Arctic Blast Coming - Any Suggestions?

[ccoscina]

We are not planning to let them out of the dog crate. We do not have anything that we can put them in, and our garage is a disaster. It's suboptimal, but it is better than freezing to death, and it is better than most chickens in battery cages get. Apologies if I come across as defensive; I love these girls and feel terrible that I was not prepared enough for this generational cold spell.

The last time we had chickens in this crate, a) they were two months old, and b) there were only two. I did not account for their growth spurts. Fortunately, it should only be until Sunday afternoon. The thermometer in their coop says that it is 19 degrees in there right now, but it is 28 in the garage (plus, we have electricity in there).

That's a good work-around for the hardware cloth @Dakar2009 and @saysfaa. We will try that once it warms up. @ccoscina, I will get that heated perch as well. It's not in stock locally, but I'll have it for next time. Next time, we will be more prepared.

Thank you all for your guidance. It takes a village.

Well even in that little plastic tub the rooster would try to perch on the waterer or on the edges of the tub, and i would have to cover most of the top with a blanket to prevent this. Otherwise he would perch on the edge and poop on my bedroom floor.

You really don't need to explain yourself. A day in a cage during a storm is really no big deal. They don't like it but it isn't much different than being stuck in the hospital for a night or something. If you find yourself feeling sorry for your chickens because they are in a cage then it means that you strive to give them a high quality of life and have absolutely nothing to be ashamed of. It's kind of like with parenting children - parents have to do the best with what they got and some parents can't provide quite as many resources as they would like, but they find a way to get through it. Raising chickens humanely isn't about pampering them into oblivion, it's about doing the best you can to make them happy and keep them safe. The formula is never quite perfect. Sometimes you will be unprepared and find yourself in a difficult situation, but this is a great way to learn!

Regarding the heated perch causing burns - I would read reviews to check but I'd think they would make sure it's safe enough to use. If you read reviews of the product you can probably gauge whether people tend to have problems like that with it. If it's only 40 watts then I would be surprised if the perch could heat above 70 degrees in these temperatures. And it isn't for the summer.

 

[saysfaa]

...It's suboptimal, but

It is reasonable, though, and better than many alternatives.

 

[jreardon1918]

You are welcome. Did you mention your general area? I am hoping my "casual" attitude with respect to the cold will work. I am concerned about the dog's paws when We let him outside.

We ended up getting to -10F right now at 7AM. The coop is at -8F. We don't provide supplemental heat. We do have a stock tank warmer for the water. There is some ice on the surface, but the Horizontal Nipples are working. With our lighting program the girls were out in the run by 5:30AM. For SE Mass this is pretty cold. But it looks like all 8 girls are up and ready for the day. The dog is not a huge fan of the temperature.

 

[ccoscina]

We ended up getting to -10F right now at 7AM. The coop is at -8F. We don't provide supplemental heat. We do have a stock tank warmer for the water. There is some ice on the surface, but the Horizontal Nipples are working. With our lighting program the girls were out in the run by 5:30AM. For SE Mass this is pretty cold. But it looks like all 8 girls are up and ready for the day. The dog is not a huge fan of the temperature.

I'm in northern Massachusetts and it went down to -14 here. I attached a screenshot of the weather from an hour ago.

My girls are still safe inside the coop. I will bake some pork chops at 8am then I will quickly open the nesting boxes and toss in a couple pork chops while they're still warm. My ladies LOVE pork chops, and so does my rooster. There aren't many things all of them like - for example, the hens love mealworms but the rooster won't eat them. The rooster loves cracked corn but the hens only peck at it a little and sometimes the hens completely refuse cracked corn. So the pork chops I know all of them will eat it. They also might not care to eat much layer feed. But I KNOW they will all eat that pork chop and get plenty of protein. Plus pork chops have moisture, whereas their layer feed is dry. They won't get fresh water til 11 am when I let them out in the run (it won't be above zero here til 11am). I will give them a bowl of warm oatmeal at 930am which will be more water than oatmeal to help hydrate them. By giving them juicy meat and watery oatmeal you can skip putting a wateter inside the coop. One problem with waterer in the coop is if you don't have a heated waterer then every time you switch out the water due to freezing you will let out all the warm air.

When I let them out at 11am they will have fresh water, plenty of layer feed, and I'll hand feed them a pork chop and a big chunk of meatloaf. I usually like to hand feed them meat because it's in high demand. By hand feeding I can make sure the meat is evenly distributed, otherwise the Isa Browns will dominate and the Buckeyes won't get enough.

 

[littlecoopnextdoor]

it's the coldest morning here so far, -29c without wind and my girls are definitely cold. they aren't coming off the roost. I hand fed them some tuna this morning to get them hydrated and they ate some scratch from my and to since they aren't coming off for water or food. thankfully going to warm up significantly over the next few hours but boy, I feel bad for them! I also noticed each one (there's just two) has a frozen dot on their back. Could this be from snuggling into each other and their breath freezing onto their feathers? I just noticed it and thought it was strange. there are no condensation signs in the coop, it's well ventilated and dry. Any ideas?

 

[littlecoopnextdoor]

We ended up getting to -10F right now at 7AM. The coop is at -8F. We don't provide supplemental heat. We do have a stock tank warmer for the water. There is some ice on the surface, but the Horizontal Nipples are working. With our lighting program the girls were out in the run by 5:30AM. For SE Mass this is pretty cold. But it looks like all 8 girls are up and ready for the day. The dog is not a huge fan of the temperature.

what thermometer set up are you using? mine got stuck at -10c so it's not reading accurately for the last two days.

 

[ccoscina]

it's the coldest morning here so far, -29c without wind and my girls are definitely cold. they aren't coming off the roost. I hand fed them some tuna this morning to get them hydrated and they ate some scratch from my and to since they aren't coming off for water or food. thankfully going to warm up significantly over the next few hours but boy, I feel bad for them! I also noticed each one (there's just two) has a frozen dot on their back. Could this be from snuggling into each other and their breath freezing onto their feathers? I just noticed it and thought it was strange. there are no condensation signs in the coop, it's well ventilated and dry. Any ideas?

It's 11 am here and I just let them out so they can get their regular layer feed and some water. Temperature is above zero now and climbing.

Tuna might not necessarily hydrate them - if it's fresh tuna (raw or cooked) then it would but canned tuna is usually very salty which can dehydrate. Although tuna is high in protein either way which is good for the cold and I do occasionally mix together tuna and canned corn and feed that to them.

I'm not sure about the frozen spot on their backs. I would keep an eye on it but avoid panic.

 

[littlecoopnextdoor]

It's 11 am here and I just let them out so they can get their regular layer feed and some water. Temperature is above zero now and climbing.

Tuna might not necessarily hydrate them - if it's fresh tuna (raw or cooked) then it would but canned tuna is usually very salty which can dehydrate. Although tuna is high in protein either way which is good for the cold and I do occasionally mix together tuna and canned corn and feed that to them.

I'm not sure about the frozen spot on their backs. I would keep an eye on it but avoid panic.

it's thankfully warming up quickly here so they're out in their run doing their regular stuff. this tuna was packed in water so pretty wet, hopefully it helped. but they are out and down for water and food now ice spot melted once they were up and about, I think it must have been from them sleeping snuggled in and their breath causing it on close feather contact

 

[jreardon1918]

what thermometer set up are you using? mine got stuck at -10c so it's not reading accurately for the last two days.

It is an acurite. We have had it for a long time. Something like this. I have seen similar at Home Depot.

 

[littlecoopnextdoor]

It is an acurite. We have had it for a long time. Something like this. I have seen similar at Home Depot.

thanks I'll look into it