Seramas-winter questions

[Mom 2em All]

I have seven baby serama and I have some questions about winter. I know they are not cold hearty- but at what temp is it considered 'cold'?

I guess what I am wondering is if I need to keep them inside my house or if a heated coop would work...or if a heated coop within my garage would work....I suppose I will only end up keeping two of them if they need to be inside my house. I don't have room for seven in here for up to five months out of the year.

ANd I have a pasty butt question too- I know they are suspectible to it, and I know how to clean/care for it...but I am wondering if they ever outgrow it. They are only two weeks old, but it seems like forever when I am constantly cleaning butts off. Poor little naked butt seramas. lol

 

[priszilla]

lets start with pasty butt- it usually is over by 2 weeks- what have you done to deal with it? I have found a little ACV in the water- using warm water and changing it at least 2 times if not more daily helps- as does adding little ground oatmeal and chick grains to the starter ( and DE if you have it makes it firmer) It seems to run its course from days 3- 7.I start my babies on shelf liner, and move them to aspen or pine shavings at about 2 weeks or so.keeping them warm enough and ata steady temperature helps too. As far as keeping them toasty in winter- I will be finding out myself. I have been told that they do fine to 50 with no heat- and the larger ones- do fine to cooler. But he little ones like it warmer and a heat lamp helps tremendously. We haven't decided completely how to handle winter. On the one hand if they get too accustomed to heat and the power goes out or the heat lamp bulb blows in the night- they won't make it so being hardy is better.Drafts are aproblem for all birds and so is moisture. SOme breeders are using no heat in colder climates and doing ok- so I am on the fence. I don't want to lose any but I don't want to set them up to be hothouse orchids either.

 

[Freds]

Ditto with Priszilla on the pasty butts.
I keep my coop no cooler than 40 deg.F for adult birds.
They will huddle together to stay warm.
Heater is one of those oil filled, looks like old radiator.
Thermostatic control, very safe and works great in my
insulated coop of 8' X 8' with 20 birds.

 

[flakey chick]

I have a question along those lines. At what temperature does "increased ventilation" become drafty? The temps are usually high here, but I want to know at what temps I should modify my ventilation. Winter can be very odd here- freezing night-time temps and then highs near 80.

 

[priszilla]

Sounds like here- or 80 one day and 60 the next- and night dropping to 40 in between- - Luann Keller and Frank (ae50mag) are the experts imho- hopefully they will chime in. I know Luann keeps them warm - but she hwas electricity in her buildings and I don't.