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

[7L Farm]

You know we are humans & care for our animals. It gets cold outside & human instinct kicks in.Gosh, I hope my pets are safe first reaction. Heck, I live in Texas but when the temp drops I'm worried about my animals. I couldn't imagine living in Alaska I'd have a heart attack worrying about the girls. We're humans with no down feathers. We get cold . Animals, also get cold but they live outside 24/7 so they can adapt. Its nature they grow thicker hides for bad winters more feathers etc. I hope for all our chickens this winter.

 

[LittleFarmonthePalouse]

New to BYC here (long-time reader), but had to put my two cents in on this topic....

We live in Idaho, where it gets very cold. A professor at the state uni told me that hardy breed chicken bodies run a toasty 110 degrees or so, which is why they don't get cold easily. I do not heat my coop, which is moderately drafty because it is a converted dog kennel that is closed on the north and west (prevailing wind) sides, open on the east side and has only heavy plastic sheeting on the south side. It also very dry, has about 6 inches of pine shavings over a concrete floor, and my girls do fine and are laying daily still because they get more light from not being shut up in a dark box for 16+ hrs/day. A couple of days ago, we had a nasty wind storm, which knocked out the power for about 8 hours overnight (and we live in town!). Imagine if my girls had been dependent on an artificial heat source...they would have been in big trouble.

I have 1 buff, 2 sex link, 1 barred, and the Houdini triplets (austrolorp-wyandotte mix).

 

[vtgirls]

Winters do vary here more than one might think - a couple years back we were worried the suburban might not fit up the drive - the snow never melted between storms so we had huge snow banks closing in on both sides - many folk had to have backloaders move the stuff. We could walk right onto our roof since we'd raked it off so many times the piles were ten feet high in frot of the porch. However, last year we only had to have our friend sand us once (we do our own plowing).
The water has frozen a few times now but I bring it inside, rinse all the ice out and refill with warm. I know its coming - the cold, frozen side of living here. I plan to keep an eye on them all. The coops are both out back so we will be plowing a new stretch to get to them but other than a few extra minutes moving snow I am hoping its all good....

 

[PepsNick]

THANK YOU for this post! People need to know this! Glad now this can help the newbies and such... should be a sticky!

 

[sunflowerenvy]

ok, Mrs. AK-Bird-Brain.
my hubby set the heater in your coop at 50 f and we been in the 40 this week it , 30s one night it drop down to 29f buy we turn off the heater during the day. i would say the heater been out there for a month. we have a cookie tin heater to keep the water from freeze with therm stat that goes on at 38 n off at 50f. the chickens was born in april 10. this week going to be 68 during the day n drop down to 35f

Do u think it to late for me to take the heater out at night? so can
the chicken learn to get thick coat ? the temp at get down to 9 above zero in January in south west tenn .
my daughter just came back from juneau ar she want to go college up there lol

 

[gingerpeach22]

I won't be opening the pop door below zero. If the electricity goes off, which it sure does, I'll use the Honda generator until it comes back on. The shivering was felt when they were on my lap; I couldn't see them shiver. But like with the horse, I think about thriving, not just surviving. So you do as you see fit, everyone. You know your breeds, coops, weather, and ventilation systems so nobody can tell you what is best. I'll do the same.

 

[Mrs. K]

A cheap and easy way to insulate is with cardboard, get a big box, like from a fridge, or stove, and cut it to fit. Nearly anyone can do it, don't need fancy tools or skills.

I just placed the cardboard on the inside of my hen house on the north side. Helps quite a bit. And come the spring it will just go into the garden as a weed blocker.

Also if you have a big hen house, look around and see if you can make it a bit smaller, but adding cardboard boxes along a wall or on top of the nests. Less space to heat, and the birds will be warmer without extra added heat.

Also, (this might smack of chicken math) but consider how many hens you have.... more hens mean more heat generated, equals a warmer house.

Mrs.K

 

[Ema]

thank you for posting this topic. winter here where I live the average temp is -22F

lately we've been talking about nothing else than what if it gets real cold, how will the chickens fare in such temps. our in=barn coop is not insulated at all. If you see my page you can see my set up. It is draft free, and with this posting it has eased some of my fears for my girls. Dh though says that in the coop we should put something over the top half of the chicken wire. I agreed with his idea of tarping the run to make it draft free but still leaving ventilation on one side. For you Alaskan people, do you think my set up is good enough for winter?? your experienced input would be much appreciated!!

 

[SmittenChicken]

This is a great thread, and I just have to say that without BYC my chickens would be a lot worse off this winter!

I'm in my first year of chicken-keeping, and initially thought I'd have to deal with the heat lamp again when the temps got cold. I was concerned about the fire hazard, and also about the birds being ok during a power outage (our rural power is awful, and we can count on at least a few long power outages during the winter). Fortunately I did a little reading on BYC a while back and realized my chickens are pretty well set - all I've done is add a heated waterer. I really think the birds are better off if they learn to adapt to the cold, and I'm glad so many people on here agree.

Our coop isn't insulated, but is well-ventilated and has south facing windows. Since we're in Colorado we get a lot of sun and not much humidity. I'm always freezing when I go out in the morning, but the chickens aren't bothered by the cold in the least. I think their only complaint is that there aren't any more bugs...

 

[MaryFrances]

I'm in North Georgia and found a wild game hen last Tuesday with 13 new chicks. Brought them home, put them on the porch, they have bedding and a tent of old sheets and a warm jacket...I'm new to this and wasn't planning on chickens...will 9 day old chicks be OK outside huddled by the house with Mama hen, and the bedding? Do I need to add a light bulb to the mix?