-40F temps with windchill here over the next few days

[LamarshFish]

Polar vortex here in Michigan. Night time lows around -10F, -40F with wind chill, and daytime high of -2F without windchill.

My loft is out of the wind, but I'm wondering if there's anything else I should do with my birds. I could go nuclear and bring them in my garage one by one and keep them in a large dog cage for a few days, or just seal off all openings in my loft and hope they tough it out.

I assume there are some folks here in the midwest who are facing this same issue.

 

[Ducksandchickens]

I’m in the same predicament and brought them in the garage. Here is the link to the thread I made, https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/keeping-the-flock-in-for-the-week.1289828/

 

[slorider18]

Holy cow are you kidding? I feel bad for my birds because it gets down to 40 at night sometimes. We were in the mid 70's over the weekend. I guess the wild one out there surviving too though. Good luck.

 

[LamarshFish]

What is keeping me from the garage idea so far is the stress associated with the move (I'd have to put them in a cage and then transfer them to another cage in the garage, I can't just move my loft it's basically permanent outdoors. I am concerned the stress from the move is not worth it, too much stress in too cold leading to sickness.

That is my current internal debate.... If I keep them in the loft, all openings will be sealed off so no drafts, water is on heaters to keep from thawing, and if they freeze I swap with thawed drinkers. Extra food, and fatty food at that, some extra whole corn.

 

[OhZark Biddies]

I assume there are some folks here in the midwest who are facing this same issue.

Yep, the midwest and lots more!
I saw this headline earlier:

 

[WindingRoad]

Polar vortex here in Michigan. Night time lows around -10F, -40F with wind chill, and daytime high of -2F without windchill.

My loft is out of the wind, but I'm wondering if there's anything else I should do with my birds. I could go nuclear and bring them in my garage one by one and keep them in a large dog cage for a few days, or just seal off all openings in my loft and hope they tough it out.

I assume there are some folks here in the midwest who are facing this same issue.

No No No don't seal off ventilation. Wet one of your hands and don't dry it go outside and see how quickly that hand gets very cold compared to the dry one. You need that ventilation to get rid of moist air generated by your birds breathing and pooping. DRY birds are warm birds. And feed them some high protein foods. I feed pellets, meal worms and scratch at bed time. Digesting that food will be work and that will help keep them warm too.Remember DRY birds are warm birds. Their body temp is about 106F.

 

[Kessel23]

A lot of people are having similar weather. My birds are staying on lockdown in the coop for this one. Can't wait for Saturday, that is going to be so awesome, well until over a foot of snow melts and turns everything into slushy mud. I don't know what pigeons are able to withstand so I am not sure if they could stay in the loft.

 

[Quacking Pigeon]

Hope you find something that works. Here it can get to 40 degrees Celsius some days. It’s been around the mid 30s lately. And there have been a lot of storms.

 

[smseverson]

Polar vortex here in Michigan. Night time lows around -10F, -40F with wind chill, and daytime high of -2F without windchill.

My loft is out of the wind, but I'm wondering if there's anything else I should do with my birds. I could go nuclear and bring them in my garage one by one and keep them in a large dog cage for a few days, or just seal off all openings in my loft and hope they tough it out.

I assume there are some folks here in the midwest who are facing this same issue.

Yes, same situation here! Our girls have had corn mixed with mealworms twice today (once before heading in for the night). I closed them in but we are already at -5 right now in the coop with 2 reptile heaters (60W each) going. The worst is yet to come. Open to any other suggestions.

 

[Hokum Coco]

My loft is out of the wind, but I'm wondering if there's anything else I should do with my birds.

I live in Canada. I have almost 69 trips around the sun. I have been keeping birds for decades. I am also witnessing the same sort of weather. My metal chicken coop is insulated my pigeon loft is not (¼ plywood) and I have been keeping the vents closed as of late. I also have been feeding "WHOLE CORN" as a supplement. I have no extra heat or light in either structure. A few of my chickens have been with me since 2012. Those 2012 birds for the most part have stopped laying. When they do lay the eggs are sometimes without a shell just a membrane sack or at best a thin shell.

I do have small feeders with calcium available to all my birds 24/7.

That being said I still average 3 eggs a day from 10 healthy and a few old hens. There are 3 levels in my coop and the birds have been not venturing out side of it now for months.
They are vocal and content for the most part in both buildings.

Coop dimensions are 4'x8'