Think it's too cold for your chickens? Think again...

[Achickenwrangler#1]

Nice to hear about those Alaskan winters and chickens OK. We had an early cold snap here with record dump of 3 feet of snow...of course I wasn't ready for it. The chickens were fine, I picked one out of a snow bank who was apparently sleeping and thought I was rude to do that....I wanted to check her body heat...she was fine, and a little concerned about predators until I realized they can't move in this stuff either. First snow many of them have seen and they learned to walk on top of it, until they figured out flying was easier. It was only down in the 30° and 20° at night. No problem. Some did shiver a bit inside but did OK. Since, I have windproofed 3 sides of the coop, and added a tarp over the pop door with straw instead of hard dirt to stand on. Last year I had chickens roosting on top of the coop in the middle of a blizzard with snow drifted around them. They could go inside if they wanted. Through the storms, the chickens don't eat or drink much, they seem to just hunker down and sleep....i can tell when its over because they wake up. Of course though, my chickens come from a long line of free range chickens that really had no coop, and it doesn't get cold here like Alaska...brrrrrrr! But i would think if you live there you'd want a hardy chicken that can adapt to those temps....what better way to find out? If you heat the coop they'll never adapt. But then....are there wild chickens in Alaska? What type of fowl live there year round? Visiting Alaska is on my bucket list.

 

[popsicle]

But then....are there wild chickens in Alaska? What type of fowl live there year round? Visiting Alaska is on my bucket list.

Ptarmigan, Spruce Grouse, Ruffed Grouse, Sharp-tailed Grouse. All hang out where I worked North of the Alaska Range where it's frequently windy and -60F in winter.

I don't think I will give heat at all here in MT. They've already been through night-time temps in the -15F range and were happy in the morning. The only think I'm considering is a waterer warmer so I don't have to haul water out more than once a day.

 

[frostbite]

Popsicle has the list pretty well down. There was a ring necked pheasant sited at last winter on several occasions at a local bird refuge. Then we had a cold snap, 30 below for a a couple of weeks, and folks thought he would certainly die. but after it warmed up again, he was spotted again, fat and happy. Pheasants are not indigenous here; he probably escaped from someone's pen.

Here it's been zero degrees give or take 5 for the last several weeks, inside the coop it's been consistently 15 degrees. I don't "heat" the coop, but the 100 watt incandescent light in there 14 hours a day and the heated waterer both throw off enough heat to make that 15 degree difference. The birds seem quite content with it, but they're all cold hardy breeds with small combs. At zero, they still come outside for a while, and they still lay eggs.

It is an insulated coop, but I leave the man door open all day unless it's windy. When it gets 10-20 below zero I'll keep it closed.

 

[Achickenwrangler#1]

Out in the wild, I guess a fowl would know where to find the best shelter. Provide a dry wind free area... Those temps make me feel like my winter is springtime walk in the park.

 

[Missa Chickabee]

I live in zone 3 near Winnipeg Canada,where winter is at times brutal. The upside is it is very dry once temps are below 0f most of the time. I kid you not, there are times 20 below seems warmer than 20f with a driving wind,snow and the moisture.
Summer was very hot, lots of 90 degree days with a humidex of over 100, the little chooks would shake it hard in those conditions. In June it was so hot, I could not breath, and my thoughts were this, how could a place this hot be so cold in winter.
I have seen -40 and close to -50 windchill, a few times, but -30 with a -40 windchill happens almost every winter a few times. Lots of winters the temps are 0f to 15f, odd days to 32-40f too, just depends. It is 48 here right now, raining, mist like some type of Seattle weather.
Anyhew, have no birds just yet, but will be getting some cold hardy types, and leaning toward bantams. Coop is 8 feet by 8feet, 7feet high, insulated, but needs more ventelation worked into it. I am not going to heat it, in any way, if I can help it.I need to build a run, but will make something small for this year, if I get the Banties I am looking at. Rosecombs, spring birds, 4 hens 2 roosters, all siblings. I have really enjoyed this thread, but did some research and still find it amazing that parts of Alaska are warmer in winter than the Winnipeg region of prairie western Canada.....RR

Just wanted to say hi as I am also originally from Wpg and now living in Northern MN. My 19 birds are faring well in an unheated, ventilated, insulated coop. It hit zero Farenheit last night (never did learn celsius well) The coop stayed at 20 degrees F!!. They throw off a LOT of heat. Using two heated dog dishes for their fermented feed and a heated 3 gal plastic waterer (has to be plastic because I put ACV in their water. So far so good!

PS Even though we are south (near Bemidji, we are higher in elevation so actually we're called zone 2! (How silly of me to brag about our cold!

 

[Rooster Rules]

Just wanted to say hi as I am also originally from Wpg and now living in Northern MN. My 19 birds are faring well in an unheated, ventilated, insulated coop. It hit zero Farenheit last night (never did learn celsius well) The coop stayed at 20 degrees F!!. They throw off a LOT of heat. Using two heated dog dishes for their fermented feed and a heated 3 gal plastic waterer (has to be plastic because I put ACV in their water. So far so good!

PS Even though we are south (near Bemidji, we are higher in elevation so actually we're called zone 2! (How silly of me to brag about our cold!

Hello, Winnipeg has parts of the city at or near zone 4, not sure how, maybe all the sewer water from the red river, my are 18 miles north, is zone 3, and it gets to be zone 2 not very far north of here.
Last night it was -6f, 0f for tonight 16f in Winnipeg and 11 out here.
pics of the new/used coop, fully insulated,wired, needs more venting, making a Cupola, and will install, another window, and pop door too. I have made roosts, removable 12 inch litter board, nest boxes next, birds going in either tomorrow or wednesday.

 

[bruceha2000]

pics of the new/used coop, fully insulated,wired, needs more venting, making a Cupola, and will install, another window, and pop door too. I have made roosts, removable 12 inch litter board, nest boxes next, birds going in either tomorrow or wednesday.

All that AND music too! Looks like a great coop. I bet they will really enjoy the sun coming through that big window.

Bruce

 

[captdad]

Wow this is a long thread!
Here it gets 20-40 below (near Canada). The first year I put in a heat lamp but they kept flying into it and breaking the bulb! So even without the heat they did okay. Their roosts are way up high, about 6 feet up, and they huddle together there. Also the deep litter method gives off heat so up high they get the most heat. They are some tough birds! We selected only the cold hardy ones and cold hardy they are!

 

[newmusher]

Hi. I feed them layer mash and also cracked corn. now am starting to feed veggie peelings and even pasta. will try some of the other suggestions I have come across such as oatmeal mixed with their layer mash. they really loved the macaroni with some chopped tomatoes which I had leftover! it is now -30 and I have turned on the monitor on low, just enough to keep it a bit warm in the coop, but not too warm. I am also only letting them outside on their winter patio for about an hour or so a day now too since they mostly go back inside anyway and I don't want to heat the Yukon as well! not getting many eggs though. have low light in the coop and will hope for more in the future. thanks for all the comments on this site, they are really helpful to a newbie!!

 

[chestypuller]

well i took out the 1500w bucket water heater and put a large 1.4gal heated dog dish in that only uses 60w we will see how that goes. chickens been surving down to -7f so far.. yea! 5 left.