REALLY cold weather

[nmdmarchiola]

Thank you I'll try it and do you need to keep a heater in the house to keep them warm?

 

[EagleEyes]

Well, I just read through this thread, and the thing that caught my attention was that the pine shavings froze solid. I have a good 8" on the floor of the hen house. I never thought about that. I guess if it does, then it does. not much I can do about it. And I'm planning on no heat here

 

[ChickenLady100]

Hello guys I have a runt and I am really scared she is going to get soooo cold and pass. She is not getting out of the coop because it is to cold for her. I really need some help please!!!!!!?????:/

 

[earlybird10842]

Hello guys I have a runt and I am really scared she is going to get soooo cold and pass. She is not getting out of the coop because it is to cold for her. I really need some help please!!!!!!?????

How cold will it be? How cold do you think your coop will get? Unless she is very weak, she'll be fine. If you get nervous, set up a cardboard box with food and water inside the house until the cold spell passes.

 

[RedMeadowFarm]

Last winter in North MN I had a similar situation. I set up a cinder block with a 60 watt bulb inside to set the water on and not freeze(too much). This had the added benifit of a radiating heat block for the small lady. She is now a larger, healthy and happy bird. A friend uses a Sweeter Heater to help keep her ladies warm. This year I installed an outdoor wood boiler for the house and sent a line to the coop. They now have a radiant floor heat. Spoiled? Best of luck.

 

[fishingirly721]

do you feed the black oil seeds shell on or off? this is my hens first winter and for the whole week will only be a high of 10 to - 10 at night.

 

[brendajj]

I am going to construct my chicken coop before the snow flies where i live and i will be getting chick's in the spring of 2016 i am one of those long term planers i want things done and ready as ready can be before the baby's come home ...I live in the far north east corner of British Columbia Canada...Winters here are COLD !! and can last for 7 plus months before it started to warm up and by warm i and talking minus 10 C which is about 14 F for the most part But minus 20 C to minus 40 C is what we get for about 5 months...Keep in mind that -40 C is the same as -40 F i am going to insulate my coop...My dog kennels are insulated and i heat them with a 250 watt infrared light. But i might have to come up with something a little different for chickens i don't want it to warm but maybe just below 0 C (32 F) after all it will still be winter
I am looking for any feed back from people that are already dealing with chickens and cold weather...Any help of information websites to check out...But i think i can get what i need here on BYC oh diet info for winter would be great to

Thanks so much
Brenda From BC

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I would say make sure you pick cold hardy breeds, and I'm not as cold as you here in Wisconsin , but I know south facing windows will be adored by your chickens, and I always wanted a greenhouse run in some form or another, but it is impractical to me, Sun, right breeds, good ventilation without direct drafts, warm water twice a day, warm foods like oatmeal or warm water poured over their layer ration. Some might think to use heat lamps like you are doing for your dogs, but here in Wisconsin most barn fires are from heat lamps, and in my opinion is not only a waste, but can cause more problems because your birds aren't acclimated, your light or heat goes out and your birds are dead. I have never had a bird freeze, gets down to -40 some nights here.

 

[brendajj]

Thanks so much for commenting...I have been doing a lot more searches today...And it looks like from what i can gather ventilation is more important then heat for chicken's
so i will have some large windows on the south side and the run will go east to west so it will have a nice southerly exposure as well.The winds blow out of the northwest so i will be enclosing the run in with heavy plastic so they can still access the run heated water in the run maybe in an open one side little enclosure i use heated bowls for my dogs and one sits on my cold porch for the dogs and that all the cover it needs to keep from freezing and warm foods for chickens i can do

I think it will be a learning curve but there are so many good resources i will try all the stuff i see mentioned alot...But the one thing i will do for sure is insulate my coop...Can I ask what you use for the floor of your coop in the winter...i was going to use pine chips or straw depending on what i can get But i saw one site said to use sand in cold temps...it dried faster Have you heard of this? Only saw it mentioned once in all the different site i read

Thanks again for replying
Brenda in BC

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I have sand in my turkeys shed for easy clean up every day, but it seems cold to me, my turkeys are outside everyday on some hay I put down on top of the snow, I use a mixed bedding system, in my big basically drafty shed there's shavings, hay, donkey manure and hay, and some gravel. My Bantam pen I use shavings, but since they don't get out every day I give them slabs of hay to tear apart and pick through, other people talk about using cabbage or lettuce for something to do, but I find mine like picking through hay. So back to bedding I would only use sand if you plan to clean out often, I use a kitty litter scoop taped to a stick, so no bending. I did forget to mention to make sure you give your chickens proper roost boards so they can cover their feet at night, mine seem to prefer the 2x4 board, sanded smooth so no splinters, with the 2 part facing up, for my turkeys or bigger birds I would put the 4 up, or a least make it available. Sounds like you have some great plans.