I am in CO and we get below 0 for a few weeks a year. If the weather is especially frigid, the silkies are in lockdown and I do not let them outside. Part of that is once snow starts showing in the pens, they refuse to go out anyway.
But, I have had severe enough winters that even inside, the birds will get a frost on their backs. They do fine, some are hardier than others, so some might get sick but for the most part, if they are kept dry, they are good.
I do not add heat to the buildings, only because I used to years ago before silkies, and ended up with sick birds every year and one year, caught the wood shavings on fire when a heat lamp came unfastened and fell.
Now, I leave the coop heat free, and they fare much better. The reason I believe is that most animals, horses, goats, sheep cows, etc...do not have heated buildings, so, they build up better winter coats to deal wit the cold. I am not sure if chcikens do the same but, I DO know, thatwhen you add a heat source to the coop, the mixture of warm air around the heat lamp (and concequencially birds under it breathing in and out) causes condensation in the air where it meets the cold surrounding air. the two temps will cause the condensation, causing excess moisture in the air and this is what causes sickness.
Cold is fine, its cold and damp you do not want. That has been my theory for the last few years and has proven very effective for me. Before that, I also raise Dutch bantams which are single combed birds, and they got frostbite all the time. Since removing the heat lamps, I hav ehad NO frostbite at all. I do have electricity to the coops, which I provide a normal light for seeing, and running the waterer heater bases.
Oh, and I just got two birds in from TX, which is warmer. I moved them to the coop without heat last week. So far, so good!!!
But, I have had severe enough winters that even inside, the birds will get a frost on their backs. They do fine, some are hardier than others, so some might get sick but for the most part, if they are kept dry, they are good.
I do not add heat to the buildings, only because I used to years ago before silkies, and ended up with sick birds every year and one year, caught the wood shavings on fire when a heat lamp came unfastened and fell.
Now, I leave the coop heat free, and they fare much better. The reason I believe is that most animals, horses, goats, sheep cows, etc...do not have heated buildings, so, they build up better winter coats to deal wit the cold. I am not sure if chcikens do the same but, I DO know, thatwhen you add a heat source to the coop, the mixture of warm air around the heat lamp (and concequencially birds under it breathing in and out) causes condensation in the air where it meets the cold surrounding air. the two temps will cause the condensation, causing excess moisture in the air and this is what causes sickness.
Cold is fine, its cold and damp you do not want. That has been my theory for the last few years and has proven very effective for me. Before that, I also raise Dutch bantams which are single combed birds, and they got frostbite all the time. Since removing the heat lamps, I hav ehad NO frostbite at all. I do have electricity to the coops, which I provide a normal light for seeing, and running the waterer heater bases.
Oh, and I just got two birds in from TX, which is warmer. I moved them to the coop without heat last week. So far, so good!!!
