What temps do you confine to the coop?

[bigoakhunter]

I do amostly agree with centrachid... Miy birds normally get a choice to come out. Last winter there was one or two days that the daytime temps were below zero * , they did not come out and the one day , I shut poop door to help keep draft out. Other than that I did not interfere as they are pretty hardy.

 

[ninjascrub69]

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They should be fine until it gets well below zero

 

[7L Farm]

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Wow!! I like Texas it gets cold but usually warms up everyday. Last year it stayed cold in the teens all day for 4 days no thanks.

 

[Olive Hill]

Never. I see no reason to. They come out every single day; rain, shine, sleet, snow, ice, wind. Chickens' "bratty" behavior, much like most children, is "parent" created. If they're motivated to get out and about from the beginning of the season, provided with areas of natural or artificial cover and given ample feed they fare just fine all year round.

 

[justtoni44]

Mine make thier own decsion.
I live on the gorge and winds can be bad.
I have about 14 that come out everyday and forage.
The rest stay in the barn and huddle up in deep straw.
And.they are eating like crazy..

Oh, two are so bad with molt.it hurts me to look at them and I feel like I should give them little chicken sweat shirts...........
I also feed extra scratch and veggies that I steam and serve warm

 

[donrae]

I also do not confine, ever. Mine have to come out to eat and drink, there is plenty of shelter and I figure moving around helps them stay warm. I even have three that still aren't roosting in the coop, they're in the now bare birch tree outside the coop. My hens are mostly second year and older, I have a barred rock who is going through the most extreme molt I've seen, but she still gets out and ranges, I see her all over the place.

 

[pharmchickrnmom]

This is our first winter with chickens and I pondered that same question this morning as the wind was whipping through with a windchill of 20. I decided to let the girls make their own choice and opened the pop door. They stampeded outside! The tractor is parked with haybales around it and deep litter inside. Insulated and the upper vents are down but not closed. They seem to be fine and are busy with the veges I threw out into the run. I give them warm water in the morning and throughout the day which they seem to prefer and they have food and water inside the tractor. I guess if chickens have survived this long, there is no need to keep them locked up unless they prefer not to go out. I still get my eggs every day and they are healthy and happy being out and about.

 

[woodmort]

I don't confine mine, they confine themselves. I daily open the pop door and they decide if they want to go out or not. The last couple of days they've decided they didn't want to go out in the snow so they haven't. This, rather than temperature, seems to be the determining factor.

 

[Ema]

I kept mine in yesterday, the last 3 days the wind has been blowing and we've had heavy blowing snow non stop. Today they came out, and were happy to be out and about. I handed them their oatmeal, alfalfa pellets, and a mix of boss and scratch. It doesn't look like the snow and strong winds will be stopping anytime soon, maybe a couple more days to go as far as the weather networks states, so they can make their own choice of staying in or going out. I hate to keep them in when I know they enjoy being out there so much. it was -14F over night but it was staying a steady 14F in the coop, presently its -9F and they are out and about quite happily!!

 

[Frannabelle]

I do the same, I always give them the option of coming out or not (unless, like you, there's a raging wind blown blizzardy storm)


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