21 degrees in New Jersey

[cacklemama]

I have concerns about tomorrow and Saturdays evening temps. They are calling for 21 and 23 over night. I have 13 7 week old chicks (3 easter eggers 3 light brahmas 3 silver laced wyandotte and 4 brown leghorn) i wrapped 3 sides of the run with plastic left the tops open. The coop is my concern i use sand in the coop tray and need suggestions for the cold front approaching . Thank you in advance.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

They look fully feathered, they should be okay.

 

[cacklemama]

They look fully feathered, they should be okay.

Should I add pine shavings on top of the sand? I'm new so I'm nervous

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I would watch them to see. Generally if they are cold they will hunker down or will get up on a perch to cover their feet to warm up. Even if you see what appears to be cold chickens they should be okay. They will also sit close to warm each other.

Just make sure they can get out of any wind. You can put down shavings but I don't think it's necessary. As we get into winter more you may want something on the ground to keep them off of the snow or ground. I personally use hay as it has forage quality to it as well.

Your coop is gonna be pretty tight after all those little guys mature and you may end up with some aggression. I wouldn't put more than 3-4 full grown chickens in that coop and run, and even than some may not be happy with the lack of space.

 

[bobbieschicks]

We are getting freeze warnings too. I would just make sure your waterers are ready to handle the colder weather and the coop looks great to me. Second the hay bale thing. My girls love it when I put a few in the run along the fence. They climb all over them, hide down next to them as a wind break, and pull the hay apart all over the place by the spring.

As far as shavings versus sand, leave the sand if you intend to scoop the poop over the winter. I use Sweet PDZ grandular rather then sand in the warmer months because it keeps things drier in our humdity. But when it gets cold I scrape it all out and put in pine shavings for "deep litter" until spring. I do it partly so that I don't have to try and scoop the frozen poop and partly to have a mulch for my garden.

 

[leighks]

I’m in the same boat as you, I’m in NY and getting ready for the 1st days below freezing too. It’s way too early to get this cold this fast!

I use sand too and was debating if I should add any shavings or straw too. My birds are older than yours, about 6 months, but I’m still nervous about how things will go this first winter. Make sure their water doesn’t freeze and that they have ventilation without drafts. I also insulated with double foil bubble insulation to make sure it’s warm enough at night. It’s fairly cheap and goes up with a staple gun. Ask I’ve read that giving them cracked corn before bed helps them stay warm because it’s high in carbs and takes time to digest.

 

[cacklemama]

I would watch them to see. Generally if they are cold they will hunker down or will get up on a perch to cover their feet to warm up. Even if you see what appears to be cold chickens they should be okay. They will also sit close to warm each other.

Just make sure they can get out of any wind. You can put down shavings but I don't think it's necessary. As we get into winter more you may want something on the ground to keep them off of the snow or ground. I personally use hay as it has forage quality to it as well.

Your coop is gonna be pretty tight after all those little guys mature and you may end up with some aggression. I wouldn't put more than 3-4 full grown chickens in that coop and run, and even than some may not be happy with the lack of space.

I added a second coop the smaller one on the side. The main coop was a pre fab and was advertised as holding 18 chickens. That's a joke.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I added a second coop the smaller one on the side. The main coop was a pre fab and was advertised as holding 18 chickens. That's a joke.

That's good you did. I get mad every time I read how many chickens coop manufacturers say can live in them. They obviously never kept any chickens.

 

[leighks]

@cacklemama
So how did they do? Mine did well, even though the lows were in the mid-teens at night the coop never got below 26 degrees (I keep a digital thermometer in the coop that records the lowest and highest temps). And yesterday when (with the wind chill) it only felt like 8 degrees, they still wanted to go outside since it was sunny. I’m impressed by their hardiness!!

 

[MigraineMan]

Yesterday we went down to about 20F. Tonight we're slated to hit 23F. Had to stuff one Red Sex Link into the coop last night. Tonight we stuffed two into the coop. Hopefully they will get a clue that it's going to be cold at night and they need to go into the coop to sleep.