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

[JennsPeeps]

Sounds like you're doing all the right things! Stay warm.

 

[PortageGirl]

Hey Julie,

yep, looks like you're on the right track, just know that that old hay is going to attract mice too. I definately think you should leave it there anyway, use it for it's insulation value for now!!!! Mice will just tunnel in the bales and make little homes, but that's just the way it goes. Just be prepared for it!

I did much the same thing one cold winter, on one side of my coop that I couldn't do anything about in the winter, (steep drop off and too awkward to work on in winter) and the mice got evicted come spring, with hens chasing them gleefully!!! Not many (actually I didn't see any) got cought, but the hens had a BLAST trying. The bales got wheeled out to a corner of the property, got busted up, and composted seperately from the regular compost. It was quite usable, but I wasn't sure at the time if there would be too many weed seeds etc, so I kept it seperate.

Your chickens will manage, all we can do is live and learn. Thanks for sharing BTW, we all benefit from each others' problems and solutions!

PG

 

[lovemychicns]

Sorry for your loss. Try Jugs of boiling water wrapped in a blanket or towel. They can snuggle against them. I don't have a heated coop. MissPrissy gave me the idea. It works great and does heat the coop some.

Hugs

 

[cgmccary]

I live in Alabama so I don't have to put up with with very severe winters so, . . . we tend to be thin skinned for cold though-- hope I am not being presumptuous, but these heaters are safe (we use them to cut down on heating bill in winter -- and I've used them in cold room with chicks) -- no danger here:

http://www.eheat.com/

It is our summers that are rough here for my birds (and I have Buckeyes who love Alabama winters). IMHO, for your birds (and I am so sorry), it was a combination of (1) the breed (not cold hardy); (2) very cold and duration and most important: (3) the sudden change in temperature (I've heard of people losing birds to heat when it went from 45 to 80 F suddenly too) -- likely not disease.

The bales of hay around the coop suggested by one post is a good idea too. Good luck to you!

 

[ChooksChick]

After reading all of this, I can't add much, but I did have some trouble with my 6 BR not really being able to heat our 8x8x8 coop all that well on their own, since it's all of 2 degrees out there with 35 mph gusts...wind chill of -14F. YUK!

I went to the pet store and bought a reptile clamp lamp with heavy duty cord and ceramic socket (I know clamp lamps can be dangerous) and coated dome and a 300W ceramic heating element bulb. This screws into a regular light socket but is a flat ceramic element that gives off infra-red heat. It doesn't heat up the air all that much but it does heat surfaces it radiates on, like the sunlight heats you even on a cold day. Overall, it cost me about $50 and doesn't draw that much electricity, but it's pointed at the roost and the girls are comfy.

I also have the heated water base, but that doesn't really give any heat to speak of. I definitely think if you can go this route it helps enough in a focused way, especially if you can't diminish the air space you have to heat. When desperate, bring them in! Better than dead birds, even if my DH wouldn't necessarily agree.

 

[friendlyearth]

So sorry to hear about your losses. We have hardy breeds, but last year we had a young orpington hen that didn't have enough fat on her yet for the 16 degree nights we had repeatedly. The vet suggested we keep her in the house until the weather warmed up and so we did. I know Rebecca would make that suggestion to you! I have to say I wasn't really thrilled with the idea, but I went along with it. I'm not too sure what your husband will think of that one, but it is always an option for your not so hardy birds.

Other than that I think some hay would help at least a little. It is hard to keep things warm. I know you are colder than we are, but this afternoon our chicken water was frozen inside our coop even with the heat lamp. It seems there is only so much we can do. We are still getting 1 egg a day though from an orpington (Red Stars aren't laying yet). Would a heat lamp put out more heat that the light bulbs?

BTW, Lemon Blue Roo and the Ducks are doing great! The ducks are quite entertaining. They are very talkative and the female sits at the door like she is guarding everyone when everyone is in.

Peggy - happy our high temperatures will be above freezing starting tomorrow!

 

[dlhunicorn]

get yourself lots of cardboard boxes... flatten out and glue gun to inside walls (very insulating and they are free)... get some lowsided ones from the veggie dept of your grocery store and fill with shavings... makes great nesting boxes and will stay dry.

 

[chickenannie]

Quote:
I wouldn't worry about mice in the least, because if one of the hens sees a mouse she will eat it!

 

[PortageGirl]

Quote:
I wouldn't worry about mice in the least, because if one of the hens sees a mouse she will eat it!

Absolutely! I completely agree not to worry, I just wanted to say be prepared. I was totally shocked that spring, but it was FINE!!! I dislike rodents, but they are a fact of life.

If it's keeping the chooks warm and alive, GO WITH IT!!

Use the hay for the insulation it provides!

 

[Mrs. Mik]

Well, so far so good! We've had wind chills of -35 since we put the plastic on the coop and everyone's OK! Saturday, the kids stapled up cardboard and loaded it with hay. Aaron tells me it's definitely better inside than it was before, and most certainly better than outside! Some of the plastic came off yesterday, so in those bitter cold winds, my husband and son were out there nailing wood slats to the plastic to keep it in place. Thank goodness we had that cardboard and straw inside!

The hen in the house is doing well. She was favoring one of her legs yesterday, but today seems to be moving around fine, and for the first time, was clucking when I went to change her food and water!

It's so darned cold outside that I think I'm going to have to keep her inside for a while longer. I hope I don't have to all winter, but I don't want to shock her by going from 60 in the basement to the freezing temps outside. Not sure what I'm going to do about that. She must be lonely, and life in a dog crate has got to be boring!


I'm still paranoid about the outside birds. Every morning I wake up and can't sleep because I'm worried about the chickens. When my son goes out there, I stand at the door praying he'll come in and tell me that everyone's OK.

Julie