Freezing tonight

[kalbert12]

I have 3 RIR and buffs orp mix and 2 speckled Sussex mix my RIR are 6-7 months old and the SS are 13 weeks they are not together two different coops because we just got the SS so tonight's temp is going to be 13 degrees windchill below 0 by morning what should I do for my chickens to prepare them for the cold?? Take inside? Leave out side in coop?? We have added extra hay sawdust and have the coop ventilated but it's still really cold.... Id hate for my girls to freeze
Please help

 

[Ridgerunner]

If the wind is not hitting them then the wind chill doesn’t matter. If the wind is hitting then when they are sleeping, fix your coops. This time of year it’s best for the ventilation to be over their heads when they are roosting.

Here’s what mine do when it’s cold and I give them the option. It was 4 degrees above zero Fahrenheit when I took this photo a few years back. As long as the wind is not hitting them, they’d rather be out in it that inside a warmer coop. If a cold wind is hitting them, they find a sheltered spot.

 

[kalbert12]

The ventilation is above there head just nervous don't want to lose any of my chickens they are all out if the coop I tried to make them go inside but they would rather be outside digging for worms

 

[along121]

I am in Texas. I feel a little silly worrying about my girls after I read your post. I am new to raising chickens. My girls will be a year in February. They are all Buff Orpintons. I have a little house they go in at night, but they have gotten so big that not all six fit. I covered the little cage part around the house with thick black garbage bags. There is also a roosting bar in that part and 2 of them seem to roost out there all year. This is our first real cold weather in Texas.Freezing tonight! I have a heat light shinning down near the door to the little house, but not inside the house. My entire coop is 12 x 18 and this little store bought house (Tractor Suppy) sits in the center. We actually built another little house, but we can't get them to go in it.It is completely out of wood and we put in stagered roosting bars. They are creatures of habit. They don't like change at all. I read in a book that we need to protect them from the cold because it's all about their comb. We don't want it to get frost bite. I hope I am doing the right thing. We hung something on the north side of the coop yesterday and it blocked the wind really good. Please let me know if you think I need to do more. I did put hay everywhere inside the little house.

 

[kalbert12]

I put clear shower curtains heavy duty to winterized because the cold and it still let's sun in they love the sun and digging for worms I put vasiline in there combs to help not get frost bite. We got are coops from tractor supply as well but made it 3 times bigger because we felt it was to small

 

[Fletch83]

I am in Texas. I feel a little silly worrying about my girls after I read your post. I am new to raising chickens. My girls will be a year in February. They are all Buff Orpintons. I have a little house they go in at night, but they have gotten so big that not all six fit. I covered the little cage part around the house with thick black garbage bags. There is also a roosting bar in that part and 2 of them seem to roost out there all year. This is our first real cold weather in Texas.Freezing tonight! I have a heat light shinning down near the door to the little house, but not inside the house. My entire coop is 12 x 18 and this little store bought house (Tractor Suppy) sits in the center. We actually built another little house, but we can't get them to go in it.It is completely out of wood and we put in stagered roosting bars. They are creatures of habit. They don't like change at all. I read in a book that we need to protect them from the cold because it's all about their comb. We don't want it to get frost bite. I hope I am doing the right thing. We hung something on the north side of the coop yesterday and it blocked the wind really good. Please let me know if you think I need to do more. I did put hay everywhere inside the little house.

Hi there, I am also in Texas, in the DFW region. We've been getting that freezing weather since Friday. I do not have a heat lamp for my chickens and they are totally fine. Their sleeping box is well-insulated from the wind and I just make sure to give them extra straw. Right now there is a mix of rain and ice and they don't want to go back inside, they are running around the backyard like it's a spring day. So I think yours will be totally fine without the heat lamp just so long as they have somewhere to go that is protected against the wind and precipitation, I don't think they will get frostbite in 30 degrees, which is what it is here now. Just so long as they have that shelter at night that all of them can fit into. Now I have only had chickens for 1 year, but seeing as we are in the same region I thought I would offer my words of semi-wisdom!

I wonder if with the new house you built, you might need to actually physically place some of the chickens inside a few times until they get the general idea.

In fact I picked up one of my chickens yesterday after she had been outside all day in the cold and slid my fingers under all of her feathers right up against her skin. Her skin was totally warm and toasty underneath!

 

[Ciqala]

Last night was our first night below zero, tonight too - the winds have been howling all day and still are. I do not heat my coop and I got these guys last spring, so they're my babies and I am concerned about them tonight. I have their run enclosed with tarps and clear shower curtains, and still they spent most of the day in their coop. I think our high temp of the day was around 7 degrees. I did add another decent layer of hay of their shavings today, the ventilation is above their heads and I had redneck insulated their coop with cardboard inside. They all looked happy enough throughout the day, maybe a little disappointed with the weather making them choose to stay in.

Tonight does make me sort of wish they had some kind of heat source in there, but at the same time there are tons of scattered power outages {including across the street} in our state today/tonight. And I hate to think what would happen/how they'd be if they had had heat and we lost power... I also hate to think of having all my hens and two roosters in the house, with no lights lol. I already have one hen in, due to injuries, and that's more than enough.

 

[Going Quackers]

Yep, good venting draft free is key, we're bad here too. 18F tonight worse with windchill but my chickens seem a-ok.. right down to the fluffies(silkies) are they happy? nah, they'd probably prefer a bit warmer but are coping, me? i am half froze..

 

[kalbert12]

They did fine they are stubborn they would rather be outside I use hay and sawdust when I got home from work last night I added more sawdust to them my girls are happy and when I make them there every morning treat they are even happier!

 

[JonB]

Like stated, draft free and ventilated is all they need. I just took this pic a few minutes ago. Our younger birds are inside, but the two bigger were out. The little birds face more into the wind and it's in the teens with a 30+ mph wind. They come out when they want too, and go in if it's windy or they've been out for awhile...