Northern chickens?

[Ceinwen]

My wife and are working on building a coop (for the spring) - we live in northern Ontario, and I'm wondering if there are any recs for breeds of chickens that would do well up here? I've done a bunch internet research, but I thought first hand knowledge would be valuable too! TIA!

[mattemma04]

From what I have read it is the asian and south american chickens that need warmth.There is probably a list over at BYC. I know the catalog I have from Meyer Hatchery will list what breeds do well in the cold. I would order one of those catalogs to use as a reference.

Here is an example where it lists hardiness:

http://www.meyerhatchery.com/productinfo.a5w?session.category=Chickens&grd_prodone_filter=PRODUCT%5fID%20%3d%20%27BARS%27

 I have red sex link hens that do well in the cold,and laid eggs all winter in a rather dark shed. I now have some Easter Eggers that lay and like being out in the cold scratching away.Only issue has been one of the EE that has side feathers on the face always gets her face feather wet!

[littlecityfarmer]

We're in central New York, in the snow belt, and have had good luck over-wintering heavy, short-combed,  dual-purpose varieties like Wyandottes and Chanteclers, http://www.ithaca.edu/staff/jhenderson/chooks/chooks.html has a great breed comparison chart, with a rating for cold-hardiness.

Right now, we have 4 Wyandottes, 4 Australorps, 1 Welsummer,  1 Chanteckler, with about 4 feet of snow surrounding their coop/run. It's this flock's first winter, and they don't *love* the snow, but they have been okay with the cold (it was well below zero, Fahrenheit, the other night, and they snuggled together in their uninsulated, unheated coop).  

[limette]

I used to live in NWO where it got down to -40.  Lots of people kept chickens but I don't remember the breeds. 

I know Australorps and Orpingtons are good cold weather birds.

This chart tells you the hardiness of various breeds.

Make sure your coop has lots of ventilation and you have enough space for them (in the coop or a covered run) when the weather keeps them inside.

[lovermont]

You don't want your coop to be too big - just right square footage/bird because their body heat is going to keep them warm.

We have an uninsulated coop in RI (so not THAT cold) and we put a light out to keep their water from freezing.

We have one RI White and one RI Red that are on their second winter. They did great last year. This year we added a buff orpington, a barred rock, and two easter eggers. The orpington already has what we think is frost bite on the top of her comb :( She isn't complaining and the rest are frost-bite free.

We're moving to Northern VT in the spring and will keep this coop but also intend to multiply our flock by at least 10x's and will come up with a more weather resistant building for them to use in the winter (they'll be pastured during the spring, summer, and fall).

[greenmulberry]

One tip that I have, is have a nice long high roost that they can all squish together on.

On very cold nights the girls snuggle up close together on the roost, and they like the highest one.

Avoid any chickens with weired feathers, silkies, frizzles, they don't have the insulating capacity.

Here is a tip I learned from my own experience: The only winter I had any frostbite on my girls combs was the year I had added heat. I think that the heat in the coop makes it harder for them to adjust to the cold when they go outside, or sometimes people have said it increases dampness in the coop?? regardless of why, I will note that we only added heat the first year and had frostbite, but all the following winters, no added heat and no frostbite, even during our record cold winter that it went down to -29F/-33C.

[lovermont]

Originally Posted by greenmulberry 

Here is a tip I learned from my own experience: The only winter I had any frostbite on my girls combs was the year I had added heat. I think that the heat in the coop makes it harder for them to adjust to the cold when they go outside, or sometimes people have said it increases dampness in the coop?? regardless of why, I will note that we only added heat the first year and had frostbite, but all the following winters, no added heat and no frostbite, even during our record cold winter that it went down to -29F/-33C.

 oooh - this is interesting! This frostbite appeared after staying in the coop for days (due to cold temps) so no going from hot to cold. But I do see condensation on one of the windows and it scares me. Good to know they can hanlde cooler temps. Maybe we need to wean them off the heat.

[greenmulberry]

I felt like such a meanie that first winter I didn't put heat in, but even on those wicked cold nights, if you go out and wiggle your fingers down into the feathers, they are HOT near the skin!

Sometimes when it is going to be super super cold, I through a bunch of black sunflower seeds or other high energy treat into the bedding for them to scratch around for, just to give them extra calories.

[diana_of_the_dunes]

I have a Wyandotte, 2 Australorps, and a buff Orpington.  This is their first winter, but they are all doing well so far.  Lowest night temp has been 8F I think.  But...  My Wyandotte is still laying.  The Orpington stopped, and the 1 'Lorp who is laying is pretty erratic.  The Wyandotte?  Still churning out 1 a day.  She's been my best layer: started first, and lays every day between 9 and 10 am.  She's the flightiest of my girls, but definitely the most productive.

[Defenestrator]

I have Barnevelders, Red Sex Links and a Buff Orpington and they all seem to be doing ok in the 0 degree temps and the snow.  They pretty much all hate to go out in the snow and as it has been below 10 degrees I have been keeping them in their coop so that they stay warmer.  Because it is dark in there, they've stopped laying.  We have a heated waterer and I'm guessing that gives off a little bit of radiant heat when the temps are the lowest.