Ok, I confess, I am a newbie chicken owner (mine are 8 months old).
We get colder here than in Phoenix, and I am a bit overprotective of my girls. :) I have put a small heater in their coop for evening, but during the day they want to be out in the pen or the yard. Even when it is so cold. Will that be ok? I have heard that their combs and wattles can freeze.
Do you think they'll be ok? Or, should I confine them to their coop only for this cold snap? They won't like it, lol.
Thanks for any advice.
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They are fine in this weather, if allowed to acclimate, full-grown chickens are perfectly happy in 20 degree weather. Do not confine them to the coop during the day. However, if you've been heating them at night, they haven't gotten a chance to acclimate to the nighttime temps, so cutting that off abruptly might cause a problem. My advice would be to continue heating them tonight (since it's going to be another really cold one) on the lowest possible setting and to not heat them at all after that, since the night temps are supposed to go back up to 30˚-40˚ after tonight and to not ever heat them again in the future.
It's true that large-combed birds can get frostbite, but that just isn't likely to happen here, even with an 18˚ low. (It's not cold enough for long enough and they're in the coop which is naturally warmer, and they sleep with their head under a wing).
Thank you, I have been going out hourly to break the ice so they can get to the water. It keeps freezing back!
I can't wait for it to warm back up again.
Thank you so much Rachel. You really alleviated my mind. :)
After this cold spell, I'll remove the heater, then. And I'm letting them out in the yard right now.