ITS GOING TO BE -52!! AHH PLEASE HELP ME!!

[ChickieBooBoo]

If your chickens have been outside all winter, they will be fine. They have a nice warm coat of down under their feathers. When I bring a bird into the house to treat an injury or something they get waay too hot, they are used to living in the cold. Chickens are pretty cold hardy, it may seen cold you you but not to them.

 

[ChickieBooBoo]

i mean -50 f

-50F is the same as -45C, and we get that here quite regularily in January and February. The birds have always done fine.

 

[Snozzle]

This morning I opened the coop and Rupert peaked out, saw snow and went back inside, then began crowing inside

It actually warmed up here now and everything has turned into a huge mud pit once again. I think if it was -50 here they would all have to come inside. I think the coldest we have had this year was about -10 and I thought we had moved to Siberia

 

[Caat]

Wouldn't heat lamps blow bulbs at these temperatures though? The ones in the cooler at my work blow all the time without a cover and it's in only in the 30's

I have a heat lamp in my coop, it's on 24/7. I've seen -20C and the bulb is still working great! No blown bulb.

CochinBrahmaLover I think you set-up and turn on the heat lamps right now to give your coop time to heat up. Give your hens extra straw and they should be good.

 

[sager:)silkies]

or it got to -22c here in ontario last night and my coop droped to 1.5c and all i got is 1 250 watt heat lamp

 

[sager:)silkies]

or it got to -22c here in ontario last night and my coop droped to 1.5c and all i got is 1 250 watt heat lamp

its on 24/7 tho and my water didnt even frezze

 

[Cowgirl75446]

I live in Texas, those temperatures are unheard of here. Thanks, goodness! Wow, that is cold.

 

[Chemguy]

CochinBrahmaLover, thanks for posting your question. Both it and the replies have helped me to put the issue of "how cold is too cold" into perspective. I've always thought that it is the amount of change in the temperature that is more important than the temperature itself. Humans are like that too, I suppose. Here in balmy Ohio, we had a day at 50F w/ rain followed by a dip to 20F, all within 12 hours. That, my flock did not enjoy. A couple of my birds wheezed for a day, and they seemed quite unhappy, but it passed. Basicaly, they got quite cold. Now, they're out and about like the change never happened (and they are not wheezing). It's still in the 20's.

I think it is mostly the ability of the flock to acclimate that is important, not simply the temperature to which they are exposed. Now I know that at some point heat is a good idea, though that point will likely never be reached where I am.

 

[Snozzle]

Maybe the cold was a bit better to have here then the big melt and puddles. We are now facing a much greater danger: a chihuahua with cabin fever!! She won't go out when it's wet out, I guess she has a fear of drowning. Several squeaky toys have passed on, there is stuffing scattered all around, it looks like a battlefield. My poor old chow/pit mix has gotten smacked in the face with the remains of Mr. Blue Monkey(minus the stuffing) in one of Alley the chihuahuas outbursts. We try to contain her as long as we can, but there is nothing that can hold her back once the water retreats. Lock your doors and bring your children and pets inside!

 

[Ema]

i mean -50 f

when temperatures dip that low, its almost the same in F as it is in C, as previously stated -50 is the same as -45C here. We just got that lke three days ago in my part of Northern ontario. In we've seen those temps 3 or 4 times up here since Xmas, and come February it might get colder. there is no heat lamp in my barn at all for them and they do just fine.

If I do put a heat lamp out there it does not blow as previously stated, as I had one last year when it hit -55 fr several days.

Ema