angry!!!!! so angry!!

[annie3001]

so this morning i went out about 930am to check on my girls!!
There set up, in a insulated coop with a heat lamp.
they have been doing well since our temps have been down in the 12 degree mark, well anyways, i let them out into the run and the heat light is off!!
i go back in the house, thats where the switch is,, its on the on flip, so angry now,,,, i go inside the coop and move about the light and it probably got kicked by a flying chicken (its secured to the ceiling) (thankgoodness) i just needed to adjust the bulb some and it turned on.

but the kicker is i spoke with my husband this morning and he noticed the light was out,,, he did nt tell me!! he said it was 6am and didnt want to wake me up (day off from work) like that matters my alarm go's off at 3am!!!!! i was just angry,,, i am making him stop at home depot to pick up another heat lamp (just incase) and he says to me "they must have been cold" yeah i think to myself ya think!!!
just wanted to vent!!!!!

 

[AHappychick]

how old are they? if over 8 weeks I am sure they were fine. As for thew lamp please make sure it is way more secure and untouchable by a flying/jumping chicken as the next time you may find the coop burned to the ground. There are always horror stories about this every year. Unless you are in the serious negitives or have a young flock you really dont even need the lamp as the insulated coop would be enough. Chickens do not feel the cold like we do.

Sorry about that.

 

[b.hromada]

How annoying!!!

Sometimes husbands just don't think! I hope he realizes now.

 

[dichotomymom]

I'll second that, how old are they? We've been in the negatives (single digit) and we don't use heat lamps.

 

[Lunachick]

Could have been a lot worse! Nice cold weather we're having huh? At least the birds were all OK! I put my lamp on when it gets to 15 or lower. The last few days it's been 17, pretty cold but I didn't put the lamp on and they were fine. They're run is wrapped in heavy duty plastic, and with the wind we've had, I think it helped a LOT.

I know we all worry about our babies! How many do you have?

 

[annie3001]

ya know, i just rephrase that i am not (angry) just upset thats all!! does sound like i am a meany!! anyways, the heat lamp we are using is the clamp on kind however its triple connected to the ceiling, its secure. yeah i have read about burning coops because of heat lamps etc. i told my husband to make sure it cannot be moved!
my chickens were born on june 1st 2008
so about 7 months old. they are all laying eggs! so happy about that! even in the winter.
again i dont want to sound like a angry person( it could be worse or something else) just i wish he had told me when it happend.
he knows how much i love my girls (i really do)
i wasnt short with him ( i still need him to stop at home depot ont he way home lol)
just felt good to tell yall!!! since my 2 young kids dont understand!!!!!

 

[meathook]

We have been in the teens and single digits here at night. I turn the light on at dark and off at about 10:30-11:00 when I go to bed usually the temperature at that time in the coop is just above freezing. The temperature outside this morning was 10-12 in the coop it was 25. The birds don't seem to mind they were spread out on the roost when I checked on them not huddled up. I replaced their frozen water and will again when I go home for lunch.

I wouldn't worry about them too much my birds at least don't seem to mind the cold within reason. They don't go outside the coop into the run as much in this cold but they do go out there a few times a day.

 

[Lunachick]

You just needed to vent, we understand that!

Talk about worrying, I have 6 chooks (I see that you have 5

) and I had to serarate 2 of them and put them in the baby coop which is attached to the big run. They were picking on an older beloved hen for some reason, so they are in there ALONE. I would get up in the freezing cold and go out there in the middle of the night to make sure they were warm enough on their own. They were fine. *whew* This weekend I'll put them back together and hope the bratty one realized she can't have her way.

It's a good idea to have a backup lamp/bulb.

 

[annie3001]

our run is covered too! by a nice blue colored tarp!!! (wish they had green to match their main coop) and i read somewhere about throwing down some hay for the chicks to move about outside!! i did that in their run (even tho snow isnt in there) i just went and checked on them, and 2 were hanging out int he run in the hay!! cool i thought!!
they are smart enough, if its too cold they will go back inside their coop.

 

[froggie71]

Our coop is not insulated and we don't have a heat lamp and everyone is just fine.