Am I doing enough?

[mochicken]

I had a chicken die outside today and I can only guess it was either sick and didnt show or it got too cold, todays temps are around 29 degrees and its the coldest day we have had this year.

I have 17 chickens in a coop that is 8ft x 10ft by 6ft coop with a "heat light" that stays on for 3 hours after dark to prolong daytime and dry the chickens off if they happen to be wet.

They have a 10ftx30ft run that is mostly sand as the "floor" because it would rain and get muddy so I use sand. It is fenced in but has no protection from wind, I just always figured they would go inside the coop if they got too cold or something.

I feed them 16% layer crumbles only, I have given them scratch as treats but not consistently. They also usually have a flock block in their coop as a treat and a source of extra vitamins.

So here is my questions


Should I make a wind block on their run?



Should I add more to their diets to "warm them"? like crushed corn or more scratch perhaps?


Should I run a heat light in their coops all the time?

 

[aoxa]

I don't think the cold has anything to do with the death. 29 is still high enough not to bother them. I would stop using the heat lamp though. Apparently they do more damage than good.

Sometimes death just happens for no reason at all. If you are able to, I would suggest sending your dead bird for a necropsy. They could have had worms.

 

[mochicken]

yeah but when I take the heat light away ( its only a 100 watt spot bulb in a single fixture ) my egg production drops to less than half and I have people depending on me to fill egg orders

its a double edge sword huh lol

 

[aoxa]

Just put a regular light in there instead of a heated light. I use the base of my heat lamp with a regular light bulb and that will keep production up (though I don't quite go to 14 hours a day, only 12).

 

[mochicken]

Yeah I will change that today, its one of those spot bulbs like you use in a motion light because it seemed durable without being an actual "Heat light"

 

[aoxa]

I think those ones still produce heat.

Mine is just one of those spiral energy bulbs. It doesn't produce any heat, and it keeps the production up

 

[JodyJo]

I live where it has already gone below zero...tonight -22* is expected...NO added heat/light (I am allowing my girls to go natural their first winter...if I get less eggs, fine)
Make the coop draft free...remove the heat, if you want extra light, I have heard even a string of Christmas lights is enough...and no real added heat.

Sometimes they just die....they ate something they shouldn't have...or who knows. I lost a RSL hen a month of two ago...I have no reason why...
it just happens.

 

[Katydid2011]

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