Chickens dying from cold

[Minky]

more photos of the freezer coop please, from a distance maybe?

 

[GodofPecking]

How awesome! That is a great way to upcycle an old fridge! I bet it does keep your flock nice and toasty and dry!

Thanks, I've had many of them for a few years now and they work perfectly. I was thinking to decorate the outside like a house or something, so that the occasions I use a lamp inside would make it look cool at night. Could use solar lights that way too I guess. Dont forget cut some little windows for looking at the chickens , or eggs if the fridge is your incubator , I built one like that too. use glass from old small picture frames for the wndows

Light inside attracts flying insects which chicks love to catch, made no difference that they were up most of the night, because of the lamp for warmth, they turned out fine. HOWEVER THE LAMP OCCASIONALLY MADE IT TOO HOT IN THE DAYTIME. Some kind of thermostat is required if you use it for chicks / brooder too.

We definitely need more pics of the fridge coop!

more photos of the freezer coop please, from a distance maybe?

Sure, Ill look into it, its dark right now, but its just a few fridges with chicken sized holes cut into them. you can use a diamond blade in an angle grinder because they cut everything and dont explode, diamonds are cheap as mud. The fridges are also great for solar hot water storage.

Easiest cutting method is drill first then stick an old knife in the hole and hammer the knife parallel to the surface.

How do you provide ventilation?

The door, chickens are cavity nesters anyhow, and you cant suffocate with an open door. The droppings dry up and sweep out too easy. Its an ideal solution to weather exposure in my experience with many many critters over the years..

 

[ak2787]

Thanks everyone! The culprit is the moisture in the air. It was below zero with a humidity index of 80%. It is a very wet cold here in Iowa right now. I broke down and put heat lamps in there and have been making sure it doesn’t get steamy in there. It is -19 here right now, Getting ready to check on the ladies and bring them a warm treat (sweet potatoes mixed with grains)

 

[centrarchid]

Did you increase ventilation? If not you will have real fun if heat lamp fails and it is still cold out.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Thanks everyone! The culprit is the moisture in the air. It was below zero with a humidity index of 80%. It is a very wet cold here in Iowa right now. I broke down and put heat lamps in there and have been making sure it doesn’t get steamy in there. It is -19 here right now, Getting ready to check on the ladies and bring them a warm treat (sweet potatoes mixed with grains)

@ak2787 If you have some photos of your coop/setup that you would like to share that would be great.

I agree with @centrarchid if ventilation has not been increased, you may end up with more problems.

I'm concerned with your comment "I broke down and put heat lamps in there and have been making sure it doesn’t get steamy in there." I do understand about wanting to make sure birds are as comfortable as we can make them and having ventilation may seem counterproductive, but it really is important. There is a big difference between drafts and ventilation. You want to minimize drafts, but have plenty of ventilation to move moisture from droppings/breath up and out.

I'm very sorry that you are losing birds, it must be heartbreaking. We really do want to help you find a solution.

 

[Fairview01]

Here in north central TX it was in the low teens with a windchill at or below 0 last night. When I was building the coop for the layers I did not have enough plywood to close off the back. It is open 90% on the south side. Last night before turning in I went to the extra trouble of checking on them. As is the case every night the favored roosts are the ones right up against the welded wire backing. They pack it in on these roosts everyday of the year.

I also raise large white fowl Cornish. These are tight feathered birds. They don't have all the insulation pin and down feathers typical of other chickens. The Cornish are kept in breeding pens, no coop. They live in a simple hoop coop with a cheap Harbor Freight tarp serving as a wind break covering the end and 1/3 of the pen. They have no problem.

During the winter, maximum ventilation without drafts is an uncompromisable requirement. Ventilation eliminates 99% of the winter problems. In the winter there can never be enough ventilation in livestock housing. However even the smallest draft can become deadly overnight and it doesn't have to be below freezing. Drafts strip body heat. Drafts are equivalent to what we understand as wind chill factor. A constant draft can put any livestock into a hypothermia condition with death soon following.

 

[centrarchid]

Most of mine must weather extremes of central Missouri with essentially no cover. Temperatures can get several degrees below zero with wind chill on top of that. So exposed birds are not in lay and they as a rule in good feather. Immature birds under those conditions are clearly stressed so are housed under more protected conditions like a barn. Birds stressed by production have a harder time of it, especially if chronic stress compromises feathering. Birds being wet at all during such cold is very bad.

 

[Chullicken]

On a side note, think I'll stop using circular vents..figuring out the sq. footage of circles is making my brain feel like that soft shelled frozen egg above..cracked and oozing.

 

[centrarchid]

3.14 x radius x radius = area

 

[1cock2hens]

a=πr²