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

[Cooper Farms]

We'll today when I got up at 3am one thermo said -18 and the other said -20. And I went out to check everyone at 10 and crap there was a marran dead.

 

[nan4848]

Can't be said too much that the best think you can do for your birds in these cold temps, more than adding heat, is keeping the air in the coop dry. Drafts from cracks around doors etc. are okay as long as they aren't blowing directly on the birds, and actually provide needed ventilation if the air or interior is damp. If you see frost inside the coop, the air is damp and you risk frostbite from the damp, not the cold.

My hens survived the night at -17 just fine. No added heat, or insulation. Just a good dry coop, overhead ventilation, and dry bedding.

 

[Chickens R Us]

We'll today when I got up at 3am one thermo said -18 and the other said -20. And I went out to check everyone at 10 and crap there was a marran dead.

Sorry about your chicken, I lost one myself last week.

 

[Kernel Cluck]

The old temperature gauge tonight said - 22 F. Blek. I normally do NOT provide supplemental heat but before the deep freeze hit i nailed up another layer of plywood over the sides and put up 2 of the big brooder heat lamps. Outside -22, inside the coop 10 F. And its dry, thank god. My Speckled Sussex has a bit of frostbite on her comb but not terrible. The rest of the flock appear frostbite free.

 

[carladababe]

Yesterday here in Mid-Missouri we were in the middle of an artic blast, temperatures with the wind chill were -20's, today it got colder but thankfully no more snow. This is the 3rd winter for my chickens and they are doing ok. They've been closed up for two days because of the extremely cold wind. They have a good sized enclosed coop with straw bales insulating the north facing side and I am a strong believer in the deep litter method. I don't have power out to the coop so I change the water out twice a day. They enjoy treats like warm oatmeal with raisins. I worry more for my horses, they don't like raisins

 

[DuluthHomestead]

Current temp is -21F with a windchill of -46F, and last night the low (without the windchill) was around -25. The coop is partially insulated and I have a 100 watt ceramic heat emitter pointed right at the roost to keep them warmer at night (it does nothing for heating the rest of the coop). I usually open the pop hole door every day, but with this bitter cold they've been cooped up. Today when I went out to give them treats, Barb (the only one of the three who's laying right now) was actually really antsy to get outside, but with the wind it's just not safe. Just now tonight my husband and I went out there to re-secure the tarp we have around the run, and while we were out we peeped open the door to check on the chickies. All three were huddled up together in front of the heat lamp, and looked over their shoulders as if to say, "Hey, d'ya mind? We're sleepin', here..." For us naked apes, it is so, awfully, bitterly cold, and all day long I've been pondering whether or not I should put the old 250 watt red light from the brooder out there for them, but clearly they are doing fine without it. They will be a lot happier once it gets above 0 again, though.

 

[Bocrates]

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

We keep a game camera on the tree next to the coop. It's pretty interesting to see what happens while we sleep. Bears, foxes, pine martens, stray dogs/cats, and even elk and deer have been captured inquiring about our chickens. We are still waiting to capture a photo of the mountain lion that leaves tracks just out of view of the camera. We think he is weary of the proximity to our house and our two Newfies that bark up a storm when they smell him. By far foxes have been the biggest issue though, they show up nightly. I posted about our fox battles in the below thread. The update is that the foxes have yet to penetrate the updated fortress, so confidence in cohabitation grows.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...ave-somebody-else-from-the-bad-experience/617

 

[Scrambles55]

4 inches of snow so far and my girls are not happy. I left the door open so that they could free range and I shoveled a path to the toy hauler for them, but they want nothing to do with it.

 

[Scott H]

Hey CdA, we got your same 4 inches....girls finally came out about 8:30 and went under the coop to get a drink and eat. Then they all had a nice dust bath....think they would have stayed there but I started to get a little close with the snow blower and they headed out on the run for the cedar trees.

 

[Scrambles55]

:hDThe temps got up into the upper 30's today and it is raining right now. I could see from the tracks in the snow, that one of my chickens had come out for a little while. I think it was Rumples my new EE. My RIR tends to pick on her so Rumpleleaves the run so that she can eat in peace. I took out the red heat lamp that I had in the coop and now the girls are not laying as much. I am trying to toughen them up to the cold weather. I hope things warm up for everyone back East.