How cold is too cold for a chicken to be by itself

[tlk]

I'm concerned as to what is it too cold for 'Sara', a New Hampshire Red, to be left outside? Last year she lived in a bunny cage in the garage till we could build her her own coop and run in the spring. She needed to be separated from the rest of the girls as she was too agressive - it was either that or the pot. I plan to bring her back into the bunny cage if neccessary. Thank you

 

[wyododge]

-40f - And for once I am not being a smart aleck. She has plenty of food, water and I am assuming shelter of some sort. And believe it or not, she would do just fine, with little if any ill affects with none of those.

 

[teach1rusl]

With no other chickens to share body heat with, I'd be concerned if temps dropped below zero. On a more personal note, if I just had one, she'd been in the garage at temps. much below freezing. The good thing with a single bird is that there is flexibility in what you can do with her - it's easy to bring one bird in...not so much with a flock of birds...lol.

 

[wyododge]

Pheasants, quail, turkeys and even wild chickens do not roost together and if they do they are in the open. They are nearly the exact same animal, with the exact same defense and adaptation mechanisms.

Bringing them inside and into heat is really not fair to the chicken, you are working against millions of years of evolution and the only outcome is the chicken suffers. I assure you single, well fed, well watered chicken in a coop can survive well below any cold temp in the US, even in a driving wind storm/snow storm.

The only reason we keep the window in our coop closed is because if it does snow, it will make a mess and a TON of work to clean up. It the window was on the south side, it would stay wide open in the winter (-34 low last year).

Not trying to sound harsh, or argumentative, it is just important that you know what they are capable of when making decisions. I would have never thought a silly little chicken would strut around at -30, but they do.

 

[Imp]

Quote:
It's good of you to be concerned about Sara. Although chickens can take very cold temps in the proper circumstances I'd be worried about a single chicken outside. Not just from the elements, but also from predators. I don't see where you are located but I would agree with teach...
In the bunny cage at night, the option to get out of the weather during the day.
There are lots of posts here on BYC about chickens and other fowl getting frostbite and/or dying in the winter.

Good luck to you & Sara,

Imp

 

[tlk]

Thank you for your input. I have so much to learn about chickens. I will leave Sara in her coop unless we have very severe weather. We had some chickens when I was young but such matters were not a child's concerns. I really love this silly chicken and would hate to harm her by my ignorance. Thanks.

 

[tlk]

I hadn't thought about frostbite. Sara's coop and run is quite preditor proof but it is not wired for electricty as the larger coop is (I have five other chickens). Perhaps I should fill the coop with extra wood chips but bring her into the garage on really cold nights. But when is it too cold to stay outside? zero? 20f?

 

[SteveBaz]

No one even mentioned to ya

but alone is? Bring her in the garage and put a stuffed animal with her. OK I am a softy. Normally I would say out with the other kids but there is none.

 

[GoldenSparrow]

I have a rooster that is to aggressive with my hens.
I keep him with the hens, but in a seperate cage. so a dog crate in the coop. then he can see the hens

 

[Mrs MIA]

tyk!

Where are you located, and what are the lowest temps you've seen? One bird, if allowed to acclimate to the ambient temperature, will do quite well in a cozy little coop by themselves. Wyododge is not kidding.