night time temps?

[2DogsCoop]

At what temp should I start to close the windows in our coop at night? Our temp tonight is getting into the low 50's.

 

[florida lee]

At 40's and low 50's I close the windows that would allow draft over the roosts and leave the others open. Tonight we expect 30 degrees, I will do the same thing.

 

[kimf]

I am going to tag on here (please forgive).

I have almost 5 week olds that moved to the coop this past Monday. They had out grown the brooder. I went out this morning and the coop was just above 60. I nearly died!!

At 4 weeks they should be at 75* right? They were at the far end, away from the light, happy as can be. We have not put in the nest boxes so the place the boxes will go is covered with hardware cloth that get the cut out put in place at night. I figure if there was an issue they would have been huddled together under the light right?? I did move the light closer to the corner to make it a bit warmer if they want it...we are supposed to get colder tonight. Any advice? Or reassurance??

 

[sourland]

Dry and draft free gets the job done. Chickens survive in Alaska with no supplemental heat. Just sayin'. It is amazing how rapidly young birds will feather out when faced with cold temperatures. Just make sure that they have ad lib access to feed as cold temps increase caloric need.

 

[gryeyes]

Chickens are FAR more resilient than many folks realize. Chicks, too. They do NOT need to be kept in a constant temperature everywhere. Just one warm spot, if that, at 5 weeks. They're probably almost fully feathered by now. If they were with momma hen, they'd be running all over the place and then tucking back under her IF they got cold. And then they'd pop back out and run around some more. At 5 weeks, they wouldn't fit under momma anyway, they'd just tuck their heads and as much of their bodies as they could under her wings, mostly leaning against her, all together.

So, they can use their own body heat, collectively, to keep warm.

There, are y'all reassured, now?

 

[teach1rusl]

2Dogs - as long as you have other ventilation, you could close your windows now. You'll want ventilation even when temps plummet come winter, but you won't want cold winds/breezes blowing on your birds.

 

[JodyJo]

Quote:
they will be fine, read their body language.....if they weren't huddled, they are great. I did the same with my little EE I got...no light from day 2 at home...they did fine, when I turned it on, they glared at me....so off it went! They were in the coop at 50* nights at 4 weeks and did great!

 

[JodyJo]

I have a door, just one, and no other ventilation ( cannot add any to particular situation in barn...) I stapled a cloth curtain over the door, but leave it open....it keeps the drafts out, the chickens can come and go as they please....so far so good....and we are already into the minus 0's here

 

[wyododge]

You can see a picture of our coop on our page. The window in back, right at roost level is open right now. 10* out. The shutters on the door are open to.

Funny thing, they all group up by the window.

I would tend to act on the side of ventilation rather than cold. At 50* I would keep it wide open, fresh air (even COLD (-10) fresh air) is better than warm damp air.

JMO

 

[TwoCrows]

Chickens are built to take a lot of cold weather. As long as there are no windows blowing air directly on them, they can survive quite cold temps. It is important to keep some windows and vents open during the winter, as cold air condenses much faster than warm air. And cold wet air leads to frostbite on the combs and wattles. In my coop, I only shut the window that they sleep near, the other window and vents are wide open. Air circulates, but does not blow on them. We have already had temps in the low teens and the chickens come out in the morning as if it is a warm summer day.