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

[BirdBrain]

June is probably the best month to visit. The weather typically gets wetter as the summer progresses.

 

[Bunnieluvr]

Thank you for all of your information.
This is my first winter with my chickens, and I was concerned about the cold living in New England.
I feel a lot better knowing that left alone they will adapt to the change in temperature.

 

[chicks and hens2]

What about the humidity factor and cold weather. Does that play a role on heating the coop?
I live in WA state where it's rainy, windy and high humidity so It seems a lot colder than it is. We get icey water in the coop when it's 40 degrees above freezing.
Just wondering. I have a heated waterer and, on most nights when it's been in the 30's the heat lamp was on the 12 week old chickens.
The older ones seemed to lay a lot better when the coop was warmer. Not sure if it was the red infared bulb or the heat that came off of it, (since it wasn't over the layers, I doubt they got any heat off of it).

 

[ParadiseFoundFarm]

Quote:
Humidity is your enemy. It can frost their fleshy parts. Vent to remove excess humidity. The chickens will make enough heat for themselves most of the time. Your heater is great to allow more venting without chilling them.
Laying would be a result of light not the heat. Perhaps they are getting enough ambient light from somewhere to produce more winter eggs?

 

[vclark321]

I live in Washington State too, up in Bonney Lake. I don't have heat or light in my coop, but the girls are still laying the same amount of eggs. They are in the coop by 5pm & I don't let them out until 8:30 am when I get home frrom work.

I hate the cold, they don't care. I have a tarp over their run for rain & they have to stay in the run while I sleep, but my mastiff is a Double Agent & will push their pen open & let them run free. In exchange, they let her eat what she wants from their selection of breakfast. Conspiracy!

I move the tractor closer to the house for wind & below freezing & I have an old rug I thrrow over the top, but they seem ok. I am keeping an eye out for anything unusual. A lot of people ask me if I bring them in the house when it gets really cold. I just tell them no, I have knitted sweaters & socks for them!

 

[scooter147]

I had an aunt whose chicken coop was made of what I call barn boards and there probably was at lease 1/4 inch gap and in some cases 1/2 inch gap between each board. You could look through one side and completely out the other. It was built that way on purpose, she was raised that the coop needed lots of fresh air and the gaps also allowed all the chicken dander and dust to escape. They also always had a chicken dogs as well, a dog that slept in the coop to keep the coons and possums from chewing through the gaps.
She mainly raised leghorns as there were 10 kids and they needed all the eggs they could lay their hands on. I use to spend a lot of time there and never remember seeing those big comb birds with frost bite. Her flocks seem to do just fine.
Now we live in east central Missouri so we don't have long periods of extreme weather like 20 to 40 below but it does get to below zero at times.

 

[Mrs MIA]

Very interesting, Scooter! I've heard/read that "open" coops are best, too. I've tried my best to leave windows and doors open as much as I can, but -10F seems to be the cut-off for closing the man-door on the coop. With the door and window closed, they keep it about 20 degrees warmer in the coop.

We've had a horrible start to the winter... deep freezes for several days, then warm up to above freezing. It seems to be on a weekly schedule, too. High winds, lots of snow, followed by wind and rain.

The birds don't know what to think, and it's been hard to keep the moisture down when EVERYTHING is thawing at once.

 

[Tracydr]

Quote:
Humidity is your enemy. It can frost their fleshy parts. Vent to remove excess humidity. The chickens will make enough heat for themselves most of the time. Your heater is great to allow more venting without chilling them.
Laying would be a result of light not the heat. Perhaps they are getting enough ambient light from somewhere to produce more winter eggs?

You may want a light on a timer since your days are so short. I lived in Lacey for awhile. Keep the coop vented and give them an area free of mud. I would not heat the coop. If you feel the need to do anything, run a dehumidifier if you have a small coop but I doubt it would help because if you have enough venting, you'd just be dehumidifying outside air.

 

[GhostRider65]

Mrs. AK-Bird-Brain :

Very interesting, Scooter! I've heard/read that "open" coops are best, too. I've tried my best to leave windows and doors open as much as I can, but -10F seems to be the cut-off for closing the man-door on the coop. With the door and window closed, they keep it about 20 degrees warmer in the coop.

We've had a horrible start to the winter... deep freezes for several days, then warm up to above freezing. It seems to be on a weekly schedule, too. High winds, lots of snow, followed by wind and rain.

The birds don't know what to think, and it's been hard to keep the moisture down when EVERYTHING is thawing at once.

I think Wisconsin is having your weather this year, it's been crazy here 1 week its cold as H e l then the next its raining and ALMOST 40 DEGREES
Thiis year Fall has been god awful, temperature extremes every other week, wet damp cold, below zero though its only gotten to -5 so far today it was 38, my poor chickens are confused last week they didn't come out to play for long some didn't come out at all. This week they are basking in the 40 degrees, and getting soaked by the rains, and Friday we head back to the 20's during the day and probably below at night. arggggggggggg I just wish it would get cold and stay cold and snow, I'm sick to death of mud, and wet and frozen chunked up ground that my horses can barely walk across, because yesterday it was forty and rainedan inch, and today its only 10 degrees and all that mud is frozen solid.​

 

[Mrs MIA]

Quote:
I think Wisconsin is having your weather this year, it's been crazy here 1 week its cold as H e l then the next its raining and ALMOST 40 DEGREES
Thiis year Fall has been god awful, temperature extremes every other week, wet damp cold, below zero though its only gotten to -5 so far today it was 38, my poor chickens are confused last week they didn't come out to play for long some didn't come out at all. This week they are basking in the 40 degrees, and getting soaked by the rains, and Friday we head back to the 20's during the day and probably below at night. arggggggggggg I just wish it would get cold and stay cold and snow, I'm sick to death of mud, and wet and frozen chunked up ground that my horses can barely walk across, because yesterday it was forty and rainedan inch, and today its only 10 degrees and all that mud is frozen solid.

Yep, that sounds like us... below 0F, above freezing, single digits, above freezing, below 0F, week on, week off... if the temps would just stay in the teens to 20s, I'd be as happy as the critters...