Winter... brrr!

[tboilegh]

Thanks y'all for all the input! So, I did close them in yesterday when it started getting very windy and spitting icy snow, I let them out this afternoon while the sun was out and the wind was down and tonight when the snow kicked up again, they ALL ran back into the coop and havent came out since lol. So I guess they figured it out that it is much warmer to just stay in there for the night and storms lol. Thanks!

 

[song of joy]

At my place, unless it's brutally windy and below 0 degrees F, the pop door stays open during the day and they can decide whether or not to go outside. They generally won't venture out into snow more than an inch or two deep unless I shovel out an area for them to walk around in.

I am curious about how chickens react to extreme cold when they've been used to roosting in a tree. I have two rebel dominiques that have been roosting in a tree for the past several months. I either need to climb the tree to try to catch them or let them decide when it's too cold to roost outside. So I have the same question you do - Will they switch to roosting in the coop when it gets really cold?

UPDATE: The two rebel dominiques finally decided it was cold enough to come down from the apple tree and roost in the coop. One roosted in the coop for at least a week before being joined by the other one. While roosting outside, they were out in some really brutal weather - 20 to 40 mph winds and wind chills well below zero. I'm glad they finally wised up!