Quote: They should be fine. Our temps are going to be getting above freezing at night, so only a couple more nights of it. It's supposed to be warmer today, so they will come out for a drink. I caught some of mine eating snow yesterday.
Hey guys! We got around 6" of snow in Grass Valley and about 4" where we are. The chickens were so funny! They hopped and flew over the melting bits of snow so they wouldn't have to get their chicken feet cold.
I put Bag Balm on the roos combs and wattles (especially the Orp) and on the girls' that have single combs. Everyone seems fine.
Question time:
We got home and the person that had wanted us to put a heat lamp (we didn't) in the coop had put an electric garage light (the plain bulb type that hangs from a hook and cage) in the coop.
Wasn't very happy with their decision because of the 24 hour light exposure they received and because I'm worried about dependency upon the supplemental heat, even if it's just a bulb.
The question is, will they just bounce back if I remove the light?
I'd remove it now if you don't want it. The longer they have it, the more used to it they will get.
today my water froze but slightly they could peck through that. the main issue is no one left the coop.
Yep. Most of mine hid in the coop all day. I did have some come out for a quick drink then back inside they went!
Any suggestions on keeping the red bowl type Auto-waterers thawed out? Mine have a 5 gallon bucket mounted outside the pen with PVC running at a slope to the waterer. It had iced over for 2-3 days, but this morning it was a solid block of ice. I had to take them out a container of warm water. Tried to thaw the auto waterer with the warm water too, but didn't want to have it crack on me so I didn't make the water very warm. I suspect it's frozen all the way to the bucket. I don't want to spend a bunch of money for a problem that will likely only last a few more days. The run is covered so there was no snow in there and the coop is small enough that the chickens stay pretty warm at night. They wanted no part of the snow when I tried to let them out yesterday. It was pretty funny to watch. Usually they come flying (literally) out when I open the door, but only my blue hen (in my Avatar) came out at all. She took about 5 steps out, said to herself, "Cr*p..... that's cold!" then went right back in. They have not made any attempt to leave the run since then.
I shut down my auto waterer and am using the 3 and 5 gallon waterers right now.
