Free ranging in snow?

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KayTee said:
Maybe I'll have to make some little chicken shoes if this snow doesn't melt soon. (Now that would make my husband think I've gone completely chicken-crazy!!)
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I was thinking Chicken SNOW shoes! Mine will walk in the snow but don't like it when the routine is "step, sink, step, sink" so they stick to packed down snow IF they decide to go out.

tobyandbarb said:
I have been putting a heat lamp on for the night when the temperature drops below 20F - is that silly?
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Um, probably.

The MOST important things are that they have water, there are NO DRAFTS blowing over the chickens and that they have VENTILATION in the coop so they have fresh air and there is no ammonia build up. My coop is not heated and it has been negative teens F. The girls are fine, they come racing out of the coop every morning when we open the door.

They do have a heated circulation nipple water system in the coop and the "is that silly?" at our house is we bring hot water in the brooder waterer for them to use in their indoor run (which is now the entire lower part of the barn) when it is say 20F or below. They shouldn't need it because the circulating water is 55F but they seem to like it. I figure it is like their morning tea to warm up their insides.
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Bruce
 
Yesterday it got below zero and stayed cold all day long but the feathery ones were agitating to get out to wander. I opened the door late in the day and off they went into the snow. They made it around the house and under a fir tree where they all huddled together for warmth. I had to assist them back to the coop when darkness came, carrying 7 out of 10 hens and the rooster who was so cold that he was sitting on his feet in the snow to try to warm them up. Today it is equally nasty but I am paying no attention to their crabbing but making them stay in cruel captivity--in their straw lined, shielded from the wind run with access to the coop. Poor things.
 
I kept mine in the run on the second day of snow - only let them out for a couple of hours before dusk, and Rusty's feet started to go pink, and Cinders (having taken an age to follow the other two up the partially cleared path to their 'safe place' under the terrace), wouldn't go back to the coop in the evening - I had to catch her and carry her back down. Needless to say, on the third day I kept them under lock and key in their snow-proof, straw covered run with a dust bath. They didn't complain too much at all, after an initial 10 minutes or so of squawking!
I have to say that I didn't feel at all guilty about keeping them in - they had warmer ground to walk on, no snow or wet on their feathers, warm water in their bowl every couple of hours, and a dry dust bath (which they used quite a lot) - quite pampered chooks really!
 
I have been very worried about my girls' combs and wattles in this very cold WNY winter. I had ordered some Corona ointment but it hadn't arrived yet, and i went to the local natural food store to buy some ointment for them. I used it on 3 our of 4 when I realized that the Corona ointment had actually arrived, and I figured that it would be a good test to see which worked better. Unfortunately, the first three liked the taste of the Corona ointment! I was a bit worried that they'd pick at her, so I took Delilah in the house, wiped as much as possible off and put on the first ointment. Has anyone ever had this problem where they LIKE the taste of this?
Thanks!
 
I would love to let my girls out! But I worry about predators! They have their coop and outside run, but I haven't been letting them out to free range
 

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