Winter debate, coop door open or closed?

[WthrLady]

Ya, get this, my ICELANDICS, who LOVE the cold, who sleep OUTSIDE on a branch in the run, treat snow like it's lava when they are outside. They sprint like roadrunners to get off of it! My big girls look at them like they're nuts, which they are!

 

[WthrLady]

I have to keep telling myself "the livestock is fine, the livestock is fine, the livestock is fine!" as long as they can get out of the wind and have water and food, they're FINE. (That said I DID put the coats on the alpacas when our windchill hit -5'F yesterday, and they're wearing big woolly coats of their own to start with!)

Wild animals usually have problems here with the food and the non frozen water source.

 

[MissChick@dee]

Heck no let them come out if they want to. I close the door at night. Open it at dawn. All mine will run around in snow some like it better than others. There’s a tarp covered straw filled run if they choose to get out of the snow. On vicious winter days they stay in the run. Just to make me feel better.

 

[Aunt Angus]

My girls don't know how lucky they are, out here, spoiled by the California climate. Coldest it gets here is maybe in the 20s.

But summers are brutal - often 105° and above. But the southwest folks got us beat there, too.

I will say that pics of chickens in snow are so pretty, though...

 

[Aunt Angus]

And much of our state is on fire, at the moment. There is that drawback...

 

[Big Red Roosters]

Keep in mind this Nebraskan is on top of a huge hill with no trees. When the wind blows here, it howls. I know when that happens, my girls just find a spot on the farm that isn't as windy and hunker down. They're cold and not doing anything.

I've learned at what temps and winds my girls are active in, and what temps and winds and snow conditions they're just free from the coop lumps in the yard.

My coop is an open air coop and the attached run is enclosed, which when the main door is closed helps warm the coop and both are draft free, but ventilated.

I try my darndest to get them out for even just an hour if the weather permits. It's keeps them from going bonkers. Usually if the weather is borderline, they are happy to come back in.

This year, cold and snow came extra early as did the molt! The dorks.

Glad kyllingene har god egg! (Happy chickens have good eggs!)

Hello there, fellow Nebraskan. I'm in a flat section of land in the middle of a field. There are a few trees next to my house that protect my yard, not so much the chicken area though.
This was my chicken's first time touching snow, the earlier snow we got I kept them inside until it melted. When they finally stepped out in it, I later discovered them stranded in places as their feet were too cold and they took cover where they weren't touching snow. It'll take some getting used to, but I think they're definitely happier. It has been an awful year for hawks, eagles, and owls. I was pretty nervous, an owl was staring down my roosters as I herded in straggler chickens. This winter is going to be very different. I can feel it. Thank you for your input, I appreciate it.

 

[WthrLady]

Ya. Nebraska weather is ugly. We have highs with the humidity in the summers of 120 and winter with the wind can take us to -40'.

Winds at my place of 40mph are crazy common.

 

[Big Red Roosters]

I have to keep telling myself "the livestock is fine, the livestock is fine, the livestock is fine!" as long as they can get out of the wind and have water and food, they're FINE. (That said I DID put the coats on the alpacas when our windchill hit -5'F yesterday, and they're wearing big woolly coats of their own to start with!)

Wild animals usually have problems here with the food and the non frozen water source.

Ah wow I've always wanted alpacas. I almost got some one time, but wasn't sure if they got along with goats, so I decided not to. Nowadays I'm too occupied with chickens to think about more animals.

 

[WthrLady]

Yup they do.

 

[Big Red Roosters]

Heck no let them come out if they want to. I close the door at night. Open it at dawn. All mine will run around in snow some like it better than others. There’s a tarp covered straw filled run if they choose to get out of the snow. On vicious winter days they stay in the run. Just to make me feel better.

They've never wanted out before, previous years they freak out and have panic attacks as soon as I open the door. It's what my family tree has always done so I just kept up "tradition". But I'm giving this a shot to keep my chickens happier, went well today. When winters hit -40°, I cant help but feel closed doors are better. I left the screen door open tonight, so they can come out into the pen whenever they feel like it.