Chickens dying from cold

[Wyorp Rock]

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.

LOL
I never thought of that! I do have circular vents on the backside of my coop - I saved the wood plugs so I could close off some if needed.
Front of coop the rafters (?) are open - I've not had any problems so far, but keep a close watch on my birds nonetheless.

 

[Chullicken]

LOL
I never thought of that! I do have circular vents on the backside of my coop - I saved the wood plugs so I could close off some if needed.
Front of coop the rafters (?) are open - I've not had any problems so far, but keep a close watch on my birds nonetheless.

View attachment 1223586

I love that exterior sheathing, color is awesome.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I love that exterior sheathing, color is awesome.

Thanks! It's mostly rough cut oak - a friend offered us the wood or he was going to push up all his stacks and burn it Made a solid 8'X12' coop and 12'X24' "shed" out of it - the shed became my covered run, though I've added on since. I love the wood, it just weathers so beautifully, I think my hubby did a great job

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Does anyone else find it weird that the OP started this thread 5 days ago seeking help about chickens dying and has yet to respond to the plethora of efforts to assist?

 

[Fairview01]

Does anyone else find it weird that the OP started this thread 5 days ago seeking help about chickens dying and has yet to respond to the plethora of efforts to assist?

I figured it was a troll from the way it read and lack of activity on this thread when I clicked the avatar. I contributed because I thought the information provided may be of value to other members.

 

[1cock2hens]

Does anyone else find it weird that the OP started this thread 5 days ago seeking help about chickens dying and has yet to respond to the plethora of efforts to assist?

check page 5 where op says thanks to everyone

 

[ChickenCanoe]

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)

It is good that you discovered they weren't freezing to death.
A warm treat is good.
You need more ventilation rather than heat.
Heat lamps aren't the best source of warmth. Infrared heats what it is aimed at.
At -19, it wouldn't hurt to have some sort of space heating like radiant/ceramic to raise the temperature about 10 F or so, while adding more ventilation.
It was -6F here last night and in one of the buildings that houses very young birds, I added a 1,000 watt ceramic heater. It has raised the temperature in the 8'X12' coop to 18F with the window wide open along with a ridge vent.

After building my second coop, I put a remote thermometer/hygrometer in it. It was always 20+% higher humidity than ambient. I immediately took a circular saw and cut bigger windows from stud to stud.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

check page 5 where op says thanks to everyone

Thanks. Maybe my eyes started to glaze over looking for it.

 

[nightowl223]

It's not the cold that stops them from laying in the winter, it's the short hours of sunlight. Just putting in a regular light on a timer so they get around 14 hours of light would have the same effect.

By keeping heat in the coop, people are doing a disservice to their chickens for two reasons. Either they don't get a chance to acclimate to the cold and will suffer from cold if electricity is lost, or they do get a chance to grow their nice thick down coats, and then their keeper puts a heat lamp in the coop. Now they have these warm coats that they can't take off, and are uncomfortable because it's too warm. Think about it: put on all your winter gear. Everything you need to stay warm. Now go outside for an hour or two. Go tromp around in the snow, go do chores, whatever. Not too bad, is it? That's because you're properly dressed. Now come in the house. Don't take off your gear, though. Keep it all on for at least a couple of hours. How is it feeling now? I have had chickens in their unheated coop in -25* weather and not lost a bird. There are definitely other factors at play. How is your ventilation?

When I first started keeping chickens, I thought they had to be sealed up tight in the coop, with a heat lamp. I had problems with frostbite and respiratory problems every year. Now that I keep it well ventilated and not heated, they do so much better. Large combed birds will get frostbite, so I try to keep chickens with smaller combs and wattles. Keeping chickens has a steep learning curve.

How many chickens do you have? How big is your coop (in feet by feet)? Do you have any ventilation? (I don't even put the windows back in the coops until it's 20* or so. I will shut them when it hits zero. I leave the pop door open until it's in the teens below zero.) What do you have for bedding? How cold does it get where you live? Have you checked your birds for parasites? They can weaken a chicken and make it harder for them to survive the cold.

 

[nightowl223]

An ammonia buildup can sneak in and even when it's still almost undetectable to us, it's enough to be a risk to them. Combined with moist air, it's a combination that they can have difficulty coping with when they are already using so much of their stamina to handle the cold.

The others are right - more information will help us tremendously in helping you. And I'm sorry you are having so much trouble.....hearing how well mine did in the extreme cold doesn't help you one bit, I know.