-5 expected with 12 to 20 inches of snow/sleet in the next 36 hours

[OkChickens]

This is the expected weather for the next 5 days. It was 75 degrees on Friday and Saturday, today the low is 23, tomorrow will be 5, wednesday is -5. On tuesday snow is expected up to 15+ inches from today until wednesday morning. What do I need to do? I have a 20x30 coop with a 15x30 run and also with about 45 chickens. I also have a 8x10 A-Frame coop with a 8x20 run for 5 Roosters. Any ideas on what to do? I do not have use a heat lamps on anything. Thank you.

-Nate

 

[Buck Creek Chickens]

Close up anyholes, keep the snow and sleet out, the heat that many chickens gives off you will have more trouble with humidity than heat, ventilation

 

[MyKidLuvsGreenEgz]

We had 50s and 60s last week, and suddenly today, well, we hit our high already of 21 at midnight. Will be dropping to 13 by noon with a low tonight of -6 tonight. Tomorrow: a high of -2 with a low of -18. Expecting 4-7 inches of snow but we already have ice everywhere.

Three of my chicken coops should be fine. I added cardboard boxes to one open coop where the chickens can go through the "tunnel" into a temporary tub inside yet another cardboard box (only 2 chickens in there). It's another coop I'm worried about: 3 chickens in a 3x5 tractor that I've covered with a tarp.

I'll be going out every few hours with a container of hot water and extra treats for everyone, including the goats. And I'll be lighting a fire in the fireplace in a few.

Bbbbbrrrrrr!

 

[JodyJo]

I live in Colorado and our weather is extreme...many sub zero nights...line the inside or outside of your coop with straw bales, add more shavings, they will be fine, they are covered with down remember...just plug up holes and make sure they have bedding....

 

[turtlebird]

make sure you have plenty of feed and water on hand. Whenever a storm comes, I always have the possiblilty of power outage in the back of my head. May sound silly, but the last power outage we had, I was glad to have that extra 5 gallon pail of water in the basement.
Hunker down, it sounds like it could be a heck of a storm.

 

[Mrs. K]

expecting -20, and -45 windchill tonight.

Lots of feed, and glad I got dry bedding in there this week-end.

 

[MyKidLuvsGreenEgz]

As soon as my kid got up, he helped me move the 3 chickens from the tractor to the bigger egger coop. All is covered well except the part that's against the house.

The two chickens by themselves in the goat pen are still figuring out my cardboard-box maze of tunnels but as long as I hear Lenny crow throughout the day, I'll know they are ok.

Plus every couple of hours, I'll be out there with a bottle of hot water to fill up water bowls, and taking a snack I've made for them out of alfalfa, eggs, cornmeal, flour, and quinoa or millet seeds. They love it.

I've let the goats out of their pen to run around in the backyard and opened the area under the deck for them to get to all the hay they want. There's also a water bucket in there; since it's close to the house, I'm hoping it won't get terribly frozen. So far they are running around and enjoying the snow. Silly goats.

 

[HEChicken]

OkChickens, I don't know where Collinsville is, but your weather sounds similar to ours. We also enjoyed 70 degree weather on Fri/Sat and are looking at single digits by tomorrow. Ugh. I am *so* ready for spring. My coop is an A-Frame unheated coop. There was no weather last year that was too cold for them so I'm not too worried this year. The worst thing is having to go and break ice on the water bowls several times a day unless you have a heated water bowl. I was gifted a heated dog water bowl a couple of months ago that I turn on when the weather is really bad. Other than that, I take a hot mash out to them several times a day (just boil some water and then add whatever food you are using until the consistency is right). I figure a hot drink warms me up on a cold day so putting warm food in their crop probably helps them too. If not, it makes *me* feel better to do this for them which is the next best thing

 

[OkChickens]

Quote:
Collinsville is about 15 miles north of Tulsa. I never thought about mash. So to do this I would boil water and add pellets and some scratch? Does this sound right? Thank you!

-Nate

 

[HEChicken]

Yep - that's what I do (actually I never add scratch but I doubt it can hurt). Depending on what else I have on hand I often add other stuff too - apple cores, leftover cereal from breakfast, a little pasta - the same kind of leftovers I would normally give them but if I add it to the mash, it adds a little interest for them. DH was concerned about using boiling water but by the time I add the chicken feed, which is stored outside, it cools it down enough that they are able to dive in immediately I set it on the ground.