Losing your Girls to cold weather.

[mdbokc]

Full feathered is fine. I believe if chickens are in a bad moult, that is another story. I haven't had full feathered chickens shaking in the cold but I have had moulting ones do so. I'll use heat on moulting ones. They get right under it and make it clear that they don't want to be messed with (like when on the nest) until warmed up. Then they go about their normal business. Just pay attention to the birds, their condition and keep them dry and draft free at night.

 

[woodmort]

In 25 years I've never lost a bird to cold per se. That doesn't mean I haven't had birds die in the winter, generally older ones that weren't in good health to begin with but then I've lost some during the hot days of summer the same way. I suspect many birds that die during cold weather do so because of exposure--they could not get out of the wind and/or dampness--rather than the cold. This can happen even when the temperatures are above freezing. Of course, as pointed out above, there are some breeds that are not winter hardy but if one is living in an area the will experience cold temperatures they should either not be keeping these breeds or make allowances for them. I mean I grow orchids but not outside and have a system in place to heat them if there is a power outage.

 

[Aubrinator]

I lost my first one to heatstroke...

 

[kuntrygirl]

Quote:
Sorry to hear that. I think that dealing with the heat is worst than dealing with the cold weather.