21 tonight, no scratch feed - will they be OK?

[Wolfpacker]

I got home after dark and my girls were already roosting. I shut them in their coop without their usual scratch feed on cold winter nights. Think they'll be OK or should I rig up a light?

Thanks.

 

[hatchcrazzzy]

i dont think 1 day will hurt

 

[bigzio]

I would think everything is fine. You should be 10 degrees warmer than outside if the pop door is closed. You may need to check for frozen water in the morning, replacing with fresh and you are good to go.

bigzio

 

[Wolfpacker]

Thanks folks!

 

[kayri]

We go down to 12 tonight with wind gusts to 35 mph and I'm really worried. I got home after dark and hand fed each one some corn. . . I guess they'll be allright but I'm thinking of going outside to cover the front of the coopwith a blanket where the plexiglass windows are. I don't think plexiglass is much of an insulator. . . Do you think I should do it or do you think I'm just being nuts. . .

 

[greenmulberry]

We have had several nights in the single digits already, and I don't ever close the pop hole.

My chickens have already put themselves to bed when I get home from work, so they just have their layer crumbles if they want a snack. I have never fed my chickens scratch, only because I never got around to buying any, but sometimes I give them a cup of BOSS.

Your chickens will be fine. A low of 21 sounds pretty good given the temps we have seen lately here!! Brr! But I know it is all relative to what you are used too. ;-)

 

[greenmulberry]

kayri, covering your coop wall with a blanket sounds like it might stop fresh air? The chickens need fresh air! They cannot be totally sealed up tight because breathing the fumes from the poo is bad for them. But you do not want them to have a draft hitting them where they roost.

Do you think you have all the drafts fixed? On my coop I have two openings in the ridge vents that I always have open, but they are protected from direct wind by the roof coming down so that the chickens do not get a blast of cold air.

If you see that your chickens are getting frostbitten combs (turn black) then I think they are getting too cold at night and they should be given more protection.

 

[kayri]

Thanks Laura,
I don't have obvious ventilation in the coop in the winter. On the plus side, there are definitely no drafts. In the summer we have lots of ventilation but I've covered over all the main ports with plexiglass and styrofoam over the top of those. It is a small coop 3 x4 x 4, with a shed roof that lifts off so I can collect eggs, so I don't really have room for a ridge vent. The front of the coop has no styrofoam over it and 2 large plexiglass windows, through which there is probably some air exchange. I was worried about the ammonia as well ( I use the deep litter method) and I put some PDZ into the litter also. I try to stick my head in there first thing in the morning to see if it is overwhelming for them. It smells like chickens, but not unpleasantly so.

I don't think my chickens have frost bitten combs. They sometimes have a couple of small black spots on their combs, but not on the tips, like the pictures I've seen on this wonderful site.

21 at night sounds OK to me too, I just worry about the low teens. We only occasionally drop into single digits here and as it is my first year with chickens, I'm hoping we don't this year.

Thanks for your reply, I feel better.
Kay

 

[picklespickles]

sometimes i get home late and mine have already gone to bed. i think it's worse to wake them up when they're already settled. they'll be fine.

it's in the thirties here during the day and about twelve at night. i have two that still sleep in the tree.

 

[MS9325]

you will be fin it gets down in to the teens here and we have missed scratch for a few days, and no problems.