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

[kelidei]

Quote:
I am quite sure they can feel their feet.

Just like humans it would be quite dangerous. Pain is a signal to the brain that something is not right and it causes a defensive reaction. Like when something is hot and you instinctively move away from it. Same is true with animals.

 

[LaurelRidgeDreams]

No heat here and it's 8 degrees, very windy, and wind chill is -10 or less. Two of my pullets have started to molt. I'm hoping they will be fine.

 

[frankenchick]

for those who read the first and last pages of long threads:

1] chickens are fine in cold [freezing] temps as long as they can stay dry and escape the wind.
2] as long as their water stays unfrozen, they're okay.
3] deep litter [adding new shavings, mixing in with old + a spadeful of soil] helps warm the coop as organic material breaks down.
4] the closer the coop is to capacity, the more efficiently the birds themselves can heat it. [just make sure they have 3 sq. ft. each]
. . . wait! that means i could have 7 more chickens!!!

 

[Mrs MIA]

Quote:
YES!!!!!!!!

Another thing to think about... coop space is one thing. Total space (coop + pen/yard) is another. If you have enough roost space in your coop for every bird to snug in (like lining us up in a stadium side by side) you can fill your coop to capacity as long as they have a yard/pen to roam in. We have about 60 birds in an 8x8' coop... and people are like "WHAT?!?" - yes!! But they all have their space, even the few that like to sleep on the floor in the corner, and have a 16x20' yard to roam around in. They're not all in there at once, even at night, but if they wanted to, they could. But they have more than enough space in their combined coop/run. When all the birds are in the coop, it can be -10F outside, and it's above freezing inside. Works great!

LaurelRidgeDreams, I just had a Dorking blow up in a big molt, too... silly girls, I have no IDEA what they're thinking!!

(They'll be fine if they're out of the wind and have other bodies to cuddle with.

)

 

[huckleberryfarm]

This post is so true. I have three coops and over 130 chickens. I have some three week old babies out there and put a heat lamp in one of the coops for them. Today is was in the low 20's with howling winds. Were any of the chickens in the coop? Nope. The little babies were outside, literally blowing over. But they popped right back up and continued about their business. I was way too concerned with the cold last year. And my silkies are fine. They spend more time in the coops than the other breeds but they're definitely out and about.

Thanks for the post!

 

[huckleberryfarm]

Quote:
I am quite sure they can feel their feet.

Just like humans it would be quite dangerous. Pain is a signal to the brain that something is not right and it causes a defensive reaction. Like when something is hot and you instinctively move away from it. Same is true with animals.

I've noticed my silkies will stand on one foot with the other up and then switch. I can only assume their feet are cold since they do not do this in the warmer months.

 

[WriterofWords]

It was 24 last night and I got up to my little cochin girl Show Off laying in the yard looking dead. I left her in the bathroom with heat hoping when I got home she would be ok. She's shaky but sleeping in tonight. They don't do well in the cold here because it isn't consistent, it's hot and cold all Fall and Winter.

 

[sumatra]

Birds maintain heat partially by having a "heat transfer system" in their legs. Their arteries and veins are located near each other. As the warm blood in the arteries goes towards the bird's feet, it passes the cool blood returning to the heart in the veins. The warm blood heats the cold and vice versa. It is only a few degrees difference, and it doesn't seem like it would matter much, but it helps them save energy. That deosn't mean then can't feel their feet, though. They certainly can. I can see why someone would think otherwise since they put up with a lot of damage to their feet without getting too bothered by it. Strings around the toes, for instance, has to be painful, yet I've had a chicken with string very embedded in its toe, without even a small limp. Removing it was painful, apparently, but recovery was swift. I think they put up with foot pain well.

 

[prairiepearls]

That's absolutely fascinating, sumatra! I've always wondered how birds can stay out in freezing temps with their tiny bare feet.

 

[JoAnn_WI_4-H_Mom]

-25F here this morning, that's temp not wind chill. 25F at roost level in the 16X20 insulated coop-room in the pole shed. It felt colder to me, but that is the thermometer reading.

Heated Dog Dishes are thawed but all non-heated dishes are frozen almost solid.

some birds are shaking their heads a lot, which to me is a sign of combs or wattles starting to feel numb. Most are running around, acting normal.

One buckeye girl is sluggish with cold but still flexible feet. So they are not frozen, correct? She seemed uninterested in eating, even treats.

My main concern is still humidity. Have a 3 in exhaust fan running 30 min of every hour. But the heated dog dishes seem to give off a lot of moisture. The walls near the dishes have a light frost coating.