Cold Chicken Coop and possible frost bite

[sumi]

Welcome to BYC

You got some great advice from the above posters, so I'll just say best of luck over winter!

 

[Kelsie2290]

I usually just wipe off the vaseline and reapply it every few days, it does tend to collect dirt.
If you are seeing some small black spots on the body of the combs, not just the tips, you might also consider Fowl Pox https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/avian-pox-how-to-treat-your-chickens-for-avian-pox

 

[Cluckies]

Hi, I'm in Minnesota as well, it is awful already, extremely cold and damp. This is my first time with chickens as well. I have 6 girls, 3 appear to have frostbite, one pretty bad on her comb (Buff orpington) she injured herself while in "jail" she rubbed her beak and comb back and forth along the hardware cloth and abraded her comb, then it froze I believe and she possibly has some on her waddle, my gold comet has two points that are frostbit and one of my silver laced wyandottes may have some on her waddle. It is very hard to keep the moisture low inside the coop when like today the humidity was 97 percent, yesterday it was 90, day before that 80 percent. basically my coop mimics what is going on outside. But all of this while being so cold! (except for today) When it was 20 percent outside one day a couple of months ago, it was 20 percent in my coop. I did remove their upper roost tonight so they have to use a lower roost, hopefully this helps. I also had a heated water dish outside in the run, the gold comet and wyandotte seem to duck their whole face in when taking a drink. I removed that and got a tank heater and put their nipple watering pail back in. I'm not sure how that will go in below zero temps though, it has side nipples. I think they are getting their waddles wet and that is what is going on there. I added green house panels on three sides of their run (west, north, and east) the south side is open except for hardware cloth. they spend all day out there, it is not bad in there as it is blocked from the wind. I sit out there alot with them when I can. I'm just at a loss about how you can bring down humidity in a coup when it is 80 percent + outside? I do use sweet PDZ in poop trays under the roost that I scoop out every day. If I go out there at night (like tonight I have to go get one and bring her in to give her medicine) so at 9 i'll clean up under them as well, been doing that for a week. I have wood shavings on the floor which I clean everyday as well. Today was 37 high, tomorrow has a low of -2. Monday has a high of 7 degrees. It is a total nightmare! I was so excited to get chickens, now I'm nothing but stressed out with constant worry. I wasn't going to heat the coop as was stated above they are suppose to be able to withstand brutally cold temps, i'm starting to think I may have to heat it.

 

[Katieswan]

Hi there,

Good to hear from someone who is also from Minnesota. Sometimes it is hard to get good advice when people don't understand how cold it gets here. I have done a lot of ready and I just laugh a little when people talk about it getting cold for their birds because it is in the 50's or something. However, I have gotten a lot of god advice from this group. And I I suppose it is all relative though to whatever the birds are use to. This winter has been a beast so far. It is -8 right now with a windchill bringing it to -21 : / However, I was mistaken when I though my birds had frost bite. They just had a bunch of dust and dirt stuck to the petroleum jelly that I put on there combs. However, I did create a bit more ventilation in my coop as well as decided to try to worry less about the temp dropping. I open everything up wide to get more air flow in on the sunny and less windy days when the birds are out in the yard. It has not seemed to compromise the temp to much. My coop is actually pretty large and is more like a shed for them and I think that helps with keeping it dryer. Do you have frost building up in your coop? If so, you too probably need more ventilation. My birds actually seem to be doing pretty well in this cold weather. I just hope it does not get too much colder although we are not even into out coldest part of winter usually. I do not want to add heat to the coop. Do you heat? Have you tried petroleum jelly on combs and wattles? I have heard that birds usually get over frost bite pretty easily but you will want to figure out how to avoid it as much as you can. Good luck and try not to worry to much!

 

[Cluckies]

Thanks for the reply. No, no frost on the windows, they are perfectly clear and dry. (humidity outside right now is 74 percent, in my coop is 74 percent). sooo.... there ya go. I started doing the vaseline a few days ago, but I know they have frost bite, it is not the same. they are also dirty now from the vaseline as well

. I agree it is a beast already and that was November! I can't believe how cold it is already. I want some of that global warming they are always going on about! The nipple waterer with the tank heater did not work out, it froze in one day. Now today I bought a heated poultry waterer and put it out there. I don't hold out much hope though it says it only keeps the water liquid to 0 degrees. really? zero? what the what? we are in minnesota, why doesn't it heat it to 40 below? well, if it freezes over night tonight I'll put the dog dish back in. cripes i'm stressed out!

 

[Katieswan]

Unfortunately these crazy weather patterns probably have to do with global warming some how.... What has been working the best for me is a metal chicken water fountain with a heater under it. I have had no trouble with my water freezing. Also the tray usually does not get too full so they do not get too wet when drinking. However when you refill it it does tend to be a bit full in the tray so they can get there wattles wet until they drink it down some. I bought my heater at L and M fleet supply in Cloquet but I know you can order them online or make one with a cookie tin and light bulb. I like it because it runs when it is under 35 degrees and turns off when it warms up. However, they do tend to kick up straw and get the water kind of dirty. I find myself dumping the dirty water once a day or every other day. I tried using a 5 gallon pale nipple waterer with a tank heater as well so they could have cleaner water but two of the nipples froze. I am not sure they were drinking out of it though and if they were they may not have froze because the water was not frozen inside. My hens had the other waterer to drink from as well at that time. Having clean, unfrozen water is defiantly a bit of a challenge in these temps. I was really hoping the nipple waterer would work so I would not have to worry about cleaning the water every other day.

Other than the frost bite, do your girls seem ok? Are they acting normal? or cold and lethargic? If all else seems fine, just watch that the frost bite is not getting worse and try not to worry so much because they are more hardy then we think sometimes.

 

[Cluckies]

They seem fine other than that, scratching in the run, yelling at me when I walk out the garage door,

eating, drinking fine. 3 are still laying I believe. 5 out of the 6 were laying, one EE hasn't started laying and won't until the spring. So they seem fine... I"ll try not to worry. Suppose to warm up for a few days, I'm glad.

 

[Katieswan]

I am so happy it is going to be a bit warmer the next few days! Sounds like your girls are doing pretty good otherwise. Just curious, are you giving them artificial light to keep them laying or not?

 

[Cluckies]

No, I'm not giving them artificial light. I think winter is hard enough without the added burden of needing to lay eggs. I'm ok without eggs for awhile.