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

[RedPonyAcres]

I was wondering what cat foot was. Lol

Ours are out now...my daughter shoveled an area for them and put down straw. They are huddled in their "bunker" (a 3-sided shelter).

 

[Chickens R Us]

I live on the North Dakota Minnesota border and my coop thermometer says 0 Fahrenheit but my roosters combs are frostbitten. What can I do about it?

I put a thin layer of Vaseline on combs and wattles to prevent frost bite. Make sure you have plenty of ventilation.

 

[lgelwell]

I might have to try the cat food idea, though it might encourage stray cats to hang out. I have a 4x6 split level coop and am in Iowa where it has been in the single digits not counting wind chill. For the most part I leave the pop door open all the time except recently I have had a lady who insists on sleeping next to the sliding glass door on our deck. When I find her there, I put her back in the coop and shut the door. I do have a heat lamp attached to the top rafter, but it does little more that give a little light.

 

[birdiepearl]

Oh! What is Northern Fowl Mite exposure?
Yikes.
Thank you...

 

[birdiepearl]

X 2. That is a beautiful coop and so charming.

But-- of course this is my only my prevention side rearing it's ugly head--

The Wildbird feeder next to the coop would make me leary for Northern Fowl Mite exposure. Sorry.....LOL.

Oh! What is Northern Fowl Mite exposure?
Yikes.
Thank you...

 

[Cluky]

Mine are currently at 0-15 degrees and not phased by it. They are not really hunkered down, are taking dust baths (I have sand under my straw in my coop currently and are scratching around.

 

[ozexpat]

I might have to try the cat food idea, though it might encourage stray cats to hang out. I have a 4x6 split level coop and am in Iowa where it has been in the single digits not counting wind chill. For the most part I leave the pop door open all the time except recently I have had a lady who insists on sleeping next to the sliding glass door on our deck. When I find her there, I put her back in the coop and shut the door. I do have a heat lamp attached to the top rafter, but it does little more that give a little light.

From an economic stand, if the 250W heatlamp is not heating - save the 30 bucks a month and turn it off.

If you want to give extra protein, get a bag of turkey starter - that will give your birds 50% more protein than regular chicken feed and a whole lot cheaper than cat food.

 

[moabgirlie]

It's been -24 the last 2 nights here in Montana. Our birds looked really miserable this morning. I really wonder if I should add a heat lamp until this cold snap is over.

I've been worried about fire, but I guess if I make sure the heat lamp is very secure it will be all right?

I wonder if the homemade water warmer would add a little bit of heat to the coop? We bring the waterer in at night so it doesn't freeze. And we have an extra one we can put out if the main one freezes during the day.

We have 16 chickens. Coop has pretty thick walls and an insulated roof with plenty of ventilation. Maybe too much ventilation, though. We just started doing the deep litter method a couple of weeks ago.

The homemade water heater won't do a thing for external heat, a 40 watt bulb is barely enough heat to keep the water sitting directly on it from freezing. I made one, and it did great until we dropped below 10 degrees. I ended up at the feed store that day and purchased a heated waterer. With the windchill we've been down to the -0's and my girls have access to water that isn't frozen. We don't put a heat lamp in either... I've just read too much about fire dangers in addition to causing a chill when your girls go from artificial heat to the real temp outside. Monitor your ventilation and moisture level in the coop and treat them to some scratch before bed

 

[Callous]

Quote:
It’s been several decades since I was last around raising chickens but I remember my grandparents fed the chickens, hogs, dogs and cats pretty much the same table scraps. Present day I believe cats and dog have it pretty good when it comes to protein in their diets. It could be pretty expensive to have the chickens on a full time diet of cat food but as a supplement during molt or as a high protein treat it sound pretty good.

 

[Euarto Gullible]

This is my first winter with chickens, but my coop's door remains open during the day, and they have plenty of ventilation. I have only one 60 watt bulb in the coop, mostly for the benefit of some 8 week old chicks. The older ones don't crowd around it like they do. The coldest it's been so far is -5. I notice that they'll come out for brief intervals close to the door to scratch around, maybe run around the coop a few times and then run back in. It seems that somewhere around 20 degrees is when they'll voluntarily stay outside for more extended periods of time and act like normal chickens. We live in an arid climate, but with my flock at least...they seem pretty happy with anything over 20. Below that, their happiness goes down pretty fast. And they're definitely not fans of snow.
However, my birds are still laying well, almost every day...so they must not be doing too bad.
On a side note, concerned that I had too much ventilation, I googled, "Chicken froze to death," and I can't find one example anywhere on the internet of a person losing a chicken to cold...as long as they were kept in the coop at night and have access too food and unfrozen water. Chickens are tough!