arctic cold front--special precautions for texas hens?

[Lady Catrina]

We broke 2-3 inches of ice off the troughs this am, but everyone was fine. The horses were chomping on the ice like it was a treat,

! Girls did well also, gave me 6 eggs from the morning collection. It's an easter egg hunt every day, lol! We 'burned' through a few bales of hay also, as well as several stacks of wood for our stove. Thanks, Lynn, for taking back the cold - I like it in low doses, but this was crazy!

Y'all all have a great weekend!

 

[KDbeads]

Hit 8 here last night in central tx (As in dead center.... not east west, north or south central) and we had no problems. Just made sure there was some way to break the wind for everyone but the 2 pullets. They got a smelly dog blanket thrown over their hutch.

Did break 3" of ice in the dog trough this morning and had to knock the solid ice out of the water bins for the chickens though. Last time I was outside the EE's were fighting over the bits of ice they pecked off the solid block

 

[maine chicks]

Hang in there-take your cold birds some watery warm oatmeal or corn meal mush. Warm them up a little and keep them hydrated. Oh, have yourself a bowl while you're cookin'.

 

[easttxchick]

Maine Chicks and LynneP I wanted to thank ya'll for understanding how difficult this weather has been on us down here(and not pointing and laughing at us for being weather weenies). We are NOT equipped for windchills of 11 degrees. I live a short hop from the Gulf of Mexico and it just AIN'T supposed to get this cold down here. We can sweat out 2 months of 100 degree weather, but this, not so much!

 

[PeepsInc]

This jet stream patern has been crazy lately. The whole country is feeling it. If you dont have electric in your coop, you can stack hay bales around the coop. The birds make a good amount of body heat, when kept in a group. I also gave mine a suiet cake this morning. The fat helps them to make heat. Best of luck to you all.

 

[imtc]

I'm in the Austin area also and a little surprised at how my girls don't seem to be bothered by the cold. We recently completed a nice coop for them and all they do with it is lay eggs in it. ALL of them (I only have 5) seem to prefer to sleep out in the run on their roosting branches that are totally unprotected from the cold (it's only roofed to keep rain out). It was about 10* here this morning and they were out and about like it didn't phase them at all.

 

[spymeg]

I don't understand about the vaseline, could someone expand on that? I am worried about our chickens. Their coop is not insulated but we put extra bedding in to try to help keep them warm at night. They don't seem bothered during the day outside in the run, and we have an area that they can get in to avoid wind and any precipitation. They're saying the wind chill early next week could be -5 to -20 degrees and that seems too extreme for them. Can they withstand these cold temps? If not, what suggestions do y'all have to make sure they're warm and ok?

 

[mamajos]

This is a very old thread, but I can add a few things.
If your birds are out of the wind, there is no wind chill--so that temp is not applicable.
Keep them dry, with good ventilation, and out of the wind (where it will ruffle their feathers) and they will be fine. Some people recommend Vaseline on their chicks combs and wattles to protect them from frostbite, but please don't do this. I t does nothing and could make things worse. if you have good ventilation, there will be no frostbite. We are in Minnesota and I don't heat the coop at all and the girls are fine, They dont love the -17 F temps, but they handle it. Right now its 0 F and they are out in the pen doing fine.

 

[spymeg]

This is a very old thread, but I can add a few things.
If your birds are out of the wind, there is no wind chill--so that temp is not applicable.
Keep them dry, with good ventilation, and out of the wind (where it will ruffle their feathers) and they will be fine. Some people recommend Vaseline on their chicks combs and wattles to protect them from frostbite, but please don't do this. I t does nothing and could make things worse. if you have good ventilation, there will be no frostbite. We are in Minnesota and I don't heat the coop at all and the girls are fine, They dont love the -17 F temps, but they handle it. Right now its 0 F and they are out in the pen doing fine.

Thank you so much !!

 

[joliepsalm31]

This is a very old thread, but I can add a few things.
If your birds are out of the wind, there is no wind chill--so that temp is not applicable.
Keep them dry, with good ventilation, and out of the wind (where it will ruffle their feathers) and they will be fine. Some people recommend Vaseline on their chicks combs and wattles to protect them from frostbite, but please don't do this. I t does nothing and could make things worse. if you have good ventilation, there will be no frostbite. We are in Minnesota and I don't heat the coop at all and the girls are fine, They dont love the -17 F temps, but they handle it. Right now its 0 F and they are out in the pen doing fine.

Thank you so much! I'm in Kansas and tomorrow night is supposed to be -14. Its -5 tonight. I'm wondering if I should keep them locked in the coop tomorrow. I have 10 RIR's. The waterer nipples freeze from the windchill. Lord-willing, its supposed to start slowly warming up after tomorrow.