Wind chill doesn’t count, right?

[Lulu-vt]

Not a silly question at all! Boy that's cold, but the wind doesn't really make a lot of difference if they're protected from it. You sound like you've done this a long time so I assume that you have cold hardy breeds, so a good shelter with adequate ventilation should be okay.

The feet on your bird that you lost years ago may have been exposed to damp or drafts. Sorry about that. I'm sure that was hard. Glad all has been well since then!

It was so awful. I had no idea what I was doing with chickens back then. I had to move them from their coop in the middle of a frigid night because there was a weasel in the coop. He was attached to the underbelly of a hen. I heard them freaking out from my house. I moved them to our barn which is open and drafty. But I didn’t know. I just thought of it being safer because they were with the goats. They lived in there for a long time. Now I have a nice buttoned up coop. And I’m trying to do everything right. For the most part.

 

[Lulu-vt]

I'm freaking out about the cold too. I have a well ventilated coop. All of the ventilation is up high. I also do the deep litter method with large pine flakes. My coop is not insulated at all but is solid. I have a thermometer against the wall in there and I also put one on the floor last night and I have a little screen inside my house that tells me the temps. The temp at roost hight is 16F, the temp on the floor is 19F. The temp outside according to the weather app is 12F and wind chill is -3F.

Yesterday I put an oil filled radiant heater in there, I made a sort of stand for it and it has a little fence around it so that they cannot get to it to knock it over or roost on it. I haven't turned it on yet but I think I will turn it on for a couple of hours here and there, to give them some relief over the next few days. I am also considering putting their food and water in there if it is quite windy that way I can shut the pop door. Everyone seems to be quite firm on not putting water in the coop though.

We'll see. Also, I do have 36 chickens in there, and they are all 14 weeks old. I do recommend the deep litter method with the large pine flakes. The chickies love it.

I would feel super nervous using a heater like that. But I understand your worry.

 

[Lulu-vt]

Not a silly question at all! Boy that's cold, but the wind doesn't really make a lot of difference if they're protected from it. You sound like you've done this a long time so I assume that you have cold hardy breeds, so a good shelter with adequate ventilation should be okay.

The feet on your bird that you lost years ago may have been exposed to damp or drafts. Sorry about that. I'm sure that was hard. Glad all has been well since then!

Oh also….i have 4 Cochins which are not cold hardy. I found out after I got them. But the worst part. One of them is a frizzle. With feathers like his, he can’t trap in his body heat. So far he’s been fine but i do wonder if he’s extra stressed by our cold. I thought maybe I’d bring him inside??? But he’s a rooster so not sure my fam would appreciate that