should I bring my 3 hens inside when its too cold?

[LindsayB]

I have kind of a dumb question, but I live near houston where it rarely freezes...should I bring my 3 hens inside our garage for the night? I'm not really sure how cold hardy chickens are. And my easter egger has a bare butt from being pecked...Its supposed to get around 30 tonight.

 

[Mahonri]

Do they have a coop?

If they have a coop, they will be fine.

 

[LindsayB]

they have a coop, but it has vents on all sides around the roof to let cool air in during the summer. I just went out there and I was freezing my *** off... I guess I'm just paranoid about them...

 

[ThePamperedPullet]

You sould be fine with them outside. We have our 5 week old chicks outside with no light or heat and it has been getting down below freezing already this year. We just let them huddle together in a nest box. All the other chickens are up on their roosts all night and our hen house/ roosting area is mostly all screen.

 

[Montana-Hens]

They will be fine....days here are only in the 20's & 30's, and my ladies are out free ranging all day. They bed down in the coop where the temps area already in single digits and all they have is body heat and insulation.

 

[Mahonri]

Quote:
You could close off some of the vents for a couple of months if that would make you feel better.

 

[LindsayB]

okay well I trust your opinions. I'm sure all of ya'll have had alot more experience with chickens than me. Thank you!

 

[Iceblink]

I brought my 3 girls in every night when we lived in CA. That was mostly because of the skunks and racoons. They slept in a large dog crate with shavings. Every night they would line up at the back door and wait to be let in. Then they would all troop into their crate and go to sleep. Having just 3 is nice that way.

If they were out during the day and it was really cold, I would give them some scratch for extra warmth. I've heard of people doing it before bed on cold nights.

 

[LindsayB]

well I give mine cracked corn in the evenings...I dont know if that would do anything though.....

 

[orcasislandchickens]

The thing about chickens is that they all have these down coats God dressed them in. Seriously they will be fine, if they are used to being outside. I am of the opinion that if you let them acclimate to your climate they will "harden off" and their bodies will adapt along with the weather and they will be just fine if they can stay out of the wind and rain and snow. If you import birds from say Cabo San Juan in January then it would be unkind to make them stay out in cold weather they were clearly unused to.