Not worried about cold?

[RNPAULIE69]

This is my first winter with chickens. I almost feel guilty that I am not worrying about the cold temps here in NH. so many people are posting about heat and keeping chickens warm but they have incredibly warm feathers to do that! I have no drafts, adequate ventilation and a heated waterer. That's all I plan to do for the winter. I see these little tiny birds at my feeders in this cold. If they are surviving/thriving why wouldn't my pullets? Just wondering why people worry so much? Should I be concerned that I am not concerned about the cold? For me it was much more stressful seeing them suffer in the worst heat of the summer

 

[aart]

For me it was much more stressful seeing them suffer in the worst heat of the summer

Me too.
As long as you have adequate space and ventilation, liquid water, and your birds are healthy, not much to worry about. I have a couple of older molting hens and one that seems a bit sickly that I'm keeping a close eye on.

 

[N F C]

I think people worry about their chickens being cold because they (the humans) are cold. Sounds to me like you're doing ok

 

[priscillaJ]

It is close to 0 degrees F here today in western MO. High should be about 17 F. I agree with the logic in the comments here about the birds handling the cold. I worry way too much also. I try to do the basics with a proper coop/run/water etc. I even enclosed their 10x10 run w/plastic and have plexiglass and a window pane on the outside (so they can't peck it) so they have some solar warmth. BUT my stupid chickens really, really don't seem to eat right! And eating is their heat supply, right? I don't think they are normal. I put cracked corn in a feeder, grains, and the supply store pellets/crumbles but I rarely notice that they eat it...since the containers are just as full one week to the next. I have tried 3 kinds of 'store' feed; tried it with a little moisture added. Not much success. They will eat frozen corn microwaved and old fashioned oats moistened in hot water. (do I hear laughing?) They do love to go in the cow pasture so I guess that's where they get their corn! I try not to give them too much fat in the form of sunflower seeds. Meal worms are what they would eat all day if they could. When they get good and hungry I suppose they will eat the other normal chicken stuff. They have free ranged since young. All my chickens are about 10 months old. When I saw them eating snow for water I figured they really do know some basic instinct and survival skills. We are spared right now much of the bad weather hitting the rest of the country. My prayers to everyone out there getting hammered!

 

[Smartlink]

I too was very worried about the cold, it's also my first year as a backyard chicken owner. During the day I have 2 50w light bulb in the coop, they turn off two hours after sunset, turn on 1 hour before sunset.

Today it was a glacial -13f (-25C) outside... inside =the coop it was a cosy 23f (-5C). they spent most of the day outside..... They could at anytime go back in the coop, but they seem to enjoy the cold weather.

My outdoor run is partially cover, with a roof, almost no wind. Sides are closed with greenhouse sheeting for the winter. Leaving only a few open spots to provide proper ventilation.

During the night the temp in the coop goes down without the light bulbs, but since it's well insulated , temps never went below the low teens.

 

[bluebird]

They usually do pretty good by themselves. Just make sure you have reliable insulation in their coop. Same with ducks, they do very good by themselves in winter

 

[SueT]

It was 2º here this AM. I have a down jacket and I'm not cold under it. I realize my chickens have down jackets too....I was worried about their bare feet but googled why don't birds' feet freeze:
"Rete mirabile — Latin for "wonderful net" — is a fine, netlike pattern of arteries that interweaves blood from a bird's heart with the veins carrying cold blood from its feet and legs. The system cools the blood so the little blood that goes down to the feet is already cold, so the birds don't lose much heat.The small amount that goes to the feet is likely just enough to keep the feet from freezing." and "most birds don’t succumb to frostbite because there is so little fluid in the cells of their feet, and because their circulation is so fast that blood doesn’t remain in the feet long enough to freeze."
Now my little bantam Cochin has built in leggings, and socks.

 

[chickens really]

You would probably be a bit worried if you lived here?
-34C tonight but will feel like -38C...Brrr. I run heat.

 

[BantyChooks]

This is my first winter with chickens. I almost feel guilty that I am not worrying about the cold temps here in NH. so many people are posting about heat and keeping chickens warm but they have incredibly warm feathers to do that! I have no drafts, adequate ventilation and a heated waterer. That's all I plan to do for the winter. I see these little tiny birds at my feeders in this cold. If they are surviving/thriving why wouldn't my pullets? Just wondering why people worry so much? Should I be concerned that I am not concerned about the cold? For me it was much more stressful seeing them suffer in the worst heat of the summer

Nope. You're good.

You would probably be a bit worried if you lived here?
-34C tonight but will feel like -38C...Brrr. I run heat.

From my brief stint in her area, they get weather similar to that. Southern portion of the state might be warmer.

 

[MissMonty]

We aren't too worried about our flock this year. All of them are doing well and are younger anyways so we don't have any older gals to worry about. It has been in the single digits here for a while and then there's a windchill but our guys are inside their coop away from the elements and perfectly fine.

We do have a small heat source in the coop that we only turn on when the temp drop below freezing. Its not really for the chickens and ducks as its so small its no where near big enough to make a difference in the coop itself but we keep it closer to the water to keep their water from freezing over.

If I did have a sickly one or older bird I'd probably move them into my insulated garage for the winter. This is actually the first year we don't have a zoo in our garage. Usually we move our rabbits in there, the cats move in for the winter, and then early spring we have our brooders in there. This year only the cats moved in as the rabbits moved into the chicken coop with them