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

[beverly evans]

Mike.Kerr
in Kerrville, TX SOUTHWESTERNER......... Sorry, I didn't notice this was aimed at Northerners till on site. I am in the Hill Country region of Central TX. They are in a decent poultry shed, wood floor and a light down to 20F ............. daytime freerange over a half-acre happy and active at 25F.

Mike, Yeah, We have a problem with heat, not cold here in Texas. But all this talk has shown us we have nothing to worry about. They obviously can handle 30 below and then some so we're in the clear! I'm in Austin. Do you belong to our meetup?

 

[beverly evans]

Colorado Springs here. We've been in the cold snap that others have mentioned. My girls have been fine. They have deep litter in the coop and get no additional heating. I don't close them in as their run is secure. They come and go as they wish. Even on the coldest days (single digit highs) they are outside. I did make them oatmeal on the cold mornings and they enjoyed it.

I have 3 Barred Rocks, 2 Silver Laced Wyandottes, 1 White Wyandotte and 1 Red Comet (my best layer).

Westwind, What's a Red Comet? Is that the same as a Production Red or a Red Star? A cross between a RIR and something else? THX

 

[mike.kerr]

Yes, the heat......... think I have more trouble with our Texas summers than my flock does! I had a heat stroke years ago surveying irrigated farms and then living,, working in Colorado and Wyoming for many years - got spoiled. What is your meetup? I rarely go to Austin due to the distance and traffic. Getting ready for another cold front tomorrow with some nights in teens - just adding another light. My flock's laying has really been low for several months now, looks like some are still molting.

 

[beverly evans]

Well its been D* good so far. Only 3 frozen eggs. The chosen roster is showing signs of frost bite, I was unsure of how large his comb would be.
I've had to increse % of feed and give more whole corn and wheat which goes on straw slabs. that makes them work for it, since they won't go outside. We have a bread outlet store here, which sells animal use only bread at a very good price. (They go complety nuts over bread.)
One hen in basement tonight; she stopped eating complety. She is a must keep hen cuz she lays a large egg, and has the right comb, leg color and blue genes. one other is being hand fed,doing fine. With the higher fed I'm getting great egg production.
Chicks that hatched out in Aug. are doing much better this year than last. Have learned No Chicks after first week of Aug. Two of them in hen pen and must be moved out. they sleep in nest over night. (that means poop in nest)
One thing I've found to be heplful is using the coffee grounds to melt snow, as long as the sun is shining it melts and better once temps rise

Well Frank, I'm afraid I did the cardinal sin, babies after August! Three of the 5 pullets given to me turned out to be roosters. Waiting every day wondering when a neighbor would complain about the crowing made me think I'd better take advantage of all those fertile eggs before I was obliged to get rid of them, (the boys). So I began incubating eggs. I got only 3 from the first hatch, 10 from the second and 20 from the 3rd hatch, (little learning curve going on there!) So at the moment I have 27 inside in big tupperware tubs in the den and 16 outside! Now I can get rid of my roosters without feeling guilty. I needed to take advantage of that lovely gene pool as the roosters are truly magnificent, but then aren't all roosters? I have two stubborn hens that every night roost in the nesting boxes side by side. I try to beat them to the spot and put up a board before they get there each nite. They just don't get it no matter how rough I am removing them! Are your chickens some very fancy heritage kind that must have all the right characteristics to qualify for show, so that is why that one is a "must have hen"? lol

 

[Scott H]

DE does not kill worms...... And I'd like to see any study that shows it does.
Not even going to address DE cleaning blood vessels. .. ;-)

 

[Chachi]

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.  

 

[Chachi]

Thank you for your comment. My girls are spoiled and enjoy the warmth. There is ventilation so no humidity is present. In fact, when I let them out and it's cold they will opt to go back into the greenhouse. This greenhouse only houses them and no plants. When the go into the other greenhouse with plants they eat everything insight. If we get another cold snap like we did a year or so when we go ice they will be coming indoors to my art study. I do have my girls spoiled and it works out great for me. I spoil them and they keep producing eggs. Lots of organic eggs.

 

[Connie Winner]

Hi Bev!! Our worse nightmares are coyotes!! They took my Llasha Opso!! I will never forget that, I am still upset and that was October 2012. The altitude for bears has to be higher...we are too low. Recently my friend that runs cattle on our property said not far up the road form us... her friend, had a loss of a mule from a cougar! Unusal, but I guess happened, but not like a bear. I have 5 free range roosters, they seem to do just fine, but if the coyotes get in too close to our houses... who knows. I also have a jack Russel Terrier/ doxie mix... she happens to like to terrorize them once in a while!!! Maybe she's my enemy?? (she's 11 mos. old) !!! LOL

 

[Susan Kocsis]

I don't know if the photos are uploaded correctly but they show the "alien" that was embedded in the egg on the outside of the shell. It was really creepy looking and dried up quite quickly, never did find out what it was

 

[Scott H]

That's a beautiful picture NorthChicken!

Thank you!! We are blessed with a beautiful view of the Aroostook River.

This is our "front yard"...