Arizona Chickens

[cavemanrich]

@Happychi2019 - can you feel it - I'm throwing frozen chicken poop at you!! Hahahaha! Who knows why or what causes stuff like this. We did have a cooler year than normal about 6 or 7 years ago (I think) but still nothing like this. I'm usually out of pants and into capris by now!

I'm pretty sure it is an effect of the El Nino weather pattern .
Copy and paste from the internet weather postings.
Winter weather during the 2018 – 2019 season will be largely effected by the development of an El Niño trend. ... In case you haven't heard, there is now a 70% chance of an El Niño this winter. Having a confident prediction of El Niñothis far ahead is quite a feat for the seasonal forecasting community.

 

[cactusrota]

I believe it was January of 2011 that we had that really hard freeze. It had gotten down to the single digits here in Graham county, like 7 or 9.. Killed all the eucalyptus trees and other things down the ground. Lots of fire hydrants and such in town blew like gysers. It was nuts. This time is supposed to be because of some kind of polar vortex at the north pole that happened like a month or so ago. They predicted it was going to affect us into March.
It got down to 25 here last night. I think the lowest this year so far has been 20 at my house. My Aloha rooster is actually getting frost bite! Poor guy.

 

[igorsMistress]

Just curious about what precautions you are taking for your chickens this week. Looking forward to getting chicks in the next few weeks.

Just a draft free coop, nothing special. I've seen them snuggling up a bit with temps down to freezing.

 

[BlueBaby]

@Happychi2019 - can you feel it - I'm throwing frozen chicken poop at you!! Hahahaha! Who knows why or what causes stuff like this. We did have a cooler year than normal about 6 or 7 years ago (I think) but still nothing like this. I'm usually out of pants and into capris by now!

Don't take your short's out of the storage box yet, and don't pack up those sock's!

 

[BlueBaby]

I believe it was January of 2011 that we had that really hard freeze. It had gotten down to the single digits here in Graham county, like 7 or 9.. Killed all the eucalyptus trees and other things down the ground. Lots of fire hydrants and such in town blew like gysers. It was nuts. This time is supposed to be because of some kind of polar vortex at the north pole that happened like a month or so ago. They predicted it was going to affect us into March.
It got down to 25 here last night. I think the lowest this year so far has been 20 at my house. My Aloha rooster is actually getting frost bite! Poor guy. View attachment 1679689

Isn't there something that you can put on the comb's that help's protect against the frostbite?

 

[Happychi2019]

Isn't there something that you can put on the comb's that help's protect against the frostbite?

Poor guy. Definitely waiting to start until things warm up a bit. Been in the 20’s the last couple of nights and supposed to start snowing tonight. Time will tell. Keep those guys nice and warm.

 

[cactusrota]

Isn't there something that you can put on the comb's that help's protect against the frostbite?

Things that keep it from drying out like bagbalm or vaseline. I've never had a roo get frost bite before so didn't think to put anything on it ahead of time...

 

[BlueBaby]

Things that keep it from drying out like bagbalm or vaseline. I've never had a roo get frost bite before so didn't think to put anything on it ahead of time...

Maybe you could still put some on him so that he doesn't loose the rest of his comb and/or wattles?

 

[Happychi2019]

Things that keep it from drying out like bagbalm or vaseline. I've never had a roo get frost bite before so didn't think to put anything on it ahead of time...

Petroleum Jelly or Coconut Oil
Petroleum jelly has a few uses, including suffocating scaly leg mites and protecting combs and wattles from frostbite. Coconut oil can be used in the same way and is regarded as a more natural alternative. In either case, when applying for leg mites, use a thick coat, but when applying for frostbite prevention, only use a thin layer! In the case of frostbite, coconut oil cooking spray can make application easier and faster. I have heard that coconut oil is also good for healing wounds or slowing damage from already established frostbite as an alternative to antibiotic ointment, so I decided to put it in the emergency section. I was just reading about chicken first aid and thought of you.

 

[FeatherPugs]

Petroleum Jelly or Coconut oil will still freeze BUT I'm not sure at what temperature. Probably not anything we may get although single digits is pretty low. In Alaska we would use Vaseline on the larger combed hens etc if we thought it was going to be lower than 30 degrees in the barn. It would happen if we had a long stretch of minus degrees (one year in the late 70s we had -60 for a week!) then we'd protect. The barn held our goats and rabbits so it was generally warm and getting down to 30 degrees was basically cold for them. I'm hearing the dog mushers have a suave that they use on the doggie's paws during Iditarod that might be useful for cold weather too. Don't know what it is and I haven't gone looking either. Stay warm friends - its cold here, especially in the wind.