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

[AngieB]

Great thread for us new moms worrying about our first winter!

I have a quesiton. Our coop is big, like a big shed, and insulated. I keep seeing that people add extra shavings and hay/straw. Since my chickens are roosting 4 feet off the ground over a poop board, it doesn't seem that bedding on the floor would make any difference in keeping them warmer. Am I missing something?

I have the deep layer methed on the floor, but everyone sleeps on the roost together.

Thanks,
Angie

 

[Frosty]

The bedding on the floor is for when they are awake and moving around during the day. At night they are on the roosts and hunkered down on the toes to keep them warm.

I have been reading this post with interest and seeing everyone say that the bantams are more... delicate? I have a bantam Silkie rooster and a bantam Cochin that I hatched from shipped eggs, they're about 4 now and have lived their whole adult life in an insulated but unheated building. I guess I am lucky, they are doing fine. I do occasionally have roosters get frost bite on the combs, so am making an effort to stick more with rose comb varieties.

I usually have a heated waterer in with the chickens and horses and pack water to the rest. As long as everyone can get out of the wind, they do fine. I do see the turkeys shiver when it first gets cold, then they seem to adapt and quit. I only use heat lamps when they are babies, and tend to raise the heat faster than recommended. They seem to feather out and grow faster if I do that. My pop door to the run is open 24/7, but is on the side away from prevailing wind. I also have about 6 windows along that side (the south side of the building), and have them opened a few inches.

On the subject of insulating... Don't put styrofoam insulation on the inside walls. The chickens will eat it, and no they don't lay their eggs already in a carton. Dh did that once and covered the lower two feet of the wall with hardboard. They managed to eat the insulation up to about a foot above the hardboard, then got some of that pulled down and ate some more.

I was interested to see the post on cold weather management, and one question was 'do you heat'. A lot of folks who said yes were in the south, and from what I could see the majority of folks in the north said no. Maybe our perception of cold is different?

Currently it's 5F outside with winds 26 - 33 mph. I need to go take care of critters, I am sure the wind will make pitching hay fun!

 

[WilliamBoise208]

I love this string

. Today it is 4 degress F. with a wind at 7 miles an hour. I live in North Salt Lake Utah. My Girls are in an old shed with a 16 ft run built around that. The Run has it's own tarp on top and I put flat boards on the outside of it (that can be taken down in summer). Then I put extra straw down for them in the roost and in the pen. On the inside shed (where the roosts are). I took an old tent and some old heat liner and put it over the roof and down the sides... No external heaters. The only issue i have is the water freezing (tear drop/sad) but I plan on using the water jug idea and taking them water but i love the dog water heater. Thanks for that idea.

I should probably take a picture of the pen and roost....ok it's on my to do list

Happy Thanksgiving.

 

[KMHunter]

I live in Wa state and for the most part I don't heat my coop. But I have to say that the last two days I have just because the temp was dropping into the low twenties during the day and low teens at night. I put a heat lamp in there until the temps come up to at least freezing. My coop is not insulated and has great ventilation, and I have a thick layer of shavings on the floor. My girls seem to do fine and I will remove the heat probably today as the temps are going to rise to almost 40! It's a heat wave! I don't think heat is necessary, most of the time. I choose to to heat a few days out of the year when the temps drop below 15-20 degrees.(not including the windchill) I have happy healthy chickens who are spoiled rotten but do fine in cold weather.

 

[tryxichicks]

The problem I'm having here, in the NW...I have an wonderful RIR, she's in the peak of her molt and is getting down to 15 in the henhouse roost at night. We had a strange fall, none. So she is molting now, I decided at night to add heat so it was warmer in there using a ceramic bulb (no light). Once she's feathered I'll wean them off it and let em be for the winter!!! Yee Haw!!! I only have four, so they alone don't keep her warm enough.

 

[billrey]

Here in NW Minnesota and its -4 degrees with wind chill in around -20. The coop is an old building that was about to fall apart when I bought this place earlier this year. Some simple repairs of the old building; to block the drafts, to replace the chicken door, and put hardware cloth over the window to help keep the predators out. As the winter started coming in, I lined the inside of the coop with a layer of strawbales on edge, added at least six inches of straw and wood shavings on the floor. I have a thermometer inside the coop and its about 10-15 degrees warmer, on average, than the outside temps. The chickens are seven month Barred Rocks and Barred Rocks mixed with some light earred species.. none seem to be having any issues, other than getting uses to the white stuff on the ground outside the coop. Eggs are still coming at a regular pace. I have had chickens elsewhere in Minnesota without any heat and without issue. I just can't justify the expense of electricity, other than the light to extend their day and the heat for the water, both are on timers. The temps here in the winter will get down to -40 degress with many windy days driving the wind chill even lower... I have enjoy reading the previous post on this link and thought I would add my two cents!!!!

 

[Mrs MIA]

I can't help but wonder if the humidity in the south makes it SEEM colder to the humans, so they think the chickens need heat?

Like the "dry heat' of AZ, the "dry cold" of the frozen north seems "warmer" than the humid South. I know 40*F near the water in San Diego chills me more than walking around at 20*F in a T-shirt here. (I go out to open the nest boxes in only my bathrobe even when it's 0F)

Up here, the temperature cutoff for kids going out on the playground is -10F...

 

[pinkchick]

Thank you for starting this thread!

I am asked allllllllllll the time if I heat my coops........nope, never have and probably never will. The only coop I ever heat or put a light in is the grow out pen or the brooder for babies under 8 weeks of age. The chickens do great and I have never had an issue, not even frostbite.

 

[7L Farm]

Mrs. AK-Bird-Brain :

I can't help but wonder if the humidity in the south makes it SEEM colder to the humans, so they think the chickens need heat?

Like the "dry heat' of AZ, the "dry cold" of the frozen north seems "warmer" than the humid South. I know 40*F near the water in San Diego chills me more than walking around at 20*F in a T-shirt here. (I go out to open the nest boxes in only my bathrobe even when it's 0F)

Up here, the temperature cutoff for kids going out on the playground is -10F...

I think your right if it was -10 down here where I'm at there's no way you could go to the play ground. It's more of a wet cold here. If that makes sense.​

 

[forrestacres]

It was 18 degrees here this morning (27 degrees in the coop). The girls now have their water heater going because their water was frozen. Only 4 eggs yesterday out of 8 birds - we had extremely high winds here yesterday so the girls may have been stressed. 6 eggs to far today. HAPPY THANKSGIVING to all!