Battening down the flock!

[BrewedInNh]

I'm looking out the window, watching the blue jays clear 10 inches of snow off the bird feeder to get to the seed. I've seen them do it before during other snow storms. I wish they'd teach our chickens to clear their own area too.

When the snow lets up this afternoon we'll have to clear the paths to the coop and shed. I'll have to shovel their run too, they refuse to set foot in snow deeper than their ankles. Glad we filled their feeders and waterer last night.



ETA: spelling

 

[MimiChick]

I'm looking out at about 2 feet of snow here, and it hasn't stopped yet

I went out this morning, first thing, to change out the girls' water in the coop and they all seemed to be doing fine. Of course, they refuse to even look outside, much less go out in this silly white stuff, even though I left the pop door open for them and they have a clear, snow free area under the coop. I did give them a treat of warm oatmeal, feed and leftovers and they seem to be pretty happy. It's going to take me forever to shovel out the run area once this stops. Silly chooks refuse to walk on snow even if it's just a little bit.

I've been out a few times to check on them and make sure their water isn't frozen, but the temp in the coop is holding at just above freezing so it seems to be ok. Good luck to all the rest of you New Englanders getting all this snow.

 

[Chickhick]

I'm in North Alabama too, and we got 11 inches, and it has only today started to melt off from Monday! I was worried about the water for my chickens, too, so I got a big (but not too tall) metal tub and hung a heat lamp securely from the rafters over it to keep it liquid... it worked great!! I also hung a heat lamp over the perch and they are all doing fine.

 

[Barry Natchitoches]

Quote:
I had to lock up my chickens due to the same cold weather emergency that you experienced, and while on lock up, my chickens found a new "preferred" egg laying area: a large plastic flower pot that I filled up with pine shavings in case the melting snow flooded the coop and I needed to lay dry shavings down.


Fortunately I never needed the dry pine shavings for emergency dry bedding. However, the hens saw that flower pot with the shavings sitting on top of a 6 foot by 3 foot by 3 foot tall pine box we have in the coop, and they decided to scratch some of the pine shavings out and turn it into a laying box.


They have four nests in that coop (for twelve hens, ten of whom still lay), but they prefer that flower pot...