Why won't my chickens come out?

Maybe they feel safe and warm and cozy inside. I would put them out if I were home with them for a little while. Depending on their age, they could get frozen toes etc, if on the ice too long.

 

My chickens spent a lot of time in the coop last winter. They were TERRIFIED of the snow. I learned that if I sprinkled a bit of straw over the snow that they would come out. A little bit of scratch as well eased the process.

Someone told me that chickens have poor depth perception and the snow makes it worse and freaks them out. I don't know how true that is, but putting some straw in the run helped.

I was going to cover the run this year, but alas, time has run out and there is already snow. I have more chickens now and my new leghorns don't seem scared by the snow at all so they go out and tramp it all down and make a mess of it and then the others will eventually come out too.

P.S. I leave my coop light on all day....it's so well insulated that it is very dark inside without the light.

 

My chickens don't seem to mind the snow at all. It is still in the twenties and thirties here. And they have the entire barn as well, but I still see little chicken tracks in the snow. Last winter when it got real cold I did not let them out and turned on the heat lamp for them. But I would bring in a couple little scoops of snow and they would gobble it up like it was ice cream. I think it was in the Backyard Poultry magazine that I read that they really like to eat snow. I would not have believed it if I had not seen it with my own eyes.