How cold is TOO cold for a chicken?

[alicemarie]

Thank you....This really helps. Do you think cracks where the doors close is enough ventilation? I am so new to this and my Wellsummer Gretta's comb looks so pale but she is molting. I guess I am over protective and a little crazy.

 

[Beekissed]

Thank you....This really helps. Do you think cracks where the doors close is enough ventilation? I am so new to this and my Wellsummer Gretta's comb looks so pale but she is molting. I guess I am over protective and a little crazy.

Not usually. Cracks are nice but a good, open space for constant air exchange both at ceiling level and floor levels seem to be the most effective.

 

[Beekissed]

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[Mollie4dogs]

This is the first winter for me to have chickens- and I don't have any electricity running to my coop. I did pad the coop with lots of hay for insulation and the hens seem to like burrowing into it. The only problem I have is with their water freezing, but I go out first thing in the morning to take care of that. They also get warm oatmeal at that time too. I live in the foothills of the Sierras and sometimes it does get to be in the teens, although usually winter temps are just around freezing or a bit lower. My chickens don't seem to be out of sorts- they are still laying and looking good even after their molt. We had a snow storm recently and I checked on the birds, and they seemed just fine. I do worry about them being cold, but as was stated in an earlier thread, they do "wear" very well insulated outfits ;-) I'll worry more in the summer about keeping them cool as we get temps that go into the triple digits then.

I plan on expanding my flock- I need to try to choose breeds that are both heat and cold tolerant. I'm into layers as opposed to meat birds since I consider my chickens pets, LOL. I still have some study to do on what type of coop/run to build for my new additions and if I really want birds that aren't so cold tolerant, I'll have to figure out how to get power to the coop for warmth. Dang, all those factors to consider....

 

[MomAtHome08]

H

...

In 1999 I decided that I was going to move to Pennsylvania (Latrobe) because my children from my first wife lived there. I got the in autumm and it was ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL. It quickly went downhill from there. First off, you have to go to something called a state store to buy beer.





As a Pennsylvanian by birth, I agree with you. It's beautiful, no beer at the gas station, and cold in winter!!!! I miss it though......

 

[mjdtexan]

H
Quote: Wow, I posted that a long time ago. Did we ever come to a concensus on how cold it is for a chicken?

 

[Beekissed]

I don't know that anyone can accurately measure that unless they put a live chicken into a deep freeze and monitor the temps at which it died.

 

[Pnoah1]

I currently reside in Pennsylvania and our chickens fair well in the cold weather here, in fact they run amok in the yard with nearly 4 inches of snow.

 

[chicken8]

We've had weather in the -10s already this winter and there's a little RIR down the street that lives outside, on the ground, at the base of a spruce tree. It's pretty much out in the open other than a bit of a depression and some wind screening provided by the lowest branches and a shed that's close by. There's a coop with other chickens in it nearby but she doesn't ever seem to go in it. She's been there since I moved to the neighborhood three years ago. The owner built a lean-to type hidey hole right next to her spot, but she won't use that either.

 

[SandyDawn]

As a new Chicken owner, I can leave the door open slightly and they will be fine going outside if its 30 like today? Earlier this week it was 11.....I guess maybe I worry to much?