Winter time blues

[rjrinehart]

its only October I know, fall time best time. We’ve had our chickens since... June? And with it becoming more cold, what are some good things to keep in mind? We in south Tennessee, but our winters can get pretty cold, speaking from someone who knows how cold cold can be. We have some silkies babies that are a month old that are outside now, all of our hens and rooster in our other flock are older than 6 months. I just would like to know if here is always to keep them warm during the day and at night.

 

[rjohns39]

its only October I know, fall time best time. We’ve had our chickens since... June? And with it becoming more cold, what are some good things to keep in mind? We in south Tennessee, but our winters can get pretty cold, speaking from someone who knows how cold cold can be. We have some silkies babies that are a month old that are outside now, all of our hens and rooster in our other flock are older than 6 months. I just would like to know if here is always to keep them warm during the day and at night.

I'm in middle TN and use greenhouse for their winter housing. This year I'm adding two cattle panel shelters to the mix with 6 mil plastic over the Top and half way up on the ends.

 

[lazy gardener]

Dry housing with draft free perches. Provide lots of ventilation. I turn part of my run into a winter run/sunroom with plastic over the chicken wire sides and a green house tarp over a trussed roof to shed the snow load. Run is deep litter, lots of leaves, grass clippings, garden debris, wood chips, hay.

 

[Mrs. K]

Don't worry about warm, worry about DRY. Good ventilation, plenty of space inside the coop. position the roost so that birds are NOT near the ceiling, should be 25 inches below the roof, and so that birds are not near the wall. Both places will allow moisture to condense back on to the bird. Damp chickens are cold chickens.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I was raised in the Cumberland Gap area of northeastern Tennessee. Back in the 1960’s we had one spell where the temperatures never got above zero Fahrenheit for about a week, day or night. We had chickens sleeping in trees that made it fine. No frostbite and no deaths. Those chickens were not on a bare limb overlooking a bluff squawking defiantly in the teeth of a blizzard. They were in a sheltered valley and roosted in trees that were pretty much a thicket. The wind could not get to them and they had great ventilation. During that spell there wasn’t any wind anyway, it was dead calm.

One thing to keep in mind for winter is that chickens do not need a warm place to stay. They need a place they can keep themselves warm with their down coats. Their down coats work by trapping tiny pockets of air that act as insulation. If a breeze ruffles their feathers those tiny air pockets can escape so they lose the insulation. So you need a place for them to stay out of the wind.

When I took this photo it was 4 degrees above zero Fahrenheit. I left the pop door open and gave them the option to go out or stay in. Since a wind was not blowing they went out. If a strong breeze had been blowing they would have either stayed in or found a sheltered corner where the wind could not hit them. What is cold to us isn’t necessarily cold for chickens.

There is a direct correlation between moisture and frostbite. The more humid the air the more likely you are to have frostbite. There are different ways to generate moisture in the coop: the chickens’ breath, the poop, waterers if the water is not frozen, and possibly condensation if you have a metal roof. You need to get that moisture out. You do that with ventilation. As far as frostbite is concerned the most dangerous coop in freezing weather is one that is airtight, the moisture just keeps building up. There are some specialty designs to get moisture out without letting a breeze hit them on the roost, but to me the simplest way is to have plenty of ventilation up high, well above the roosts. That way any breezes are over their heads yet moisture is allowed to escape.

Some people absolutely believe you have to have a 2x4 flat for them to sleep on for their feathers to cover their feet and keep their feet warm. I don’t, not in the temperatures you will see. I use tree limbs and a 2x4 narrow side up. My winter lows are usually in the single digits below zero Fahrenheit. When mine huddle down to sleep in freezing weather they fluff up their feathers. Their feet disappear inside those feathers. I’ve never had a problem with frostbite on their feet. But you will make a lot of people happy on this forum if you say you are using 2x4’s flat for a roost.

To me it is more important that the roost be made of wood than plastic or metal than the actual shape of the roost. Wood is a good insulator. A wooden roost will not wick heat away from their feet. Metal or plastic are conductors, they can possibly cause frostbite by wicking heat way from their feet.

I don’t know what your overnight lows are now or how fast your temperatures are going to drop. I’ve had chicks about 5-1/2 weeks old go through nights with a low in the mid 20’s F. Those chicks had great breeze protection and great ventilation, the entire top of the grow-out coop where they were was wire with rain protection above that. Your Silkie chicks are four weeks old and are outside so they are acclimating. That’s the one thing I’d look for the next couple of weeks, just how cold is it going to get.

That’s basically it. Give them a dry place they can get out of the wind and get out of their way. Don’t try to micromanage them, let them do what they wish. They can manage themselves.

Good luck!

 

[lazy gardener]

But you will make a lot of people happy on this forum if you say you are using 2x4’s flat for a roost.

True, that! Yet an other one of those "they say" so it must be true statements! And you have pointed out to me the fact that, in this case, I AM one of those "they say" folks. Oh the shame of it!!!