4th Annual BYC NYD Hatch-a-long

[TMNfarm]

How are your horses in this cold?

They handle this weather really well.. I have a nice secure barn to put them in at night. With the doors shut, the wind can't get in, so windchill isn't a factor. During the day, I keep the barn doors open so they can come and go as they please, but I usually find them outside. I give a bit extra grain and an extra bale of hay during this type of weather, so they have lots of fuel to burn to keep warm. With the exception of the pony and one of the mini's, they all have winter blankets on, so they are nice and warm, even my 30 year old!! It is amazing to see how well they adapt!

 

[cluck-cluck]

Who ordered the deep freeze up here? Its past 10:00 in the morning and it is still -17* F and with the wind chill -43*F. All the chickens are locked up and I'm going out soon to give them some more scratch and some warm food. I hope everyone makes it okay through the week. Luckily, today and tomorrow are supposed to be the coldest days. Still below 0* the rest of the week. The last 2 weeks of January and first 2 weeks of February seem to be when we get these Arctic Blasts.

How is everyone else's weather?

I'm gonna keep my mouth shut about our weather, but I wanted to say I hope everyone is tough can can take it with no casualties!

Right now it's -8 with a -24 degree windchill, so not as bad as you guys have it, but still pretty dang cold. I brought in my sizzle, he's full of blad spots and I didn't want to risk it. Everyone else is snuggled up in the barn, I'll go down and give them another bale of hay to snuggle in. The barn door blew off when the wind picked up the other day, so it's not completely sheltered and it's pretty cold. I sure hope they do ok. What do you mean by warm food?

I sure hope it gets warmer fast because I have 55 chicks being shipped on Wednesday and they'll arrive on Friday. I cantacted them and they told me the chicks would be fine even in the 0 degree weather, but I'm not so sure. All I can do is hope for the best.

Wow, the barn door is still off? (I wouldn't want to be the one outside fixing it in such cold weather, UGH) I hope your chicks will be ok! They usually stay in a heated environment in the winter, no? Except when being loaded and unloaded perhaps, but they must heat the trucks, don't you think? The shipper undoubtedly has heating packs with them as well??

 

[coldupnorth]

Quote: Cooked scrambled eggs, oatmeal and I cook up some of their mash in water on the stove. Doesn't stay warm long in this weather, of course, but they do eat it up fast.

 

[cochins1088]

Wow, the barn door is still off? (I wouldn't want to be the one outside fixing it in such cold weather, UGH) I hope your chicks will be ok! They usually stay in a heated environment in the winter, no? Except when being loaded and unloaded perhaps, but they must heat the trucks, don't you think? The shipper undoubtedly has heating packs with them as well??

Our barn door just blew off on Friday. We live on a hill and the wind was crazy!

And no, there will be no heat packs. Did you see the sale ideal poultry was having? It was on BYC's homepage for a while. They had 85 cent bantams and I just couldn't resist. I order 55 assorted cochin bantams and the sale was for this Wednesday's hatch only. I didn't realize it would be so cold when I ordered. I contacted 3 different people and each of them said that they will not add heat packs and that the chicks should be fine. If they aren't, then they will refund or reship, but I don't want to lose them in the first place. It's wasted life. I imagine they will be in heated areas most of the time, but the shipping is stressful enough without freezing temepratures. All I can do is pray.

 

[cochins1088]

Cooked scrambled eggs, oatmeal and I cook up some of their mash in water on the stove. Doesn't stay warm long in this weather, of course, but they do eat it up fast.

I'll have to make them some oatmeal. Do you just make it according to the instructions? Do you add anything?

 

[ronott1]

Quote:
Get the tracking number and call your local post office to see where it really is. You can go to the distribution center and pick them up there. The Post master can get into the real time tracking system, so they can tell you when it gets to the center. Often you can get them a day early that way.

Good luck!

 

[Sally Sunshine]

Quote: I ordered some chicks too Cochins... I specifically asked that they mark my order and know that its going to get into teens this week here!! they said they will add plenty of straw and male chicks to keep warmth??????????????????????? I feel so bad for these chicks now, do you???? uggggggg even though they gaurantee doesnt mean chicks wont die : (

 

[cluck-cluck]

Our barn door just blew off on Friday. We live on a hill and the wind was crazy!

And no, there will be no heat packs. Did you see the sale ideal poultry was having? It was on BYC's homepage for a while. They had 85 cent bantams and I just couldn't resist. I order 55 assorted cochin bantams and the sale was for this Wednesday's hatch only. I didn't realize it would be so cold when I ordered. I contacted 3 different people and each of them said that they will not add heat packs and that the chicks should be fine. If they aren't, then they will refund or reship, but I don't want to lose them in the first place. It's wasted life. I imagine they will be in heated areas most of the time, but the shipping is stressful enough without freezing temepratures. All I can do is pray.

Thank goodness I didn't see that! LOL. I have too many as is! Actually, When my second coop is finished, I should have a little extra room LOL I'll keep my fingers crossed for your chickies too!

I hope they'll have as good a trip as possible. I think the postal workers are likely to try and pamper them when they have chicks, who could resist or treat them badly? I think heat might be more dangerous in this circumstance??

 

[coldupnorth]

Quote: Hope your chicks are okay. My experience when I order 2 weeks ago when we had the warm temps and rain was not so good. They were still too stressed. I ended having mine refunded because you have to reship within 2 weeks and the temps looked cold to me. I'm hoping that they still have some specials when it is a little warmer for us up here. Hopefully yours are stronger when you get them. I've had good luck with Ideal in the past, so mine may have just been a fluke.

 

[coldupnorth]

Quote: I do make it according the the instructions. Sometimes I will throw some of their food on top when I give it to them.