how cold is too cold?

[Mrs MIA]

Quote:
Wow... we're warmer than you? Our high (right now) is 21°F.

I'm happy with that... 2 weeks of -25 to -35F was nuts.

 

[katrinag]

We had a week and half of that blustry cold. I hope it is over. I do not mind that cold but that was alittle much for me.

 

[moduckman]

Iagree with NYREDS that drafts or more of a problem. Another thing that can hurt your birds is how you use heat lamps. I've seen it in several posts, but if you allow birds to get under a heat lamp in cold, cold weather and they have to get out in the cold, cold temperatures to eat and drink they can get sick. Sometimes they are resiliant enough to handle the temperatures.

 

[momofdrew]

It has been 10 or less for quite a while and my birds are doing ok...Coop temps have been 20's or higher...there is 3 feet of snow around the coop and the pen helping insulate...if the egg freezes and cracks I boil it up and feed it to the birds they love it... and no waste...if it doesnt crack I put in the ref...THey only stay in the pen when it is snowing otherwise they insist on being outside usually on my deck...

 

[Macitypeeps]

We have temps in the 20's from a week of wind chills -30 to -40's. Even last week my girls went outside in the run but were back in soon after. They would go in and out throughout the day. I have been leaving 2 heat lamps going for the girls 24/7 in their coop. We have 7 chickens and we are getting 5-6 eggs a day. Also we have their water in a heated dog bowl. It never froze!!! Even with -40 temps. I guess with 2 heat lamps we are spoiling the girls. Today was a 1 heat lamp day!!!!

This week becasue it feels like spring with temps in the 20's and 3-4 feet of snow they are happy to hang in the sun. I came home tonight after work and the girls are still out enjoying the early evening. It is as if they know enjoy it now because in a few days it will be sub zero again.....silly chickens. ; )

 

[BJ]

Mrs. AK-Bird-Brain :

Quote:
Wow... we're warmer than you? Our high (right now) is 21°F.

I'm happy with that... 2 weeks of -25 to -35F was nuts.

Mrs. AK,
Did you run into any frost bite problems? How cold was it inside your coop?​

 

[Mrs MIA]

Quote:
Wow... we're warmer than you? Our high (right now) is 21°F.

I'm happy with that... 2 weeks of -25 to -35F was nuts.

Mrs. AK,
Did you run into any frost bite problems? How cold was it inside your coop?

Yes... after about 10 days of -20 to -25F outside, with indoor coop temps about 8-10F, my single combed (SC) birds had problems with frostbite. They were indoors in our solid breeders coop - the pop doors have been filled with 2" foamboard to keep the drafts out - but they developed blisters on the comb tips and edges of their wattles. The only other birds that had troubles were a couple of youngsters (12-14 weeks) that stayed on the floor too long and their toes got too cold. The bantam had to be put down due to complications from getting too cold; the ameraucana chick may lose the tips of a couple of toes, but was caught before it got too bad. It's hard to keep track of toes when they pile in a corner.

Once I realized that the SC birds were getting frostbite, we put a 60w lamp in each pen to give them heat to huddle under. There's only 3-4 birds per pen. All the other birds (all rose/pea combed) weathered the cold just fine.

 

[BJ]

I never thought I would see it get to -11 degrees F here in Indiana! We had just 2 days of below zero actual temps (several days with wind chills well below zero). I have been really worried about my SC's. My coop temp got as low as 3 degrees one morning and I had a heat lamp going all night over the middle of the roost. I'm hearing so much debate on to use vaseline or not (to prevent frostbite). I DID...and now I'm not sure if I should have. How long does it take before I will see signs of frostbite? A few of the girls have white tips. Their combs are dirty and I'm imagining the worst.

Mrs. AK, are you treating the frostbite or are you letting nature take care of it? The books say they will oftentimes heal themselves (the skin will peel and the bad parts will fall off). What do you think?

 

[Mrs MIA]

When I first noticed it, I slathered them with Neosporin... now I'm just letting it take its course. There's really not a lot I CAN do... unfortunately.