Anyone in WV???

[Beekissed]

My flock's doing great, egg production increased when it got super cold, no frost bite as I have breeds that are not prone to it and I have an open air style coop that lets out humidity. Heated buckets and bowls for water and deep litter on the coop floor that's dry and fluffy, fermented feed each morning and the occasional apple to keep them busy. They come out in the snow when it suits them and stay in when it doesn't.

My dog lives outside at all times and has a great, well insulated and hay filled dog house that keeps him very comfortable. He's loving this snow and keeps rolling around in it and trying to get the cat to play with him...he's a snow dog for sure. He's a lab/border collie mix. The cat sleeps on the back porch in a cuddle box filled with warm blankets and he's doing well in the cold temps too.

Everyone's doing great in these subzero temps!

 

[EKBell]

My flock's doing pretty good too in these cold temps. They don't venture out of the barn very much even though they are free range and could if they wanted too. Just curious, what does a comb look like that has frostbite? My roo has some blackish/purple color and was curious what it is from. It's been tough keeping water in troughs and buckets for the horses and donkeys. Our outside hound has moved to the barn and seems to be doing fine.

 

[shannondee12]

ONEDOODLETHREE: did you ever find out what happened with the dog? I'm a big dog lover was concerned he may not live in the cold weather. Did animal control come get him?

Ok so how is everyone else fairing in this unusually cold weather? Are your chickens doing well? How about your other animals? My Chickadee (Pit-Boxer cross dog) is not liking the snow as much as she did years ago. She goes out t do her business and runs back in as fast as her old legs will carry her. My chickens are doing ok so far. My Roo, Redman (a HRIR) has frost bitten comb and wattle, I think he may lose about 1/4 of his comb. : (. My girls are all doing well, I'm still getting 8-15 eggs a day from 17 hens. So I'm not complaining. Snow is 9 " deep without drifting and expecting another 3-6 tomorrow. How about you?

I couldn't stand it any longer. I finally added heat to the coop. My coop is 10x20 and I have the back wall lined with hay bales but the 4 chickens and 4 ducks didn't really want to leave the coop and it is just so cold. I have some frost bite on Mr. Roo's comb. I like to use the "edenpure" heaters in the coop. Absolutely safe for animals. It doesn't get hot (i usually have one sitting by the couch and have a habit of using it for a end table). I am still getting 2-3 eggs a day from the 3 laying hens and waiting for the ducks to start any day now. I still have 15 mixed EE's that are in another pen area and just hatched one yesterday (BO). Since she was all alone, I brought in my one month old silkie to keep her company and the silkie starting doing what silkies do best. I seen the day old snuggled up under the wing of the one month old silkie.

 

[minmin1258]

My flock's doing pretty good too in these cold temps. They don't venture out of the barn very much even though they are free range and could if they wanted too. Just curious, what does a comb look like that has frostbite? My roo has some blackish/purple color and was curious what it is from. It's been tough keeping water in troughs and buckets for the horses and donkeys. Our outside hound has moved to the barn and seems to be doing fine.

This is what the start of looked like on Redman:

 

[onedoodle3]

Minmin, Animal control finally showed up.....about 3 hours AFTER my neighbor and I got together and fixed a place for the dog to sleep. He supplied the HUGE dog house (I am thinking of buying it from him) and I supplied the bale of straw. He went right into the dog house, went to the back, pushed some straw in the front of the door and made him a little home in there. He was sleeping when Animal control showed up. He was a sweet dog. I wish I could have kept him.

 

[minmin1258]

I

...

Minmin, Animal control finally showed up.....about 3 hours AFTER my neighbor and I got together and fixed a place for the dog to sleep. He supplied the HUGE dog house (I am thinking of buying it from him) and I supplied the bale of straw. He went right into the dog house, went to the back, pushed some straw in the front of the door and made him a little home in there. He was sleeping when Animal control showed up. He was a sweet dog. I wish I could have kept him.
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I hope they adopted him out instead of the "other" option. I don't know if any of you heard about the incident with Animal Control here in Doddridge Co or not but was very sad!!! A lady (not mentioning her name) had all her animals removed and is being charged with two counts of Animal cruelty and Abuse causing Death and Animal Hording and cruelty. She had 119 cats,26 birds, a ferrit and something like 26 Dogs. Majority of which were in pet carriers in their own feces and had no food. She had her water shut off 4 months prior so she had no water to give them either. Was such a sad situation! My mom is a neighbor and had no idea it was THAT bad. People like that don't need animals...they can't even take care of themselves!

 

[BobbieJo81]

Does any one have any Silkie hens for sale? How about anyone out there looking for Silkie roos? I bought 17 day old chicks last spring and got 2 hens from the batch!! I am also looking for frozzles if anyone local breeds them..

 

[shannondee12]

I don't have any for selling at the moment but I have silkies and sizzles in the incubator right now.

 

[eggorthechicken]

I had a few but lost them all to hawks. :0( I don't seem to fair well with the silkies in a free range environment. I love them but need to keep them more confined. I'm not sure they would have made it through this winter either.

 

[BobbieJo81]

Ha! Just noticed I spelled it frozzle..lol.. How far from the Harrison county area are you? Do you ship?