Keeping the hens warm???

[wyododge]

There is no place in the US (and that includes Alaska) that is too cold for chickens. Trust me when I say they do just fine with little shelter outside at -40.

Think wild birds, they are the same as chickens but have less food and water, only the shelter they find, which generally is a tree.

They adjust to their surroundings, adding heat or keeping them warm makes them reduce their 'coat' so they suffer more. The best thing you can do for them is to get them in a cold environment, and keep them in a cold environment. And no day time high temperatures will not affect this. they react to extreme lows and highs which do not happen at the same time.

 

[wyododge]

Quote:
Open up the coop as much as possible and leave it open for the duration of the winter.

 

[mommissan]

I've got 10 in a 5x5 coop. It's well insulated and fairly well vented. I added artificial light in the form of a compact fluorescent bulb, on a timer to keep the eggs coming. A compact fluorescent bulb (13 watt) adds little to no heat. I shut the coop door to keep out drafts. It was 17 degrees F outside last night, and my thermometer said it got down to 28 degrees F in the coop. This morning, they couldn't wait to get out and play in the cold. They were scratching and napping by my front door, 19 degrees out, happy and comfortable. No heat needed; just fresh water. They just amaze me!

Save the light bulbs for when it's REALLY cold out.

 

[dragonlair]

I had a few layers who camped out all last winter. They would roost together on one of the perches in the upper part of the run, fluff their feathers and fall asleep! They did fine, no frost bite, so colds, just oddly happy hens. I live in Maine where it gets very cold, usually around 0 or less.

 

[coralanna]

one thing that people forget, when it`s cold and there on there roosts, they tuck there heads under there wings to keep there heads warm. I got my chickens as ready to lays in April and we had some cold days and that`s what they did if they felt cold. I`ve seen big birds souring way up there when it`s -40 with 30 mph winds ,just floating up there looking for anything to eat. With the wind chill , it would be -60 at least. So no wind inside a draft free coop and lots of litter on the ground will be no problem for chickens. The hardest thing I`m going to have is keeping water from turning to ice. With 51 girls, they drink lots of water. At -40 even the heated waterers wont keep up to that, So lots of trips out with fresh water a few times a day. To make things believable, we only get that cold a few days a year and even -10 for about a month. So the only thing I`m concerned with is keeping water from freezing. This winter will be fun and hopefully the girls keep laying there 50 eggs a day average.

Alan

 

[al6517]

Quote:
X100 so very very true................... but your forgeting we are talking about the pet chicken community here and most common sense animal husbandry issues are never taken seriously, because they seem unhumanlike.
For instance threads stating I THINK my ducks are cold, they then put heat on them, the duck fails to develop it's needed underdown feathers and then suffers and never acclimates to the cold, and never thrives to it's true potential.

 

[reneemellor]

Quote:
Lol, you don't have feathers! My two 4 week olds were outside last night in a dog house and it was 35°. They were just fine with no heat.

 

[Fred's Hens]

Let the chickens be chickens. Great thread here on "Think It's Too Cold For Chickens?" https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=5145213

Sometimes I am left wondering how in the world the chickens we all love were bred in North America and survived, to pass on to us their DNA before Thomas Edison's invention?

 

[henney penny]

My chickens will not go out on the snow unless I put down a layer of straw for them to walk on,try that

 

[wvaleries]

I actually wish I had feathers sometimes!

I guess you've all convinced me to let them stay in their coop with no light bulb. Poor little chickies......I don't know how any animal (like dogs) on earth survived before we stepped in to save them from their miserable existence.