Protecting chickens from unnormally cold weather??

[JadedPhoenix]

You'd be surprised how many feral chickens are perfectly fine with sleeping outside. In fact, Florida has a large population of them. The one who consistently sleeps outside is likely the hardiest chicken you have. I know mine are. Don't worry about her. She has the opportunity to get in out of the weather should she choose to.

I've only had one chicken to freeze to death and that was one who slept in the nesting box away from the other chickens last year. I have yet to lose any of the ones that sleep outside.

 

[browntownfarm]

It's getting down to 10 tonight in Ga which is extremely rare. On top of that the wind chill is going to make it feel even worse. All 4 of my girls sleep on the roost. The heat lamp is on but they refuse to go inside anywhere. A friend just told me they only have a 50/50 chance of making it through. I'm panicking now. We didn't realize the wind was coming. Will they be ok?

 

[JadedPhoenix]

She was just scaring you. We are getting down to 2 tonight and we usually have a low of about 30. These temps only happen a couple times a year so it isn't like my chickens are used to this either. Most of my chickens prefer to sleep outside and I've never lost one from sleeping out in the trees or on top of coops. In fact, the only time in 15 years that I've ever lost one to the cold was when they slept in the nesting boxes. The other night, during the freezing rain and snow, I went out to check on my chickens and saw that three of the 18 still were outside at one in the morning. Next morning, everyone had made it just fine.

Good luck.

 

[bobbi-j]

It's getting down to 10 tonight in Ga which is extremely rare. On top of that the wind chill is going to make it feel even worse. All 4 of my girls sleep on the roost. The heat lamp is on but they refuse to go inside anywhere. A friend just told me they only have a 50/50 chance of making it through. I'm panicking now. We didn't realize the wind was coming. Will they be ok?

Could be it's too hot in the coop for them. Turn that heat lamp off and they'll be much better off. Your chickens are already wearing down coats that will trap their body heat and keep them warm.

 

[JadedPhoenix]

Quote: True. Heating the coops are actually counter-productive since it prevents them from being able to adjust to the lower temps.