What did you learn last night in the -25 degree wind chill

ElderberryNeil · Jan 21, 2011

Last night it was cold here in Wisconsin. Really really cold. The temp got down to at least 1 below and the wind chill was supposed to have been 20-30 degrees below zero overnight. I put some extra insulation over the windows, mainly to seal up the drafts and re-arranged the lights with heat bulbs in them so when roosting, the 24 Wyandottes, Barred Rocks and 1 Leghorn could get a little relief overnight. The problem was I never took the timer off the lights so at 7PM when I was working they were on but at about 9PM they turned off and stayed off until about 4 o'clock this morning. I woke up at 5PM to fix the fire and realized what I'd done. I was sure I would go outside to find 24 birds on the floor dead and frozen solid but I didn't. They were all fine. Our Wyandottes survived the coldest night in 2 years here in southeast Wisconsin in an uninsulated/unheated building. Amazing. This morning I learned that Wyandottes are some tough birds and I will tout their hardiness to anyone and everyone. I also learned to remember the timer!

jen5680 · Jan 21, 2011

Chickens are a lot more hardy than we think. I think a lot of people go overboard when it gets cold
and this can cause all kinds of problems for them.
Enjoy BYC!!!

tabetta · Jan 21, 2011

your not kidding its cold out!! we live in duluth minnesota and it was painful to go out last night, but i checked on them today and they are all doing well, we also have 2 silkies that dont know to roost and they all looked and acted normal today,

terrilhb · Jan 21, 2011

from Ga. I am glad that everyone was ok.

Minniechickmama · Jan 21, 2011

Southeast Minnesota: A friend reported on Facebook that it was -27˚F at her house this morning. It is still -5˚F here. The chickens are doing fine and they have NO heat in their coops. AND we got our first egg of the year after their two-month break from laying. It looked like one of my Wyandottes is getting on the ball.

Goes to show, those birds are pretty darned tough. I have only lost birds to weather conditions last summer when it was in the 90's and 3 CRX croaked from overheating.

UrbanGrower · Jan 21, 2011

krcote · Jan 21, 2011

See https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=421122

karimw · Jan 21, 2011

It was -17 without windchill last night where I live in Iowa. I gave my Iowa Blues a heat lamp and they didn't even use it. Tough little birdies

mommyofthreewithchicks · Jan 21, 2011

I learned that I should not go out with vaseline for the roosters in the middle of night as MY fingers will freeze. Roosters looked fine this morning so hopefully they didn't have any more frostbite. And I learned this morning that I have 5 minutes or less in my working gloves before my fingers freeze. Again the chickens and ducks looked fine and I am sure I will go out and check them again but seriously it is WAY too cold for comfort here!!!

Sparks · Jan 21, 2011

-30 air temp this a.m. Crazy. Unheated coop. 24 hens, 1 silkie rooster..no heat in coop. When I went in my glasses fogged up. Plenty warm in there. Yesterday I put fresh straw in for nesting and gave plenty of corn for heat. Everyone was fine. Even some went out to get some air. -

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What did you learn last night in the -25 degree wind chill

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