Hey Northerners: What is the absolute coldest air temps your chickens have experienced happily!

[lalaland]

I set the milk jug full of water inside the heated dog bowl. That gives the "moat" effect to keep the birds from stepping into the water or dipping their wattles into the water. I use snow to wipe out the bowl when it needs a good cleaning. LaLa: with a bowl sitting inside the heated bowl, the bowl doesn't over heat? Does the heat transfer to the inner bowl well even though the inner bowl does not exactly match the contours of the heated bowl, or do you keep a bit of water in the HB for the other bowl to sit in?

oh, so are you using the milk jug with a little hole in the bottom edge so it refills the "moat"? that makes sense! I have the water bowls wedged into a corner so no one walks across them. BUt I like your idea to protect the wattles.

the heated bowls don't get very hot, and when it gets lower than -15, I do put some water in the bottom to help keep the water in the bucket unfrozen. THe plastic ice cream buckets just sit right on it and usually do ok, athough they might frost up around the rim.

I use snow as a scrubber, too! I just hate messing with the electric cord and the coil around it - so stiff and awkward - thats why I went to the bowl or bucket set inside.

Usually I keep the water outside, but with this extended time of bad windchills, and a rooster wtih a badly frostbit comb, I'm not making them go outside. So water and feed inside, which is not normal. Today, however, everyone is outside because we have a temporary warming spell before going back to -28 tonight, with wintdchills in the -40 and -50's.

 

[beverly evans]

61 degrees F -- coldest
93 degrees F -- hottest... I have two Black Sex Links so have to be careful they stay in the shade

Oh bunnylover, You and your 60 degrees of cold!! Just go away why don't you? hahaha just teasin'

 

[beverly evans]

I went outside at 5am this morning to fill up the wood stove before work and thought boy it feels a lot warmer this morning so I looked at the thermometer and it was a balmy 3F. The past few mornings have been-11F to -20F. I put down 2 more bales of straw under the coop. I have a raised 8'x16' coop with plastic around it to keep out the wind and snow. I had to belly crawl and throw straw at the same time to spread it around. My DH told me if I get stuck under there he was not helping me LOL But the chickens like the extra straw and that's where they hang out during the day so it was worth it.

Tell DH that if he is happy to leave you stuck under the coop he should be happy to have eggless breakfasts from now on!

 

[beverly evans]

I was a little worried this year about them all, but so far the coop is running 20-25 degrees warmer than outside temps without heat! Guess they will be fine this year. I added straw bales around the base of the coop and blocked off all drafts and any leaks and have R19 insulation on the entire coop inside ( with walls covering it of course)

Wow! You have done some really superior work on your coop! Congratulations! I don't heat my house and sure would like a 25 degree difference between the inside and the outside. Mind you, I live in Austin, Texas and the coldest it has gotten so far here has been 28, so my hens are A okay. Admittedly, my house without heating is at least in the 50's usually.

 

[beverly evans]

Okay, down here in Texas the humidity is through the roof. So the cold just feels colder. This past week we had a cold front come through. Temps went from 70's to 40's in about an hour. Then the wind picked up to about 30mph. The front was a day early. Four of my five girls were easily put in the greenhouse. Then Raquel just would not be caught. So I left her in the cold windy weather. I was out in that mess winterizing my home. Then it began to drizzle. I was cold, wet and just wanted to be finished so I could go inside and get warm. I kept and eye on Raquel. She went from running around and scratching to laying down and trying to stay warm. After about two hours she was ready for some warmth. So I get her caught and into the green house she goes. I had put a small heater in there to make sure to keep temp up. It was not more than thirty seconds and Raquel was in front of the heater getting warm. I was laughing when she turned around and started warming her backside. I just mentioned to her be careful not to close or we will have Roasted Chicken! And on cue the other girls all squaked. I just walked away and she was still warming herself. I haven't had any more problems getting her into the greenhouse when the temps start to drop.

Chachi, my fellow Tejano, aren't you reading this stuff? Heaters are bad for chickens unless you have cold weather colder than -30. Go back to page 1 and learn all about it. No heaters! Just eliminate all drafts, direct wind, and rain on their heads. In other words, give them shelter from the elements and and they will be fine. Humidity is bad, so have good ventilation that is not directly on them so the coop can stay as dry as possible. Soy de Austin.

 

[beverly evans]

We have three black sex links. One regularly lays eggs with really thin shells, so thin that they just crush in your fingers when you try to pick them up. Today one of them laid this hideous looking mutation. There are no roosters so it can't be a fertilized egg. The alien looking thing was in a "pocket" on the outside of the shell. After I removed it from the hole, I poked the shell underneath it. After I poked through, I found the yolk inside. But what is that OTHER thing? Eeeewwwwww

I am almost caught up with this thread and haven't seen further mention of your deformed egg so had to ask. Did you find out what it was? I mean was it a parasite or something ? And do do what they say; grind up dried shells in the blender or Magicbullit and add it to their food as well as having some oyster shell around. Mine are fine with their own shell given back to them. Haven't had a thin shell yet. lol

 

[beverly evans]

Feel like a northerner since it's so cold in Texas right now. I am taking the advice of all you with cold weather experience and not heating the coop. It has been in the low 20's for about 48 hours now and the next 5-6 nights will be below freezing. My 3 hens have been fine. They are laying eggs (not as many as summer, but I get 1 or 2 every day), eating and acting normally. I am feeding them a little warm mash in the morning and right before they go in at night.

The coop is just big enough for them, with a roost bar across it. I quit replacing the litter in there so I could have the deep litter heat, just remove excess poop every couple of days to cut down on humidity and ammonia, stir in some new shavings and DE. No smell whatsoever. The run underneath is covered on top and I covered the 2 windy sides for winter. The floor is hardware wire and I keep lots of shavings in there as sometimes they lay their eggs down there. It sits a couple inches off the ground on bricks. The whole coop and run is in a 6x8 chainlink dog kennel yard covered on roof and sides with hardware cloth, then for winter the top and 2 windy sides are tarped to keep out wind and rain. It also has shavings on dirt floor which, once they get really soiled, I stir up and push underneath the coop floor. This keeps it a bit warmer in there with the composting heat.

The coop has a window that I never close and I cracked the roof open for extra ventilation as it is humid right now. I weatherstripped the side door and the nest box to get rid of drafts. With all that and the tarp covering, I noticed it was indeed warmer in there than outside. It must be about 30-32 deg as it takes hours for the small waterer to freeze up, and I'm home to check it. I always close the pophole door at night for additional protection from the only pest that can get inside the yard and maybe the run would be a mouse or snake.

I have seen no signs of frostbite. I don't have electricity at the coop, and if I did, we lose power often enough out here so they would only suffer if they weren't used to the cold.

I don't take huge precautions in the summer either even though it can get 100+. I use a larger waterer filled with mostly ice and I also put out a splash tray with a big hunk of ice to melt over the day to cool their feet. Moisture is rarely a problem as everything is uncovered, there's usually a breeze, and it's just so hot. The coop and yard are underneath shade for almost all of the day.They move around a bit less and their beaks are open, but they did OK, eating, laying eggs, and doing normal chicken things.

Autumn123, Where in Texas are you? Yeah, heat is the problem for us, not the cold. BTW Lamelde is wrong. You go right ahead and put DE in your deep litter. The thing we use DE for is to kill the mites that might be brought in by wild birds visiting your feed on the ground in the runs. jjSo two times a year when one cleans out the coops with disinfectant and all that (if you do) we sprinkle the DE in all the cracks and crevices and between walls and floors, not out in the middle where it might interfere with poop breakdown and the composting chemical process. I also put a little in their fermented feed to kill worms (and other internal parasites) should they get any. Its good stuff! There are people who take it on a regular basis because it cleans the alls of our blood vessels of plaque.

 

[beverly evans]

We have had our first cold snap here in Colorado the last week and it will continue until Thursday. Lows as bad as -20F and highs in the teens at best. The girls seem fine and are still at normal egg production. Our coop door is automatic and opens during daylight hours. We haven't been heating though we are rigged for it. My wife begged me to turn on the lamp on the coldest night, so we compromised with extra cottage cheese and oatmeal treats at dark. At the beginning of this snap we acquired 18" of snow, which I found to be the real interruption to their routine. I would walk down to the coop and they would poke out their heads but, despite my coaxing, refused to exit. It took me until today to realize that I needed to shovel the run, so I did, and they walked right out into 0F and did chicken things all day. It seems that even though the snow had settled and melted its way down to 6 or7" it was still too daunting.

Now back to my other problem......

I have to ask....That "other problem" looks like a fox with it's lovely winter white coat on. How did you handle it? Do you have an outside camera at all times or just to catch this culprit on film? jkDid he get any of your chickens? lol

 

[earlybird10842]

Probably about 10 degrees F.

 

[beverly evans]

We live in Central Calif. 35 miles from the south entrance to Yosemite Nat'l Pk. We have been hit with some cold weather for us... we are only 1,100 ft. level and we got snow and the ground still has patches that haven't melted in 3 days. (It's very unusal for our area) it's been in the 20's at night, horse water troughs get frozen, ice over the top, so you know it's cold!! I LOVE BYC and have learned alot, but having chickens on and off for years... I kind of letting them do "their" own thing and it has worked for me. They have a coupe that was built in the 70's (?) and it must be designed right, because it has worked! They have pleanty of air, no heat lamps used/or fans in summer, they have fully covered areas, no winds and they have an outside run, (I do need a covered top for the "yard"... would make me feel better for summert and rains!)... and they all seem to do fine in the cold and heat! Something must be right!!

Connie, Have to ask....being so close to Yosemite, do you see any bears? Are they a problem? If not, what kind of predators are your problem?