How cold is TOO cold for a chicken?

[chookchick]

I wanted to resurrect this excellent thread as people are getting concerned about the coming cold. Lots of good info, especially from those in REALLY cold places!

 

[Wildsky]

Thats my un-heated coop in the back there.... the only thing I heat is the waterer.

(picture is from 2008 winter)

 

[LynneP]

Good idea to resurrect this thread, thanks. It's very cold here for October and we're facing an early winter, it seems. This is how we coped last year

https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=7693-seasonal-concerns

when we could get out of the house! We're extending our barn insulation too after completing some exterior renos. We thought we'd have more time- thank goodness the rest of the work is indoors!

 

[Mrs MIA]

Thank you for resurrecting this thread... hopefully it will answer the newbie questions!

 

[purpletree23]

Awsome thread! I feel better (I think) about my girls in the cold weather. Who wants to bet that in the middle of the night in a wicked snow storm this year in New Hampshire I'll walk out to the coop in my jammies and coat of course, open the door to make sure they are O.K. and they will all look at me like 'what are you doing dummy, we're fine?"

When I was a kid growing up near Buffalo I remember a winter when my Dad had to tie a rope to the house and trail it out behind him to the barn and tied the rope to a barn post. It snowed so long and so hard that was the only sure way he could make it back to the house safe. Remember this is way before cell phones.

 

[jjthink]

I haven't gone back to reread the 24 pages but will add that I have a hen in a very difficult molt right now- she is under the weather and her appetite stinks (normally quite the piggie but as soon as she dropped a boatload of feathers her appetite dropped too). And the weather outside is frightful - miserable for October - soaking wet, high wind, raw, cold. I am providing heat at night, convinced the lack of it would take too much of a toll on her. I also started giving her Polyvisol last night. And she's been getting mealworms for days - seemed to be the only thing to interest her. Long story short, each bird's needs are different so just assess their situation and whether they are in a state where they are able to comfortably cope or whether they might need a helping hand.
JJ

 

[Amethyste]

We are near Puget Sound, and it tends to be around/below freezing often in the winter here <we are in a convergence zone so we get ALL the fun weather lol>.

We have never used lights OR heat lamps with our birds. We have actually ONCE used the heat lamp cos last year we had a very extrordinarily cold snap that dropped down to 5 degrees F, but we only had 2 birds and we were concerned they wouldnt be able to huddle effectively. We are back to 9 birds now and no plans to put heat in the coop...except possibly a lamp directed to the waterer to keep it thawed, but we are still debating.

They keep VERY warm in cold weather as long as they are kept out of the drafts, and out of the damp. Do that and you shouldnt really have a need for heating. They are very warm little creatures!! Put your hand under one on the nest sometime... now imagine all your flock putting off that heat

They stay very toasty warm all on their own

 

[Mrs MIA]

Quote:
You did good! I've found that adding protein to their diet during their molt helps them move through it a little easier/faster. Not everyone has access to it, but we have a lot of salmon and halibut in the freezer from our summer fishing trips... boil up some of that, let it cool just a bit, and feed it to her. If she doesn't go nutso over it, then she's just plain not well.

I put out a slab of warm fish on a freezing morning and the birds turn into piranhas!!

 

[Chick_a_dee]

Ugh, it's so cold already in October! We've been as low as -6 or -7 at night, and I have at least one hen going through a molt. Poor thing is freezing, comes outside when its sunny and then hunkers down inside for most of the day.

 

[jjthink]

Quote:
Awww...she sounds miserable, poor thing. Can you give her some more warmth till she gets through her molt? Few things are worse than being cold and having no escape from it. Some folks also use a fleece saddle outfit of sorts.

AK - haven't tried salmon/halibut with her but I should! And will look for some. She's now rejecting the mealies (and that's a first, poor thing) but she took a bit of high end wet cat food today which I resorted to in an attempt to get her to take extra protein... Hopefully not too much salt. She's sleeping in relative comfort with some added heat so I'm hoping that gives her body rest so that her energy can go toward making those new feathers FAST! Today she began to walk sideways and fall a bit on her right side so it is all a big worry (she had an injury last December form a dog attack that has long since healed - why it is manifesting like that again I don't know...but I am trying to get her rest and strength every which way I can think of...)

JJ