Worrying about your chickens being too cold

[DuckMom2017]

Peronally, this weather has been a nightmare. For me, we MIGHT see one day a winter where it gets to about 10degrees....but never for 2 weeks straight. This is my first winter as a duck mom and I am so thankful for all of the ideas and suggestions I've read on BYC! Hopefully this weekend it will turn around to more normal temps.
My friends to the north have certainly gained my respect this week and I applaud you all for ever wanting to raise birds in this weather. If this was normal temps for me, you probably wouldn't see me on BYC....

 

[theoldchick]

Yes, thankfully we don't have a foot of snow to worry about. While my area will get 10 a few times during the winter, we normally warm up to 40 degrees. Not this time! Horse is having fun playing with the frozen water I popped out of the water buckets. And dang if the fresh water froze again by noon. And I learned my frost free spigot is not so frost free! And thank God we have not lost power though we do have generators ready to go.....

 

[Soon2BChixMom]

I agree. However, I did bring in a hen who is in a hard molt and was clearly in distress in these sub zero temps (I'm in Indiana, too). Everyone else is doing just fine in their unheated coop.

I have one currently molting. How do you know if it is in distress? I don't think mine is. She basically ignores me at this point.

 

[Trish1974]

I have one currently molting. How do you know if it is in distress? I don't think mine is. She basically ignores me at this point.

My australorp is in a BAD molt; missing half her feathers. I noticed for 2 days she was not drinking enough water, and the day it was 9 degrees (before the real cold weather set in) she was standing on one leg, shivering, and had trouble keeping her eyes open like she was going to pass out. I knew if she was that bad at 9 degrees she probably wouldn't survive the -13 below. I put her in a dog crate in my utility room (I shut the heat off in that room and its been staying 45-50 degrees in there), and the next morning I saw her drink more in one setting than she did in 2 days and her eyes were fully alert. Four of her flock mates molted before she did, so I had a good comparison of what was normal and what wasn't.

 

[Soon2BChixMom]

My australorp is in a BAD molt; missing half her feathers. I noticed for 2 days she was not drinking enough water, and the day it was 9 degrees (before the real cold weather set in) she was standing on one leg, shivering, and had trouble keeping her eyes open like she was going to pass out. I knew if she was that bad at 9 degrees she probably wouldn't survive the -13 below. I put her in a dog crate in my utility room (I shut the heat off in that room and its been staying 45-50 degrees in there), and the next morning I saw her drink more in one setting than she did in 2 days and her eyes were fully alert. Four of her flock mates molted before she did, so I had a good comparison of what was normal and what wasn't.

My molter does the one legged stand, but then switches. Her eyes are clear and she seems to eat well. Haven't seen her drink though, but I've never noticed her drinking. She's also bossy and mean right now.

 

[TominWa]

Especially for us first yearers everything is a crisis. I think it starts with the brooder and those little eyes looking up at you.... and we carry it over to them as they grow. You just can't help but worry. Next year will be much easier for me I am sure. Chickens are much tougher ....and smarter....than us beginners think they are. It just takes a while to figure it out. Now that I am almost a year into it and awaiting my official Chicken Keeper hat, I just sort of take care of them and shoe them out the the way most of the time. Having lived through the great eclipse crisis this year, I don't think there is much more to be thrown at me.

Got to go, my UPS yarn delivery is here...making little sweaters as it is getting chilly out there.

 

[lazy gardener]

I take my cues from my birds. During cold snaps, I've often noticed that their appetites are actually depressed. That is when in the past, I've added a heat lamp. Fearful of adding it, and fearful of not adding it. I would only use it at night. However, during this never ending cold snap, when the bird's appetite went down, I followed the advice of my friend Beekissed. I gave them a bowl full of hot mash. They tackled it, and are back to eating much better. So, every morning, I take them a bowl of hot mash, and give them more dry pellets. So far, I'm pleased with their response. No supplemental heat yet. This weekend, according to accuweather will see us past the worst of the negative temps. It won't get up to positive digits today, and tonight is predicted to be minus 15 F. I'll break open a bale of hay for the flock today. Next week, we might see 20's!!! Heat wave!!! Hubby might break out the speedo!

As for the Husky dog out in the snow: IMO, he's much more comfortable out there laying in a snow drift than he would be in the house by the wood stove. My JRT mix hates the cold. She gets as close to the stove as she can get without singing her hair off! The Husky's needs are met by letting him enjoy the snow. The JRT's needs are met by giving her access to a warm home.

 

[Blingchix6]

No, she is not a bantam. She actually has the option of roosting in 2 other coops that are all connected to our covered run.
Through our 5 different expansions we have 1 larger coop and 2 tiny coops that we started out with. the 2 tiny coops are in the last picture, and the 1st picture is what it looks like now. Of course I am going to expand again!!!

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I have a frizzled roo and he has been just fine with the cold weather here in Northeast Ohio. Ray usually sleeps in the doorway of the coop with his favorite girl Beyoncé underneath him for warmth. I think I worry more about the chickens than I do about myself!!haha

 

[jeria]

I'm a newbie, my first winter with chickens. I will have to try some suet, never thought of that. I built my coop with the prevailing winds in mind. Here in MO they are from the West and Artic blasts from the north. So I can block the wind into their coop from those 2 sides. The ventilation is at the top on the South and East sides that I'm leaving open this winter. I have no power to my coop so water has been the only issue and frozen fermented feed (back to dry for awhile). It has been an unusually cold winter so far and my little flock seems to be doing fine. They seem to be eating more on really cold days. I don't have my run finished so they are locked in the coop until warmer weather allows me to finish their run. They have started laying and most of the eggs have been frozen.

FYI I've had dogs who have loved being out in the cold one a 7 pound pom -Chihuahua mix (looked like a pom) others like my lab Rottweiler mix who will only go out for a few minutes. I'd have to go outside and pick up my pom mix and make him come inside, he also loved being out in the rain unless there was thunder, my 2 now run for the house with a drop or 2 of rain. MMMM depends on the pup.

 

[theoldchick]

No snow but low temps for sure! I don't want to ever experience that kind of cold again. Snot froze. Glasses froze.

My chickens did fine, though. Only one rooster ended up with frostbite on his comb. Nobody had heat but I did make several water runs during the day to keep them hydrated. Ended up with several nice ice sculptures.

This was my emergency mobile windbreak unit: