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

[Nara]

Thank goodness for BYC! This is our first winter with chickens, and I've been worried about heating versus not heating the coop. It got down to 3 degrees F last night, and I went to bed crossing my fingers that they would do ok. They were all still alive this morning and have all wandered out of the coop today to get some sun, so I guess I just need to relax. After reading here I feel much better about not heating their coop. Funny enough...the hens are all acting normally, but my rooster is sure grumpy today. What a wimp.

 

[Bogtown Chick]

Without heat and no insulation the 0 F to minus 10- minus 15 F range mine don't want to be outside. They are roosting and puffed up in their downy feather coats. Feet toasty warm. -20F to -25F (it may even have hit -30F...can't remember for sure) I did put a heat lamp in the coop and those mornings I did note that the birds went to be under the lamp to take in some of that heat and then get something to eat and drink and climb back up on the roost. Shifting a bit nervously and uneasy at those temps. They aren't too happy at -25 to -30. Can they do it? I'm sure....the Hens tuck their heads under their wings. If you got Roos they don't seem to do that for themselves or they can't with larger combs ...IDK. But those were the limits I saw last winter....

 

[crazybirdlady2p]

This being my first year in Washington I have been tempted to buy a generator and heat my coop with at least a lamp or two. I grew up in Colorado and when I lived on the plains, my birds had a lamp from Nov- April. Wind, cold brrrr. My sister, makes sure her birds( 4 hens,1 roo and a peacock,) are warm with 2 lamps and warm feed. We have been known to make rice, corn and noodles for them.
This year I am doing my best to let this flock be a bit more natural and tough. Although I did serve them warm rice and raisins and lit a fire in the outdoor fireplace.(yes I made rice pudding basically) They are staying warm. Coop temp is not freezing. They all come out happy and soak up what little sunshine we get in the Winter. They are laying eggs, running around and eating. I think they are OK. Temps outdoors have been down in the teens. Coop with 20 hens,5 roos, 2 ducks, and 2 pigeons and all seem fine. Lots of body heat.

 

[Egghead_Jr]

We wrap the run on the two prevailing wind sides with a tarp for winter. It makes a big difference in their activity level and general well being. No heat, no problems. It gets -30F here a day or two and in reality nobodies "happy" about that but they still come out of the coop for a few hours those days.

 

[capow21]

I'm in NW Oregon. I've had my chickens for about 20 months, so this is only their second winter we're coming up on. The low for today was 17 and I think that's about the coldest they have been in. Other than standing on one foot to warm the other up while foraging, they seemed pretty happy today.

I'm thinking they would really like me to knit them some wool bonnets. Especially my Speckled Sussex Roo.

 

[lalaland]

I'm in Colorado too and in a serious cold spell. It was -9 when I got up this morning and it's only hit a high of 10 today. This is our first year with chickens so I'm learning as I go and have made a couple of mistakes I think. We had a flock of 3 but lost one last month (Mareks?). The other two seem great. My coop is only 1 X 2 with two perches. The girls sleep next to each other and we added lots of extra straw on the floor to help keep them warm.

It was kinda windy the other night, so I hung a "curtain" in front of their window to keep the wind out and closed their coop door. The top corner was open to vent. This morning both chickens had a little frost on their backs!!! I felt horrible. Should I leave that window open to vent better? I'm wondering if their breath added too much moisture in the air.

We don't have electricity out there, so we have 4 small LED lights and 2 small 1.5 watt lights that run off batteries we turn on for 5 hours each night. (They were laying great but one went broody so we had to break her of that, then the other stopped laying and hasn't started back up yet. So no one has laid in a week. There's lots of extra feathers in the coop so I'm wondering if the one is going to molt now. Still trying to learn....) I know that isn't much heat being put off by the lights. I'm thinking of moving them into the dog kennel in the garage tonight as it is supposed to be super cold again. They aren't used to being handled though so I don't know if the stress of catching them is worth the extra warmth in the unheated garage or if it would be better to leave them outside. I did put Vaseline on their combs and waddles this morning to prevent frostbite and will reapply again this afternoon.

They seem okay outside and are scratching and perching. We have clear shower curtains up on two sides of their run to block the wind and hold in some heat plus the run is covered. I gave them warm crumble mash this morning and threw down some scratch too.

Here's a picture of our setup in case anyone has advice on whether I should keep that window uncovered, even in -10 temps.

kids and chicks, I'm wondering if the frost you saw on your hens backs was where they tuck their heads in under their wing - mine will often have a little frost right there from breathing and once in a while will have a little down feather glued/frosted to their head too. thats normal - the frost - just like if you breath thru a scarf wrapped around your face and you get those icy crystals. If there isn't any frost on the walls or other surfaces in your coop, I think you can rest assured it has enough ventilation.

personally I would not move them to the garage.
the curtain -if you think it is creating too much of a draft (depends on your prevailing winds, I would think) the curtain is a good idea especially if it is loose and not blocking off the window, just blocking winds/drafts.

Well, this morning when I went out to feed it was -25. The girls were up and moving around in the coop, I doubt they will go out in the run though. I don't have a heat lamp on them. I am just having a hard time keeping the water from freezing up. And I am not a northerner, I'm in Southern Utah!

I am having trouble with the water freezing too - those big heated dog bowls only seem to last a winter and a few months. Expensive to keep replacing.

Without heat and no insulation the 0 F to minus 10- minus 15 F range mine don't want to be outside. They are roosting and puffed up in their downy feather coats. Feet toasty warm. -20F to -25F (it may even have hit -30F...can't remember for sure) I did put a heat lamp in the coop and those mornings I did note that the birds went to be under the lamp to take in some of that heat and then get something to eat and drink and climb back up on the roost. Shifting a bit nervously and uneasy at those temps. They aren't too happy at -25 to -30. Can they do it? I'm sure....the Hens tuck their heads under their wings. If you got Roos they don't seem to do that for themselves or they can't with larger combs ...IDK. But those were the limits I saw last winter.

When it is that cold ( say 20 below or worse) do you open the coop up just in case they want to venture out, or do you just leave them in for the day?

I'm in NW Oregon. I've had my chickens for about 20 months, so this is only their second winter we're coming up on. The low for today was 17 and I think that's about the coldest they have been in. Other than standing on one foot to warm the other up while foraging, they seemed pretty happy today.

I'm thinking they would really like me to knit them some wool bonnets. Especially my Speckled Sussex Roo.

huh, that might be the solution for those roosters with the huge combs and wattles that keep getting frost bit

very cute pic.

 

[SunnySkies]

Last winter, easily below zero for a week or so at a time, no heat in any coop, and they did fine. I let them come and go as they pleased, offered food ad lib, and not a single one died or even had frostbite. I even had chicks in the garage that did just fine with no heat lamp, just an EcoGlow.

We have had some pretty chilly mornings already, and I let them do their thing and don't worry about them. The ducks seem to revel in the cold weather.

 

[shmccarthy]

I'm in NW Oregon. I've had my chickens for about 20 months, so this is only their second winter we're coming up on. The low for today was 17 and I think that's about the coldest they have been in. Other than standing on one foot to warm the other up while foraging, they seemed pretty happy today. I'm thinking they would really like me to knit them some wool bonnets. Especially my Speckled Sussex Roo.

Now where do I get me one of these??? :

 

[mjgigax]

Hey, lala - I'm from MN, too, and my chickens have survived temps in the 20's and 30's below. I don't know how "happy" they were about it, but they did survive. They will be much better off if you leave the heat lamp off.

Thanks so much for this thread!
We are having a really cold spell. 9* is cold for Oklahoma and I have been worried about my birds. They are out of the wind and snow but.... I am such a "Helicopter Mama". I am origionally from Michigan and love the snow but didn't raise birds when I lived there. When I think about it, the heat is probably harder on Cochins and other fluffy breeds.

 

[CuteChick369]

This is my first winter with chickens, but I feel they have to acclimate, as all warm blooded animals do. I grew up in northern MN, but have lived in NC for 17 years. I personally can't take the weather when it dips into the 30's, because I'm no longer acclimated to cold!

So, I think if your temps drop way below normal for your area, maybe it's best to add some heat if you can do it safely. I admit, when it dipped into the teens here a couple weeks ago, I added a heat lamp to keep the coop about 35 degrees. This kept the water from freezing and I felt like the chickens felt more comfortable. We normally don't drop below freezing at night, so I know the teens would have been a shock to them, but also I didn't want to warm the coop too warm or they wouldn't be able to handle the cold daytime weather. Our highs were in the upper 30's so I felt good keeping the coop in the mid 30's. That's my plan for the winter - add heat if it drops below freezing.

I have read a few sad stories of people burning down their chicken coops when adding heat, so please be careful too!!