Freezing temps - should I keep chickens in coop?

[Mike1394]

I hung plastic from the ceiling hanging down about 3 feet. It doesn't enclose the perch but I think it will hold their heat in and prevent drafts. What do you think? I'm in upstate NY and worried about the cold.

 

[RonP]

Don't worry about wind chill factors.

Your birds should be in a draft free coop.

 

[zenaura]

I'm in an area of southwestern New Hampshire that is considered a "snow belt." It's typically colder and windier than surrounding areas, and the wind chill has dipped below zero recently. When I find water that has frozen inside the coop within 5 hours or eggs that have cracked because they have frozen, I keep the hens inside. We have an oversized (10x10x8) coop that I consider way too large for 4 hens, so we keep a thick layer of fresh straw on the floor and plenty extra in the corners for them to snuggle into. We also put a dog igloo inside the coop to give them a choice of venue and conditions. Evidence indicates they nest in the igloo and don't just use it for laying. We don't use artificial light or a heat lamp, and the hens are healthy and still laying daily. That said, I tend to be a bleeding heart weenie.

 

[alwaysmissy]

I'm in southeast Michigan and my girls always come out everyday, they didn't particularity like the snow but have acclimated to it. They have a partially covered run and I have a heat lamp suspended from a post pointed at the water bucket. Its high enough to give that corner of their run a bit of warmth but they don't really hang around it.

 

[Brienna]

Does the light bother them when they are trying to sleep? I started using a heat lamp a few days ago since we are in the single digits, but I wonder if they prefer the dark? I'm wondering if I am doing the wrong thing.

We live in Québec, Canada, and the temperature dropped to -30 celcius last night. Our coop is insulated and well ventilated but we decided to put a little heat (red heat lamp) just to maintain a nice temperature of around -10. We have a camera in the coop so we watched them with the light on and they wouldn't roost/sleep. The would wander around and just attack eachother which is unusual for them, they would chase eachother and peck eachother violently. We decided to turn off the light, but today we thought of putting a bit of aluminum foil to block out the red light if we decide to switch it on at night. Seems to do the trick.

 

[WNCcluck]

It's not supposed to be too horrid here tonight ... 0* before wind chill is factored in. We close our pop door every night for predator protection. The coop is pretty solid and draft free, so we're counting on the girls' body heat and staying out of the wind to be enough. As many have said, they are birds ... we anthropomorphize them with great ease don't we? Thankfully, temps here are to be back to just plain cold instead of frigid by Friday.

Y'all stay warm.

 

[cicilianb97]

As long as their feet don't freeze they will be perfectly fine

 

[tgtn7723]

I too leave the door open 24/7.

They decide, it's rarely unanimous.

Some stay in, some venture out.

Even happens on days that I won't venture out...

Funny, I'll be running out to make sure they're ok, and they'll be looking at me like I'm crazy...

That last line sums up my situation to a "T". I literally laughed out loud

 

[urbanindiana]

In Chicago area, it's supposed to get -6 with crazy wind chill. I put Vaseline on combs tonight and gave girls some scratch and a couple crickets. Covered small coop with tarp but have no heat lamp etc.. I have seen a few Cardinals in the bushes and a few other birds and they seem to survive just fine.
As for keeping water from freezing I built a warmer from a cookie tin. It's a DYI project from Chicken Chick website. Works great, easy to build and was cheap, I changed light bulb to 60 watt because of cold.

 

[tgtn7723]

I have a tractor with a small run on bottom. I decided to move it to a tree line today to block the wind. I'm sure they would have been fine.

That guy in my profile pic (RIP) he loved to be out in the cold as long as there wasn't snow. He wanted NOTHING to do with that nonsense