Ice Storm

[Chickenpen]

My chickens love to roam around my property. I let them out in the morning and put them up at night. I hate to keep them penned up even during garden season. My question is.....Does it hurt chickens to let them roam where there is ice every where. Will the ice hurt their feet? I won't let them out of their pen, and they stay inside the coop a lot but I know it just kills them to be locked up.

 

[froggiesheins]

Saw yer post, but I sure as shooting can't answer yer question..I live in southern CA, where we "freeze to death" if it gets below 40 degrees.
Honestly, I don't think so tho.....

 

[Wayne&Kim1963]

We let ours out of the pen to free range if it isn't in the middle of storm and the wind isn't blowing terrible and it is pretty. Today was cold and never got above freezing but, the wind wasn't blowing and the sun was shining alot of the day. We have buildings for everyone to go in off of the ice if they need to. All of our poultry is pretty healthy and if we had some being sickly we would have left them locked up. So we let ours out today and they walked alot on the ice and did just fine. But I worry about them getting too cold and worry about if they got out of weather and i went out to check on them and half was in other sheds off of ice out of weather and other half was in the chicken houses hanging out where we have lights hung for warmth. So they go in to warm up and back out to run around. So it is just a judgement call for you. If we are wondering too much we leave them locked in until noon and then turn them out in the better part of the day when it isn't so cold.

 

[froggiesheins]

Good call wayne&kim just letting them out during the warmest part of the day.....They DO need that sunshine too.
My guess would be that as long a the ice is frozen hard it would not be a problem, but it if is melting some and the chickens feet get wet, that might not be so good....but if there are shavings inside the coop then that would wick off the moisture....
I am OVER-thinking this now

 

[Wayne&Kim1963]

You made me smile froggiesheins. Merry Christmas

 

[Chickenpen]

Thank you for your comments, good suggestions. My chickens will come when I call them. They think I have something for them or they are just curious. Yesterday it started to get above freezing and the ice started melting off the trees, fences and grass, etc., so I wasn't afraid they would hurt their feet so I went to their house and pen. As I was walking there I could here the ice falling from the trees on the metal roof of their house. Not just one clang but over and over again. When I got there I started calling for them and for a long time they wouldn't come out. Then just about the time I was ready to give up My rooster came out but very slowly and then the only old Java mother hen (or I should say grandmother) followed but the younger ones less than a year old didn't come out. I surmised that the noise of the ice falling scared them enough that they wanted to stay inside.

 

[Chickenpen]

Thank you