Roosting chickens under the house?

[big brown horse]

Our chickens, turkeys and geese are all outside in woden coops. They are not insulated but are fradt free and the windows have double layers of plastic sheeting on them. temp has been in the single digits every night for a week. So far no signs of frostbite and there is no stinkin heat in the coops.

Silly me, I had no idea of how hardy chickens were! The breeder that I originally got the Ameriucanas from said all his chickens got sick from getting too cold a month ago. (He lives closer to the mountians than I do.) That is really the whole reason I panicked. Seems like his chickens really just caught a bug.

 

[Big Daddy]

I'm in Co. and our humidity during t he winter is close to 0. Gets real dry here. That could be a factor. If you live near the sound your humidity could affect them.

 

[big brown horse]

I'm in Co. and our humidity during t he winter is close to 0. Gets real dry here. That could be a factor. If you live near the sound your humidity could affect them.

Now you have me worried again!! How high is humidity when everything is frozen stiff and my hair is staticy?

 

[Farmfresh]

My hennies lived through -20 windchill last year in their City Biddy with no extra heat.

Two secrets are #1 Good Ventilation without drafts and #2 providing a small enclosed area in which to roost at night - thus allowing their own body heat to keep them warm.

When we had a big stall/hen coop I used to move all of the roosts into one corner and close that corner off with plywood to make it a smaller space. With all of the hens roosting in the same sheltered corner of the hen coop their combined body heat kept them much warmer in the night while they slept the long winter nights away.

 

[big brown horse]

Thanks FF.

I keep a ventilated area at the top near the roof so drafts wont reach them. They huddle together on one roost area. There are others so they can spread out, but they have been staying bunched up, they know what they are doing better than I do.

 

[Big Daddy]

My hennies lived through -20 windchill last year in their City Biddy with no extra heat.

Two secrets are #1 Good Ventilation without drafts and #2 providing a small enclosed area in which to roost at night - thus allowing their own body heat to keep them warm.

When we had a big stall/hen coop I used to move all of the roosts into one corner and close that corner off with plywood to make it a smaller space. With all of the hens roosting in the same sheltered corner of the hen coop their combined body heat kept them much warmer in the night while they slept the long winter nights away.

We have 1 coop that is 5x8 with 3 geese and 3 turkeys. 1 5x8 with 2 turkeys and 8 chickens and 1 coop 8x16 that is divided in half with a door and it has about 20 chickens. They all have roosting space and they have good ventilation with no drafts. Just can't afford to heat. The roosting bars are all wide enough that they can cover their feet with their feathers. We do use heated buckets for their water though. They supposedly have thermostats in them.