights I worry about.

I am seriously thinking of trying a heat lamp, for Friday night, with real temps at -28, and wind chills??? and the 100% humidity...I still don't have it all figured out, but wanted to add my two cents for those who are in my predicament and facing that darn outside, high humidity...I guess what I am saying, is, try out some different ventilation, more. less, heat, no heat, for YOUR area, check the humidity and your coop walls and the birds combs and wattles...it might be, that you are in an area that the outside humidity is more than what will be in your coop and the "standard" answer just isn't going to work for you...again, it only took a minute or two, for my coop walls to flash freeze, when I opened up the coop as much as I could. Just food for thought!

One more quick idea I had the other day. I am considering using a small computer type fan, to help the inside moisture, to the outside...the big commercial operations use huge fans in those big buildings...like an exhaust fan...only much smaller...like I said, I am still trying to figure this out myself, in my own weather conditions!

Stay warm everyone..this is gonna be a VERY LONGGGGG winter! Best to all of you and your flocks!

 

[4 the Birds]

In Blizzard conditions: Obviously close any openings that allow snow to pile up in the coop

In Bitter cold conditions: Keep an upper vent open in the coop to allow moist air to move out (I also leave the pop door open). I activate a few brooder lamps (heat bulbs) to give the birds a place to huddle near and stay warm. We have 4 dogs that also brave the elements as well but have insulated compartment dog houses with hound heaters. -20 degrees F here in a couple days. Everyone bundle up and stay safe!

 

[Mrs. K]

You are so right on the difference the outside humidity makes, and also correct in that in Western SD we are a dry cold...... it does make a difference where you are.

 

[ghostwolf211]

Well I did break down and put the heat lamps in the coops last night...I left their door's open so if they got too warm they could go out into the runs to cool off....Right now its about 6 degrees outside and the coops are holding at around 24 degrees

 

[suzMEchicks]

I just had my 100 watt light bulb and they did well. Outside was -6 overnite and the inside got to 12 above. I checked them a couple times. They were either on the roost or walking around. Not huddling so I thought that was good. Today the coop is in tbe 20's. i gave them a big spaghetti squash and some other treats. Thanks for all the great input the last couple days about the cold. My husband is starting to think I'm obscessed. I don't want them to suffer though. Not to be too crazy but Southern Maine is supposed to get way colder tonight and then break into the 30's. crazy winter