Chickens Freezing?

[RainbowHen]

Thanks to the well-wishers. They are used to people and quite tame. When I held one of them at the show, she just snuggled down. So soft and pretty! Then I had to have them. I was planning on a flock of chickens for some time, and everything was already here and ready, including the feed.

The rooster pretty much named himself. I grew up using those wind-up alarm clocks that are marked Big Ben, the ones everybody used before the world pretty much switched to electric alarm clocks. He's an alarm clock wanna-be, but the joke is on him. I'm up before he is. So, he is Big Ben. He has a nice big comb. Around what temperature should I put vaseline on it to protect it?

You know I have heard that vaseline trick quite a bit with mixed reviews. If you have plenty of ventilation you should not get frost bite, especially in your temps. Wisconsin here. Very rarely ever had frost bite on my roosters, never used Vaseline.

 

[Geckolady]

You know I have heard that vaseline trick quite a bit with mixed reviews. If you have plenty of ventilation you should not get frost bite, especially in your temps. Wisconsin here. Very rarely ever had frost bite on my roosters, never used Vaseline.

Thanks. The Arizona desert is a little warmer.

 

[RainbowHen]

Thanks. The Arizona desert is a little warmer.

Just a little

 

[21hens-incharge]

Thanks to the well-wishers. They are used to people and quite tame. When I held one of them at the show, she just snuggled down. So soft and pretty! Then I had to have them. I was planning on a flock of chickens for some time, and everything was already here and ready, including the feed.

The rooster pretty much named himself. I grew up using those wind-up alarm clocks that are marked Big Ben, the ones everybody used before the world pretty much switched to electric alarm clocks. He's an alarm clock wanna-be, but the joke is on him. I'm up before he is. So, he is Big Ben. He has a nice big comb. Around what temperature should I put vaseline on it to protect it?

Including the feed?

How old is the feed?
There should be a mill date on the bag, the sewn in tape on the bottom or the tag. That is the date it was made. Feed ages and looses nutritional value as it ages.
Feed that is 6 months past mill date is pretty much spent and should not be fed.

Buy the absolute freshest feed you can get a hold of. Roosters do not need added calcium and it can cause kidney issues. An all flock, flock raiser or even chick crumbles are often fed to flocks with mixed age birds, non laying hens and roosters. Just keep oyster shell available. Those that need it will eat it.

 

[BGcoop]

I agree that ventilation is the key to frostbite prevention. My first coop was drafty and not ventilated well and I lost a couple combs despite trying to add heat. Not a trace of frostbite since building our second - well ventilated - coop and we have only added any heat on the most extreme cold days(highs well below 0 multiple days in a row)

 

[Geckolady]

Including the feed?

How old is the feed?
There should be a mill date on the bag, the sewn in tape on the bottom or the tag. That is the date it was made. Feed ages and looses nutritional value as it ages.
Feed that is 6 months past mill date is pretty much spent and should not be fed.

Buy the absolute freshest feed you can get a hold of. Roosters do not need added calcium and it can cause kidney issues. An all flock, flock raiser or even chick crumbles are often fed to flocks with mixed age birds, non laying hens and roosters. Just keep oyster shell available. Those that need it will eat it.

It's 16% layer pellets by DuMor, and I bought it about 10 days before I got the chickens. Tractor Supply has a pretty good turnover in their feed. I read on the boards here about a chicken feed shortage and bought some ahead of getting chickens, since I didn't want to risk getting chickens and not being able to find feed. If I didn't get any chickens at the show, then I was planning to get some from another place.

 

[Geckolady]

I agree that ventilation is the key to frostbite prevention. My first coop was drafty and not ventilated well and I lost a couple combs despite trying to add heat. Not a trace of frostbite since building our second - well ventilated - coop and we have only added any heat on the most extreme cold days(highs well below 0 multiple days in a row)

Wow! That's cold! (Must be one of Santa's elves living at the North Pole. I've been good this year.)

Thank you. That's good to know.

Big Ben is awake and crowing.

 

[BGcoop]

Wow! That's cold! (Must be one of Santa's elves living at the North Pole. I've been good this year.)

Thank you. That's good to know.

Not quite the North Pole. Just Wisconsin. (again).
The thing that is hard to remember is that chickens are wearing down coats so they handle the cold much better than we expect them to. Also they sort of “acclimate” to their environment, so trying to add heat can actually be more stressful to them because then they get used to that and have problems if the heat source suddenly goes away (like a power outage). Just imagine if birds can’t handle the cold, ALL birds would migrate for the winter and that clearly doesn’t happen and there are not mass bird deaths every time the temp drops below a certain point either.

 

[aart]

A 5 1/2 x 5 1/2 foot coop will not fit through the door, never mind trying to lift it.

Yeah, I kinda figured but thought I'd toss it out there

 

[CaroleW]

Start in the video at 3:27 for some good info on "winterizing" your chickens...

(from Justin Rhodes YT channel) He has a lot of farm systems including chicken systems that could help you, I get a lot of ideas there. He has more current videos too.