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

[Mrs MIA]

The birds will still peck the foam insulation if it's not covered with something. Both ducks and chickens will strip off the aluminum coating (it's really really thin) and then will proceed to eat the foam. Just FYI.

 

[Rare Feathers Farm]

Thank you for all of the suggestions.

I went to Wal-Mart, bought two big bags of pine shavings, to the feed store & got two back-up heat lamps and two big bales of straw and then to Home Depot and I bought black, thick plastic & a roll of insulation.

I cleaned out the coop & put down the bags of shavings. Then I wrapped the insulation in the black plastic & shoved it in every crack in the roof of the coop--we have a 5-6" opening around the entire roof for ventilation. I then nailed the black plastic to the walls--like a pouch & stuffed it with straw. I then lined the walls about 2' up with straw.

It was -8 when I woke up this morning at 7am and the inside of the coop was about 4 degrees. I'm not sure what else I can do?

I've had that same coop with no insulation & just heat lamps since 2006 and never lost a bird to cold--but that was with brahmas & cochins.

I'm fairly confident it was the cold & not disease. The birds were puffed up, shivering & huddled under the lights before dying. I did bring two of them inside to warm up and still lost one.

So total, I lost a bantam sultan roo, my salmon faverolle (standard) roo, my mottled houdan roo and a chocolate laced muscovy duck.

 

[FrontPorchIndiana]

Well let's hope that does the trick. I've been doing a lot of reading lately and I do think some breeds just are not as tolerant of extreme cold as others.

 

[Nif]

I would think getting them into another container that they all just fit into overnight would create sufficient body heat to keep them warm.
I use LOTS of hay during the winter months, but I have a coop inside a pretty tight barn, and cover the coop with feed bags in the winter to eliminate drafts.
My brother, who only has non-insulated coops, keeps his chickens tucked in tight at night(close together) and covers everything up with blankets. He's not lost one to cold yet.
Best of luck.

 

[bearz]

I'm new to this chicken business and have 48 of them to worry about this winter.

Many of my chickens roost in the rafters and seem perfectly fine, but for the ones who don't like to roost, like my silkies, I have big rubbermaid buckets filled about half full of straw. They cuddle in there and are toasty warm. In fact, one went broody on me recently!

I also put a 55 gallon barrel about 2/3 full of straw and they snuggle into that too.

Another thing I did was put all my nesting boxes on their sides so they have 3 complete sides and the front edge as a top. They snuggle in those things quite happily and are keeping the eggs warm on top of it. I've only lost a few eggs to freezing and considering all the cold we've had already I'm very pleased.

I agree that if you only have a few chickens that you need to create a smaller snuggle space for them to accumulate their body heat. Lots of straw and heavy blankets over the top.

 

[ole-crone]

FYI for those who think that having a cold winter means that Global Warming is a crock - The problem causes EXTREMES both ways - not just warming up and causing problems - expect colder than normal winters as well.

Don't ask me why - I'm no scientist.

 

[Mrs MIA]

Quote:
We know... we just like to tease...

 

[Mrs. Mik]

I've been having the same problem. Went outside this morning and four of our chickens are dead. A Polish chicken was the first to die, and now the second Polish chicken is dead. These are all from McMurray Hatchery, that we received in August. I don't think it's that they're not hardy enough, as we had problems last winter, too. I have two warming lights in there and their water is on an electric heater. I'm feeding them a combination of layer feed and corn, and we keep the feeder filled at all times, so they can eat when they want.

Our chicken coop is built from old pine, and although we covered up many of the knots and filled in a lot of the spaces between the wood with caulk this summer, it's still a tad drafty.

After reading this thread, I'm convinced it's the drafts that are causing the problem. Today, we're heading to the hardware store to get a couple rolls of heavy-duty plastic and will be wrapping the entire coop in it to eliminate the drafts.

A question -- there is an opening at the top on the east side to allow for ventilation, but I was tired of the sparrows getting in that way. We took some old inner tubes from tires and sliced them and hung them up there to allow for ventilation, without allowing the sparrows in. I'm thinking that should be left alone, the way it is, because otherwise there really won't be any ventilation at all? Your thoughts on that?

Thank you for any help you can provide!

Julie

 

[chickenpiedpiper]

Mrs. Mik :

A question -- there is an opening at the top on the east side to allow for ventilation, but I was tired of the sparrows getting in that way. We took some old inner tubes from tires and sliced them and hung them up there to allow for ventilation, without allowing the sparrows in. I'm thinking that should be left alone, the way it is, because otherwise there really won't be any ventilation at all? Your thoughts on that?

Thank you for any help you can provide!

Julie

Ventilation is essential, and a fine line from drafty! I left cracks around the top of our doors, and coop to provide ventilation. I would advise you to leave the planned 'cracks' as well!

Ammonia and humidity build up will kill your birds too!

Good Luck, I hope this helps!​

 

[Mrs MIA]

I'm sorry for your loss.

I would leave the stripping there for ventilation. You do need SOME fresh air. I get the impression, from the one Polish that I have, that they are not very cold-hardy because of their small, compact bodies. Mine is in the breeder coop with my Millies, and has been molting, so she hasn't been outside since the snow started flying. I'm tempted to keep her in all winter. But it still gets down to 10-15°F inside the coop, and she hasn't shown any signs of distress yet. It could be the drafts.