Too Cold?

[mommiesrcool]

Hi, right now in my area in Florida ( PSL) its been getting cold on and off like last week it was warm, and now it's cold and I have 2 16 weeks old RIR pullets and I had some questions,

1. At night it gets to 39-60 degrees and my chicken's door to go inside their coop is broken so I cant close so the cold temp goes inside their house and last night when I checked on them they were very close together on the roost bar but they felt very cold. should I bring them inside at night and put them under a heat lamp?

2. Is there any treats I could give them to warm them up before they go to bed?

3. Will the cold weather delay their laying

 

[DobieLover]

Hi, right now in my area in Florida ( PSL) its been getting cold on and off like last week it was warm, and now it's cold and I have 2 16 weeks old RIR pullets and I had some questions,

1. At night it gets to 39-60 degrees and my chicken's door to go inside their coop is broken so I cant close so the cold temp goes inside their house and last night when I checked on them they were very close together on the roost bar but they felt very cold. should I bring them inside at night and put them under a heat lamp?

2. Is there any treats I could give them to warm them up before they go to bed?

3. Will the cold weather delay their laying

There is no way those birds were cold in that weather. I'm outside in long sleeve tee shirts in those temps! The birds come equipped with down jackets. They probably loved the moderate temps.
Can you please post pictures of your coop?
Long and short, they need a dry coop with lots of ventilation year round.

 

[mommiesrcool]

There is no way those birds were cold in that weather. I'm outside in long sleeve tee shirts in those temps! The birds come equipped with down jackets. They probably loved the moderate temps.
Can you please post pictures of your coop?
Long and short, they need a dry coop with lots of ventilation year round.

i don't have a photo of my coop but I bought it on TSC and I will give you a pic from their website

 

[mommiesrcool]

Producer's Pride Sentinel Coop, MDC00 thats the name of the coop

 

[mommiesrcool]

do you see that door above the ramp thats the door im talking about that wont close

 

[mommiesrcool]

and the coop for some reason doesn't come with a ventilation window what so ever

 

[KarynVA]

I know those temps seem cold for Florida, but believe me, that's nothing for a chicken. Ready some of the posts on here where folks are talking about -20 degrees F on a routine basis and as long as the coop is well ventilated, dry and not drafty, their chickens are fine. Think of chickens back in the pioneer days on the prairie. It was very cold then, too.

 

[drinkoj]

Those pullets are fine. What you need to worry more about is that ventilation. You need to punch triangle holes up top and cover them with some hardware cloth or louvered covering to allow any moisture and the ammonia fumes from their poop to escape. As both of these rise upward in the air and will basically "collect" and not escape, thus your roost bar becomes a gas chamber to them. Harsh way to say it but you've worked to hard to have sick chickens.

 

[drinkoj]

Also, cold weather doesn't slow their egg laying. It's the shortening of day light that does that as we get into the winter months and it gets dark earlier. Your girls will be laying eggs in a month or two just fine.

 

[aart]

they were very close together on the roost bar but they felt very cold.

They like to be close..... for 'security', not warmth.
Did you stick you hand under the stiff outer feathers?
They are nice and toasty next to their skin.