What is "cold" for a chicken and prepping the coop

[Ccort]

Could cover them with furnace filter material.

How about pics the outside of the coop?
Under roof overhangs, in soffit area, is one of the best places to ventilate.

I'll post more tomorrow. Should any others be closed up for winter? The two in the front are real working windows so I can easily close them if needed.

 

[aart]

Should any others be closed up for winter?

Can't make specific recommendation there.
Understand that the harmful drafts are the ones strong enough to literally ruffle the feathers of the birds on the roost so that they can't hold the heat of their bodies,
this can vary with each individual site and the weather there.
You have to stand inside the closed coop when it's storming/windy outside and feel the air movement to decide what might need to be modified to reduce any strong drafts.

 

[Ccort]

Ok, finally...pics of the outside...

 

[Ccort]

The back window is right at their faces. I'm planning to cover that one during winter. I'm thinking the windows on the side should be fine as is, since they're further away from the chickens themselves. The front windows are only open at the bottom half, just like a window in your house and essentially are pointed at my girls' rear ends. My hunch then is to close those BUT my run is right in front of the coop so I'm not sure how much wind will actually enter there. Thoughts, anyone?

Also, we seem to have a knack for ice storms. How do I prep for those?

 

[NorthwoodsChick]

Could cover them with furnace filter material.

How about pics the outside of the coop?
Under roof overhangs, in soffit area, is one of the best places to ventilate.

I used a roll of garden weed barrier, the thin cheap stuff that lasts a couple years.

 

[kodster]

I don't know if anyone mentioned this, but chickens walk around with their own down coats during the winter. All that down under their outer layer of feathers, which they fluff up when they get cold enough, to trap air, which is what keeps them warm. Their body temperatures run 99.5 degrees Fahrenheit (there's a reason why those incubators run at 99.5, remember? they're supposed to simulate a momma hen's body temp to incubate her eggs when she's laying on them). So, 32 degrees is fine for them.

The key is giving them an area where there is ventilation, but not a draft going through, where they can take shelter to stay warm. Windows, unless you've got a blizzard coming through, can remain open, just fine, because it's your ventilation source.

My coop is an uninsulated 8x12 shed, 3 windows that I don't completely close, but drop down to the 2nd to last notch before it closes, so that the air circulation is kept, but keeps out the cold drafts. They get completely closed when we have winter weather (blizzard conditions), but opened back up when the blizzard passes. I do have a radiant heater that is mounted to the wall that I use but it's only when the outside temperatures drop down into the negatives (which, here in nw North Dakota, happens) that it gets turned on, and it's on a temperature outlet... it doesn't come on until the temperature drops low enough, automatically.

The only time I suffer any loss of birds is when a blizzard lasts for 3 days or more... unsafe for me to get out to the coop, without having a rope attached, and I can't get the man door open, because the wind is blowing from the north, at 50+ mph, and the man door is on the north side of the coop... so the wind isn't going to let me open the door anyways. So, too many days without food or water, and I suffer bird loss.

 

[Just Chicken In]

It will get down to 32 degrees here tonight and a few degrees cooler tomorrow night. I have my girls inside the coop right now with zero adjustments for the cold temps. Is this ok? Can temps around 30 harm them?

I'm reading so many varying things on keeping them safe and comfortable this winter. Do we close up some of the makeshift Windows? (Mine are just holes covered in hardware cloth)

Will my girls get frostbite? Any tips are appreciated. We've already had a very hard year and hoping to get this right.

To state clearly, I'm not an expert. I used to run about 40 or 50 chickens year around to go along with 20 to 30 peacocks for about 10 years or so. I live in southwest Missouri...temps down to single digits for days (not typically weeks) at a time and windchills below zero (for typically days, not weeks) during the winter. Big thing I found was making sure to provide a place they could 1) get out of the wind; 2) that the perch was either big enough (I used some logs) or wide enough that when they settled down, their feathers covered their feet entirely (didn't wrap around like a branch) to keep them from getting frostbite. Now, of course, I had a rooster or two that just never went into the shed and sat outside on one of the outdoor perches NEARLY year around, but the rest of the chickens typically got pretty close together on elevated, flat 2" x 12" x 8 foot boards I had in the sheds, which had open walkways, but the wind couldn't get to them directly. I had very few chickens die, but I suppose some chicken breeds are hardier than others. Also, I believe keeping fresh/clean water available to them was really important (winters I often broke the ice in the mornings and early evenings) to keep them from becoming dehydrated . . . I believe it's easier for a well-hydrated bird to stay warm and healthy . . . birds (and people) struggle to maintain body heat when they're dehydrated . . . which may explain why so many senior citizens are chronically cold -- they're chronically dehydrated...but I digress. : )

 

[WI chickens]

I had -40 F for two nights a couple years ago. We have -20 F to -30 F every winter. My chickens do fine in an uninsulated, unheated coop. I have an 8'x16' Woods style coop. In my experience, two things in winter harm chickens. Moisture, and drafts blowing on them. My coop is very tight in the roost area. Every seam is caulked. The monitor windows are open until the temperature is below freezing. The front of course stays open year-round. My birds are healthier now than they were in a more closed-up insulated coop. That coop had air quality problems, especially in the spring when the litter first thawed out. I lost a couple birds to respiratory issues. I haven't had any problems since I increased the ventilation and made the roost area very tight against drafts.

 

[Ted Brown]

Our winters average -15-20C and we regularly get days to a week of temperatures in the low -30Cs. I too have a 10'x16' Woods open air coop and I echo what @WI chickens says above regarding moisture and drafts. The Woods coop is the only coop I have experience with but I can say that I have never had health issues with any bird in the three years that I have been keeping them.

I have had occasional frost bite with some birds that have generous combs and wattles, have moved to breeds that are cold tolerant which generally means smaller combs/wattles. These breeds have no issues at all with even the very cold temperatures.

 

[gigie garcia]

It will get down to 32 degrees here tonight and a few degrees cooler tomorrow night. I have my girls inside the coop right now with zero adjustments for the cold temps. Is this ok? Can temps around 30 harm them?

I'm reading so many varying things on keeping them safe and comfortable this winter. Do we close up some of the makeshift Windows? (Mine are just holes covered in hardware cloth)

Will my girls get frostbite? Any tips are appreciated. We've already had a very hard year and hoping to get this right.

Hi, put a 25watts bulb close to their sleeping g space. They will get close to it, and will not overheat them.