How Cold of Weather Can Chickens Stand Outside of Coop?

[The Farmers' Daughter]

It got down to -44c here last week. My guys (buckeyes) just huddled together for warmth. No heat or light in the coop. 2x4s laid flat for the roost, so they kept their feet nice & warm. Now that it's warmed up they seem none the worse for wear.

 

[Sipplchicks]

Sure extra carbs can't hurt. My grandparents feed mostly corn. Before all the fancy foods. Had wonderful eggs and miss the chicken and dumplings!

 

[Sipplchicks]

I give my birds a hearty scratch every night with corn, a variety of seed hearts, dried fruit and veggies.

 

[Ketty Ash]

Oh and sometimes we give them hot mash in the mornings.

How do you prepare the mash?

 

[chicknmania]

I take a scoop of crumbles, add a half scoop of cracked corn or scratch, and mix appropriate table scraps in that we have....last time was buttermilk, leftover chopped fruit, some old German fruitcake crumbled up, leftover scrambled eggs, etc. But you can use anything that is appropriate, of course. Then I pour just enough boiling water on it to moisten, and mix it all together in an aluminum bucket. Throw a towel over the bucket, so it sort of steams and gets a little mushy as I carry it out to the barn. By the time I get out there, on cold mornings, the mash is still warm but not so hot that they're afraid to eat it, which, obviously, you need to make sure of. They go nuts over it. It's a treat, so I don't give it every morning, but it sure seems to warm them up and get them off to a good start!

 

[Melissa Anderson]

One of my Orpington got pecked pretty bad so I put her in a dog crate inside. She is so sweet. Have been spraying her wound with peroxide then Neosporin and she is healing fast. Enjoying her visit. Temps are warmer tomorrow so I will open the coop outside and try her out again

Temps are up out of teens.
So they’re back out in the coop.. much happier. I was worried about em being in crate with lack of riaming

 

[Chelsa'sChicks]

I have BO, PBR, Australorps, and RIR. our winter this year was freezing and below -0 .. with windchill some days -20. My birds coop is the entire barn. They free range so no doors. They are all healthy and well. They stopped laying eggs for the first time ever this winter for 1.5 months due to freezing temps. Warm oatmeal breakfast and warm water is a treat during this time. Other then that they are obvious very cold hardy birds. So I can't say what is too cold.. some breeds are hardier then others.

 

[Saaniya]

When my boys have their first winter I was so worried ..but they handle winter days so well even I'm worry for hot hot summers

 

[Chelsa'sChicks]

I refuse to put a lamp or heat hook ups in the barn for fear of a fire. I however did find a thick older blanket and laid it over where they roost to keep their feet warmer when they hang on at night. Some area of the blanket made a hanging canopy area which my 2 rooster huddled into with a hen.

 

[WhatAboutBob?]

I've used some steel cut oats with enough water to make a gruel, sprinkled cayenne pepper on it, toss on some soldier fly larvae and add some non-GMO scratch. That warms them up and they lay eggs like CRAZY for a week after that!