Chickens Arctic Conditions Prolonged Period

[Hokum Coco]

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[3forfree]

I didn't have any housing for my pheasants. I only had a couple of pallets leaning together like an A frame, and I would throw some old christmas trees that I junk picked into


the dog kennel where I kept them, They seemed content.

 

[aoxa]

February 5, 2013 the temperature currently is 5F with a wind chill of -20 to -30F. The long range forecast for next week is -10F with wind chills of hovering around -40F.

I guess the ground hog is responsible for these cold temperatures no question about it he definitely seen his shadow in Moncton on Feb 2.

I will bring out fresh warm water to all the birds soon. It looks like a three water change day today!
I am joyfully surprise there is no frostbite in the coop to date!


I have my ring neck pheasants and white homing pigeons housed in this baby barn. There is only 1/4"


of plywood between them and the elements and the birds are starting to nest in these "Frigid Conditions" ( well at least the pigeons are).

These birds must be part Eskimo! Here is a picture of squabs that hatched shortly after Christmas. I would like to introduce you to "Jack & Frostie". They have fledged since this photo and are flying now."

Just got back from the birds. Everything is fine in their world. One cracked egg from the cold this morning and one pristine egg.

The wind chill cuts you like a knife today! Once you get out of the wind it is alright. I had to take my gloves off to get a block of ice out of one of the tubs this morning. I might have had them off for 20 seconds. My hands were numb when I finally got them back into my gloves.

I will go back out at around 1100hrs AST and change their water again.

On another note: One can not begin to describe the spectrum of colours in a cock ring neck pheasant in full plumage in the sun! They have to be one of the most Striking Drop Dead Gorgeous birds out there!

Why do the really cold days have to look so nice out?

I had to wear a full face mask on my drive to work. The car windows were all frozen shut and my car took 10 minutes to heat up. The wind was really extreme.

I have people home collecting eggs at 11am and 2 pm to avoid any frozen merchandise.

I know exactly what you mean about the gloves. The fingers can't work properly with them on, and when they are off you have about 10 seconds before they start to tingle and you can't work them properly either.

Even my heated dishes are freezing.

Birds are all doing well despite it. I have one young bird who is suffering from frost bite on his toes from stepping in the water. No frost bite on combs thus far.

 

[Hokum Coco]

February 6, 2013 the temperature currently is 6F with a wind chill of 0F. The long range forecast for this week is -13F with wind chills of hovering around -40F on Friday. That is COLD in any language. The humidity is usually around 60% lately.

I got 4 eggs yesterday only one was cracked due to the cold. I am quite satisfied with my small flock of birds and the way they have been adapting to this extreme cold. I am a little late getting out to the coop. They will be glad to get that first warm drink this morning.




Here are a couple of pictures from the coop this morning (quite mild today from the weather we have been having). Did my chores without gloves today.

There is one more level above the two levels depicted in these two photos. It is the roost level above the milk crates with a poop board to catch eggs and manure. With the three levels in this 4x8 footprint coop I am able to keep 12 birds with no problems even on miserable days when they are confined to the coop.

 

[aoxa]

February 6, 2013 the temperature currently is 6F with a wind chill of 0F. The long range forecast for this week is -13F with wind chills of hovering around -40F on Friday. That is COLD in any language. The humidity is usually around 60% lately. I got 4 eggs yesterday only one was cracked due to the cold. I am quite satisfied with my small flock of birds and the way they have been adapting to this extreme cold. I am a little late getting out to the coop this morning they will be glad to get that first warm drink this morning.

It's looking to be above freezing come Monday! I hope so!

Have to work on my breeding pens this weekend. It was not fun on Saturday due to the cold. We have these foot/hand warmers from costco that REALLY did the trick

 

[aoxa]

Hokum,

The hand and foot warmers last 6 hours. My feet did not get cold for the whole afternoon I was out building. I highly recommend them.

 

[3forfree]

We're up to 27F today, no clouds,nice and sunny. Supposed to get dumped on tonight and tomorrow with up to 8in of snow. They've been wrong before,hope they're wrong this time.,

 

[aoxa]

Looking forward to our weekend Hokum? A nice 30-50 cm possible. Lovely.

I'll be inside by the fire.

 

[Hokum Coco]

February 7, 2013 the temperature currently is -3F with a wind chill of -37F. The temperature is supposed to plunge to night to -28 F that is without the windchill (they did not forecast the wind chill but I would image it will be cold enough with out that forecast).

Only got 1 egg yesterday. Here is a picture of my poop board and roost (I got one pristine egg on the board this morning). I employ milk crates for nest boxes and use a feed bag for a liner. The frozen poop shakes right off the feed bag as clean as a whistle in this cold.
.


The birds all seem happy and showing no ill effects from this cold snap. They all congregated around the water dish this morning to have their warm drink. I have been feeding a mixture of cracked corn & egg laying pellets. They seem to enjoy the cracked corn more. I may put a second feeder of just cracked corn to see how much they eat of each feed in comparison once the main feeder is depleted.

 

[aoxa]

Whoever say these hybrids don't do well in cold weather, don't know our birds!