First Winter? What temp do you wait until "turning the lamp on"?

[Katt66]

Heat is actually much harder for chickens to deal with than cold. They are in their glory on cool fall days and winter doesn't phase them.

This will be my first winter with my little flock in my little coop in my little yard but we always had chickens growing up. They had an enclosed coop where they'd go to lay eggs but honestly, even in the dead of winter some of them would rather hop up into their favorite tree or chill in a clump of straw on the barn floor than go into their coop. I can't tell you how many evening chicken roundups I participated in as a kid trying to convince those darn things that the coop was where they needed to be at night for protection. We're talking days on end of sub zero at night and single digits just creeping into double digits for weeks sometimes. And those chickens are out strolling around like it's nothing. Believe me, they will be fine with the cold. They like it.

Our flock was an assortment of Barred Rocks, Rhode Island Reds, White Rocks, and some mixes.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Katt, we had the same experiences. The worst spell I remember from all those decades ago was a consecutive 7 days and 8 nights where it stayed below 0 F. Those trees were in a protected valley, were more like a thicket, and they could move around to get behind a tree trunk if they wished, but they did not freeze to death or have frostbite problems. All of them were out foraging during the day.

If they are locked in a lousy coop where the wind is channeled through it and they cannot move to a spot out of the wind, they might have a problem. Or if the coop is built where the moisture cannot escape frostbite is a risk. But with decent ventilation and a chance to get out of the wind, even if it is just moving to the other side of the tree trunk, they really can handle cold quite well.

 

[WalkingOnSunshine]

What about for those of us who get huge temperature swings? Where I live, they don't get time to become acclimated to cold weather. It was 74 yesterday and no wind. It's now 44 with 30 mph gusts and this is our high for today. Tonight is supposed to get down to 26. Mine have wind protection but going from the mid 70's to the mid twenties, isn't that a bit rough?

Your birds have been acclimating for the entire season. I'm sure that it's been cold at night where you live for weeks now. We had our first hard frost over a month ago, and it is routinely below freezing at night. It was 65 degrees here yesterday afternoon. Today it's 30F with an inch of snow on the ground. Tomorrow, it will probably swing back up.

Ohio weather is so changeable, there is literally an entire book of jokes about it.

Your birds will be completely fine.

 

[Katt66]

Your birds have been acclimating for the entire season. I'm sure that it's been cold at night where you live for weeks now. We had our first hard frost over a month ago, and it is routinely below freezing at night. It was 65 degrees here yesterday afternoon. Today it's 30F with an inch of snow on the ground. Tomorrow, it will probably swing back up.

Ohio weather is so changeable, there is literally an entire book of jokes about it.

Your birds will be completely fine.

Yeah. Honestly, the best thing to do when the weather is changing so drastically is to give them options. Let them have an enclosed coop to run to when they wish. And a sheltered outdoor place if possible. So they can get a breeze when they feel the need or snuggle up under cover somewhere out of the wind and weather when they are feeling like they need to be cozy.

At night mine are closed up in the coop where they've got access to roosts and piles of straw on the floor to choose where they wish to sleep. It's not heated in any way just closed from drafts down low with good ventilation at the ceiling. During the day they have the coop still, with their little chicken door open so they can come and go as they please, as well as an enclosed roofed run with plastic from ground level with a section about 8" high open around the top for ventilation. Roosts under the coop part of the run and open space for the rest. They also have access to my open yard if they don't want to be in the shelter of the run. We got about an inch of snow overnight and the wind is whistling like crazy out there right now and everybody is sitting under the coop on their roosts dozing like the lazy balls of feathers they are. Earlier they were out picking around the yard with the wind blowing up their little hen bloomers and it didn't bother them at all. It's 26 degrees and overcast and looks it wants to snow again. My birds range in age from six weeks to just over six months.

 

[3chickchicks]

Your birds have been acclimating for the entire season. I'm sure that it's been cold at night where you live for weeks now. We had our first hard frost over a month ago, and it is routinely below freezing at night. It was 65 degrees here yesterday afternoon. Today it's 30F with an inch of snow on the ground. Tomorrow, it will probably swing back up.

Ohio weather is so changeable, there is literally an entire book of jokes about it.

Your birds will be completely fine.

Our lows have been in the 50's.

At least their roost is a 2x4 so they can lay on their feet. I have one dominique, one buff brahma, and two wyandottes. I think they're supposed to be cold hardy but I'm just concerned about the big temperature swing.

 

[azygous]

I swapped out my heat lamps for oil-filled electric heaters. However, I set them on the lowest setting and only use them when the temperature falls all the way down into the single digits or below. My intent is not to heat the coops, but to try to keep it from getting too far below freezing. Chickens are equipped with the finest down winter attire you could possible design, so any attempts to heat their living quarters is going to make them awfully uncomfortable. Think how uncomfortable you would feel if you had on a down parka zipped up to your ears in a room heated to the high 70s.

 

[PrincessTamTam]

We get as low as -45C here which pretty much is the same in Fahrenheit. I do have a red light in my well ventilated well insulated coop and the coldest it got in the coop last year was -8C which is 17F. I think I might back off a bit this year (we learn as we go along right?). Tonight it is only going to be -3C outside and with no light in the coop and it is around 6C in there. I know they have feathers and can keep somewhat warm but I do worry about them. I a, not driven by egg production, mores happy hens and the red light is as sufficient as a white light for egg production. I started with ten hens and each day last winter I had ten eggs with putting a red light on to add some warmth from a most horrible winter. This year I have more hens which will help heat the coop and I will lay back on the red light if not absolutely needed. We have water heaters made out of cookie tins so they always have a good water supply. We all have different ideas on whats best and you just have to go with what works best for you.

 

[TXchickmum]

Our lows have been in the 50's.

At least their roost is a 2x4 so they can lay on their feet. I have one dominique, one buff brahma, and two wyandottes. I think they're supposed to be cold hardy but I'm just concerned about the big temperature swing.

We're also in N. Texas. We have a mixed flock. The excessive heat in August and September is what really made me nervous. My girls are loving this cooler weather! They will be just fine tonight with themps in the mid 20s. It is a fairly substantial shift in temperature, but I'm not at all concerned. (They are all fully feathered - no little ones) I closed the doors and north facing windows, and left the south facing windows open. -plenty of ventilation and a nice wind break. -all good!

 

[GuppyTJ]

I'm going through my first winter with chickens as well and having read a good deal from those more experience here, I'm going to implement their advice. I won't be adding heat. I've tried to pay attention to air flow into the coop so that it is well ventilated without being drafty. I did move their roost from one side of the coop to the other. I purposefully made a roost that I could move. This way, in the summer when it's hot, the roost was located near the 2 human sized doors where a cross-breeze blows through. In the winter, I close the smaller of those 2 doors but leave the other 5 x 8 foot door and opening wide open. To avoid the wind blowing directly on the chickens when they roost, I moved the roost to the other side of the coop where it is sheltered and out of the way of any direct wind coming in that large front door opening, which is covered with hardware cloth.

We'll see how it goes. So far, so good. We've had nights down in the 20's and as far as I can tell, the chickens are fine with it. I'll continue to pay attention to them and try to learn what THEY need based on their behavior. I keep reminding myself that what I'd be comfortable with is not the same as what the chickens are most comfortable with.

Guppy

 

[Katt66]

I'm going through my first winter with chickens as well and having read a good deal from those more experience here, I'm going to implement their advice. I won't be adding heat. I've tried to pay attention to air flow into the coop so that it is well ventilated without being drafty. I did move their roost from one side of the coop to the other. I purposefully made a roost that I could move. This way, in the summer when it's hot, the roost was located near the 2 human sized doors where a cross-breeze blows through. In the winter, I close the smaller of those 2 doors but leave the other 5 x 8 foot door and opening wide open. To avoid the wind blowing directly on the chickens when they roost, I moved the roost to the other side of the coop where it is sheltered and out of the way of any direct wind coming in that large front door opening, which is covered with hardware cloth.

We'll see how it goes. So far, so good. We've had nights down in the 20's and as far as I can tell, the chickens are fine with it. I'll continue to pay attention to them and try to learn what THEY need based on their behavior. I keep reminding myself that what I'd be comfortable with is not the same as what the chickens are most comfortable with.

Guppy

This right here. I try to keep reminding myself that the chickens have built in down jackets that they can't take off. I know what it feels like when I am out working in the yard and then come into the warm house. I can't wait to take that jacket off. The chickens don't have that option and are very comfortable in the cold as far as I can tell. I too keep watching their behavior to see how they are acting.