Kudos to those who raise chickens in areas that get cold!

[MarlaMac]

My hat goes off to those of you who regularly deal with cold weather and chickens! We have a wind chill of 1 degree right now and an ambient temp of 18 degrees. I am putting unfrozen water out about every 1.5 hours. My chickens are huddled up in the coop and they don't know what happened to their world today. Coldest they have EVER been is about 29 degrees overnight. Days usually don't get below 35 in winter here (and that is a cold day). Needless to say, I do not envy your situation, but I certainly respect what you have to do everyday in your winters.

Suppose to get down to 13 degrees overnight with 15 mph winds coming out of the north. I doubt they will be in a hurry to get out of the coop tomorrow.

Stay warm!

 

[TXchickmum]

Yes!!!! Everything you just said!! I think the chickens are doing better in the cold today here, though, than in August when its 106. That's when I worry. Our temps must be pretty similar to yours. We're at 13 with a windchill of -1. We never see temps like these. -definitely a shock to the system!

 

[MarlaMac]

Yes!!!! Everything you just said!! I think the chickens are doing better in the cold today here, though, than in August when its 106. That's when I worry. Our temps must be pretty similar to yours. We're at 13 with a windchill of -1. We never see temps like these. -definitely a shock to the system!

Yes, this summer was absolutely brutal!

 

[FBMcrazy8]

We normally have some cold winters…but 1)first year with chickens, ducks, and goats. And 2) we haven’t seen these temps in a long time. With wind chill we are looking at -40. Today itself it only got to -26, -40 is tonight. No lie I’m so worried. But I tell myself that if people in Alaska can have chickens and they live…mine can do it for a short time. I’m just so scared to wake up to dead chickens…

I have been in and out of the house checking on them all day. I guess I will be more prepared when this happens again…hopefully not for a long while. I will take 100+ degree weather any day over this stuff!

 

[MarlaMac]

We normally have some cold winters…but 1)first year with chickens, ducks, and goats. And 2) we haven’t seen these temps in a long time. With wind chill we are looking at -40. Today itself it only got to -26, -40 is tonight. No lie I’m so worried. But I tell myself that if people in Alaska can have chickens and they live…mine can do it for a short time. I’m just so scared to wake up to dead chickens…

I have been in and out of the house checking on them all day. I guess I will be more prepared when this happens again…hopefully not for a long while. I will take 100+ degree weather any day over this stuff!

I, too, have been in and out all day checking on the chickens. We have 4 17 day old chicks with a broody momma. I know she know what is best for them, but still I worry. Going to go out and shut the pop door now and remove all the food/water from the coop. I never have food/water in there, but couldn't keep the water unfrozen in the run and momma didn't want the babies out in the wind chill. I am sure there is some ice around it that I am going to have to clean out too before I button them up. Hope all is well when you wake up.

 

[FBMcrazy8]

I, too, have been in and out all day checking on the chickens. We have 4 17 day old chicks with a broody momma. I know she know what is best for them, but still I worry. Going to go out and shut the pop door now and remove all the food/water from the coop. I never have food/water in there, but couldn't keep the water unfrozen in the run and momma didn't want the babies out in the wind chill. I am sure there is some ice around it that I am going to have to clean out too before I button them up. Hope all is well when you wake up.

Yeah I moved mine in the coop as well. I NEVER keep my water or food in the coop either but like you, I couldn’t keep it unfrozen. So I haven’t had to worry much about the goats or chickens. But the ducks I refuse to put water in their coop so they don’t have wet bedding or and ice rink for that matter. I put my chickens up early but I’m going to check on them again in a few min. I will probably be going on super late too to make sure everything is going well!

I would be super worried about a broody momma and babies as well! I hope they get through this! I really hope all of them do!

 

[MarlaMac]

Yeah I moved mine in the coop as well. I NEVER keep my water or food in the coop either but like you, I couldn’t keep it unfrozen. So I haven’t had to worry much about the goats or chickens. But the ducks I refuse to put water in their coop so they don’t have wet bedding or and ice rink for that matter. I put my chickens up early but I’m going to check on them again in a few min. I will probably be going on super late too to make sure everything is going well!

I would be super worried about a broody momma and babies as well! I hope they get through this! I really hope all of them do!

Thank you. Everyone alive and rambunctious this morning! Hope all is well with you and your chickens this morning too. It will be cold today too, but winds are more tame and, thankfully, the sun will be out.

 

[FBMcrazy8]

Thank you. Everyone alive and rambunctious this morning! Hope all is well with you and your chickens this morning too. It will be cold today too, but winds are more tame and, thankfully, the sun will be out.

They lived through the night…thankfully!! The winds are the same here and the temps are the same as last night. We will have sunshine though too. I’m just not letting them out in this. I have one that I noticed that had her feathers stuck to probably the ground and were ripped out. They are always standing in the direct wind, even though they have plenty of wind blocks, like tarps up, but still choose areas the wind is blowing right on them. Mine are also still moving a little slow. But their coop luckily is setting at 3 degrees above zero. Which is really good considering outside is -30 with windchill.

 

[MarlaMac]

They lived through the night…thankfully!! The winds are the same here and the temps are the same as last night. We will have sunshine though too. I’m just not letting them out in this. I have one that I noticed that had her feathers stuck to probably the ground and were ripped out. They are always standing in the direct wind, even though they have plenty of wind blocks, like tarps up, but still choose areas the wind is blowing right on them. Mine are also still moving a little slow. But their coop luckily is setting at 3 degrees above zero. Which is really good considering outside is -30 with windchill.

Sorry about the stuck feathers. Glad you at least have the sun to hopefully warm them up some. That is really cold. We got down to about a windchill of -8 last night. I was so cold that I lost communication with the coop camera, so I don't know how cold it was in there. Ambient temp was around 13, so I am guessing it was around 15 inside the coop. Momma and babies are out in the sunshine right now next to a log that gives them some wind cover. I have effectively blocked any northern winds from hitting the run, so it makes the area tolerable in the cold.

My chickens hate the sound of a flapping tarp. I had to reattached mine yesterday b/c of the noise level. They seemed better after the noise was quieted down.

Today they are back to free ranging. Still cold, but they have lots of trees, brush and rocks to sit around in. They looked pretty pathetic wanting out of the run this morning. I kept them in until around 10am.

I hope things get better for you quickly and that your chickens are back out, about and happily foraging soon!

 

[Chickhawk]

I have been raising chickens in the cold up here for the past 15 years, I am used to it. Kudos to all of you down there that had to improvise in the past week to keep your flock healthy. You are good guardians.

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My chickens hate the sound of a flapping tarp. I had to reattached mine yesterday b/c of the noise level. They seemed better after the noise was quieted down.

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I install a tarp every fall and remove it in spring, chickens get used to the flapping sound after a few days, don't worry. The thing that they don't get used to is if a feet or so of snow accumulate on the roof of the run that all of the sudden break off and fall on the sides, they freak out, chickens get in coop for rest of the day.

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I hope things get better for you quickly and that your chickens are back out, about and happily foraging soon!

Mine won't forage until april , I scatter bails of alfalfa in their run to compensate. Also has the benefit of keeping their feet from directly touching the frozen ground.