How hardy are they?

[RockyToggRanch]

I have my 4 month olds in an unheated 6x 10 "tack room" attached to a run in. There are 23 birds in this space. We've had over 3' of snow this week and it's supposed to get cold..single digits an the next few days. They don't go outside and don't have a run yet. I was thinking about putting a chainlink panel over the run in opening and letting the out there during the day. My concern is how draft free should the coop part (the 6x10) be? The eaves are open with chicken wire over them and there's a 2' space above the wall with only chicken wire as well as a hay feeder as the top half of the door to the run in. I was thinking of covering all of that with a tarp. Should that be enough or would they also need a heat lamp?

I have chickens in a seperate coop. They free range during the day and get loacked up at night. I only put the heat lamp on for them if temps fall below zero. Most of them don't have large combs or wattles. (Sumatra and sumatra mix).

 

[robin416]

They are generally a very hardy breed as long as everything else is in place for them. They should have a draft free place for sleeping, a draft will leach body heat very quickly. They will also suffer from frost bite just as our chickens will if not given adequate protection.

 

[RockyToggRanch]

I'd better get that plastic up .

 

[roocrazy]

Quote:
diito

 

[Jennings Gamefowl]

as others has said they are pretty hardy...the ones i had were the easiest birds to keep during the winter...

 

[robin416]

BTW, we all failed to mention if there is snow on the ground then don't let them out. They will do everything in their power not to touch snow which means they fly up in to or on the most convenient landing place.

We rarely get snow of much note but when we do I open their coop to their outside pen and let them decide what they want to do. My outside pen has wire over the top so I avoid the problem of trying to coax them out a tree.

 

[taprock]

I built wide, high roosts in the coop special for the guineas. It is away from drafts and the chickens so they would have a nice spot all to themselves. They ignore it and only use them as ladders to hop/fly up to the drafty eaves where they roost for the night. We are in northern Michigan and it has been down to a low of 8 so far this year. My coop is unheated but I do have a 100watt bulb that turns on at 4am for light and some heat. I have never seen the guineas over under it at this point.

 

[RockyToggRanch]

So you don't use a heat lamp at all through the winter? I use one for the chickens when it goes below zero. I assumed since the guineas have more wattle than my chickens, it would be needed.