How Cold Hardy are Jumbo Coturnix?

[Cimmaron]

I am in zone 5. Our average coldest night of the year is -15, but some years we get to -20 or even colder. How much protection do Coturnix need? Can they survive outdoors with a run-in shelter, do they need a completely enclosed coop, heated coop, or do they need to be indoors for winter?

 

[Nabiki]

At those temps, they might need a bit of heat, but for the most part, as long as they're dry, out of the wind, and have shelter, they do quite well in very cold weather. In your case, you might be able to get away with an enclosed area with deep enough straw/shavings for them to burrow into, but I would provide some heat for the coldest days.

The coldest my birds have seen is -7F, but the negative temps didn't last for more than a few days. They were fine for that.

 

[catesquire]

I'm in an area that gets to -40 on occasion; the guy I got my eggs from is local, and keeps his in an unheated shed. The important thing is to keep them dry and out of the wind, and have some way to keep their water from freezing. The birds themselves are VERY cold tolerant. Also, make sure their feet aren't on bare wire during the winter!

 

[Susan Skylark]

It also makes a huge difference if the cold lasts for a night or three weeks straight. We get -30F here for a couple hours overnight for a few days each winter but it warms up to above zero during the day (heat wave!) but if it never gets above zero for three weeks running that is brutal on everything! I wouldn’t want to raise them in northern mn, but zone five is tropical by comparison! Mine do fine in an unheated garage but I run a milk house heater on those very cold nights (twice a year) so the water doesn’t freeze. You’ll be fine.