Birds dying...extreme cold! **UPDATE** 12/23 PG 10

[Rare Feathers Farm]

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Yes...and most of them were okay in cold with moderate protection & in an area free from drafts. My coop is not drafty at all and there are heat lamps...I was thinking the Houdans might be the first to go (they were), followed by Sumatras (I lost one hen, so far). I was thinking the Sultans or Porcelains would be next (lost two Sultans) and then maybe my Milles or Crevecoeurs...but I instead lost two Salmon Faverolles and one Muscovy! I thought that the Salmons in particular would be hardy...but they seem to be getting wet & then parading about in the runs (I had to lock everyone in because of them)!

 

[Poohbear]

I've found one gallon milk jugs work well for chicken waterers. Cut the handle so it can be slipped over the side of the pen through the wire at a proper height to be reached, then cut two holes, one on each side of the jug about 2-3 inches from the bottom. If you don't have wire to hang it from, drive a stake in the ground inside your pen and put wire or a nail on the stake as a hanger. Very simple to make and easy to keep fresh water in. I have friends save gallon milk jugs to make waterers from. Old one freezes or needs changing, five minutes to replace it.

 

[patandchickens]

Stray thought, pardon me if I'm misremembering your setup -- you've got them in cages, yes? do they have roosts? Is it possible they are standing on the waterer stands, or on the water tray lips, in an instinctual effort to roost 'up' off the ground? Or is that possibly the warmest or least drafty part of the pen/cage/coop?

Good luck, hope you figure it out!,

Pat

 

[Rare Feathers Farm]

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Don't think that would work for my set-up. I have solid wooden floors in my coop...

 

[Wildsky]

I too am very confused.
I don't have the best of coops, and there are the odd holes and such. OUr temps have gone WAY below zero (we haven't gone over 20 in over a week, and gone as low as -20) and I've not lost one chicken, I have ducks that play around a bit in the water (I have a galvanized font) and still the chickens don't get wet at all.

Very strange.

 

[gumpsgirl]

Quote:
Yes...and most of them were okay in cold with moderate protection & in an area free from drafts. My coop is not drafty at all and there are heat lamps...I was thinking the Houdans might be the first to go (they were), followed by Sumatras (I lost one hen, so far). I was thinking the Sultans or Porcelains would be next (lost two Sultans) and then maybe my Milles or Crevecoeurs...but I instead lost two Salmon Faverolles and one Muscovy! I thought that the Salmons in particular would be hardy...but they seem to be getting wet & then parading about in the runs (I had to lock everyone in because of them)!

Oh gosh... I just don't have any answers here for you. One more thought though. Do you have any Oxine by chance? It might not hurt to spray down your coop with it. That would be the only thing I can think of to do at this point.

 

[patandchickens]

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Don't think that would work for my set-up. I have solid wooden floors in my coop...

But surely walls you could hang that setup from.

Or find some buckets or small trashcans that your 1-gal waterers fit easily inside, and cut head holes towards the bottom so the chickens have to reach in thru the outer hole to drink water. A lid on the top will prevent anyone getting stuck in the top of the bucket. And that way, NO possibility of walking in water.

Pat

 

[Rare Feathers Farm]

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Nope, not in cages--well, I have my babies in a cage, yes. Although they are thriving...it's the adults that are not.

My coop has several perches at varying heights & thicknesses to ensure that each breed has it's opporunity to roost (I have about 15 breeds of chickens & several breeds of waterfowl). The waterers I'm using would not allow any of my birds (except for maybe the d'Uccles) to roost on them and that would be if they were completely FULL. Mine look like this http://www.tyronemilling.com/product/plastic_5_gallon_waterer.jpgthey are the 4 gallon kind of waterer...I have two of them (one in the coop at a time), the other is thawing out in the house...the babies (hatched in September) have these: http://www.mypetchicken.com/images/product_images/Large/jar.jpg

I was thinking about getting the babies the kind that hang through the wire that have drinker cups?? And since the middle of my coop is split with chicken wire, I would be able to do something similar with my adult birds...if I modified the set-up, slightly...

 

[Mrs MIA]

I know you have a lot of birds... all I can suggest is the soda pop bottle waterers, and get the large bottles.
I have a 3gal galvanized font in the layer coop on a heated base, and they've not made a mess of that one (yet)

. Now, the cup-waterers I have in the breeder coop have been my nightmare... the pressure's too high, and after a little while they just don't hold the water back anymore and I'll come out to find anywhere from 2-5 gallons of water soaked up in the bedding in their pen. I have a pressure regulator valve on its way, but I'm so afraid of them getting too wet and cold, so I switched it off and switched over to the soda water bottles.
http://www.gundogsupply.com/-4449-2-.html
They're cheap, and I just keep a lot of bottles on hand to replace the empties. They still tend to fling it a little, but not as much as the other fonts.
Either that or you need to hang the fonts just high enough that they can reach the water, but not play in it. ?

Oh Heather, I'm so sorry...

you must be so sad right now.

 

[patandchickens]

ok, so put the big waterers in an appropriate sized trash can with head holes cut into it. The worst they can do is wet their combs, not their feet or bodies that way. Cheap fix.

Good luck,

Pat