Colorado

[megshenhut]

I agree too cold, too early in the season. And now this morning we have wind! Our low last night was -15. Right now we have 1, but with the wind, the wind chill is way below 0. Welcome to winter, oh wait, it is still fall. Winter doesn't show up for a couple weeks yet. I wonder what January and February are going to be like?

 

[Smarcebird]

I'm with you guys - too cold. -2 this morning in Durango, thankfully no wind. I'm going the no heater route too. This morning it looked like the combs on a couple of girls were darker, worried about frostbite. Anybody vaselined combs? How come that works anyway? Gonna have to wait till tonight, guess I have today to research, let me know what you guys think. Stay warm everyone!

 

[Mommato5]

How did everyone's chickens weather the cold? My girls did surprisingly well despite the -10 temps! They all came out with some frost on their feathers and one actually had 2 chunks of ice on her feathers! But I don't see any signs of frostbite on combs or wattles.

They certainly don't care for the cold weather, although they seem to tolerate it fine! Right now they are hanging out in the sun and all frost/ice has melted off. They are all fluffed up, some sitting on their toes to keep them warm, others doing a one-leg stand. LOL I am buying a heat lamp ASAP because I can see that this winter is going to be bitter! I'll probably only turn it on for next below zero, though.

I don't know anything about Vaseline and haven't ever used it, although I have read about it. From what I understand, cold temps aren't the trouble with frostbite, it's the moisture/humidity. If the coop is well ventilated the moisture that they breathe out and poop can dry out and they won't get frostbite. If the humidity gets too high, though, that's when you have problems. I believe the Vaseline provides a barrier to keep the moisture in the air off of the comb and wattles. I have, however, heard of people saying their birds made a huge mess by rubbing their faces in dirt or sand and having it stick to the Vaseline!

I am grateful that CO has generally dry humidity! It really helps in keeping the coop dry! It's supposed to be in the low teens tonight but I figure after -10 last night, it'll feel like a day at the spa for them!

 

[robin127]

We're Ruffled Feathers Poultry, outside Monument and raise show silkies and a varied collection of larger laying hens, plus some Cayuga ducks. It's so nice to hear who else is local.

 

[coloradochick]

Hey Robin

Glad you found the CO thread

 

[hispoptart]

My poor babies, -8 this morning and they have frostbite! I think they will be combless by spring.

 

[ttclan]

Our girls survived the last two nights...feels so warm out there right now at 20! We are not heating them at this point - figuring worse temps are coming in Jan and Feb.

They are still giving me about 8 eggs each day in spite of the cold. They did stay in most of the day yesterday, but they will brave the cold for scratch! Funny girls.

I have been upset with the size of our coop - we inherited it with the girls and it is wwwaaayyy too small for the number of birds we have, BUT I can't help but wonder if they are staying warm and hanging in there because they are cozy.

I have read conflicting arguments about the Vaseline thing, but my understanding is that it can't hurt and rubbing it on their combs helps bring heat and blood flow to them to warm it up either way. We haven't had any trouble with frostbite at this point, but with these temps, I'm watching.

There's my checkin' in report and 2 cents!

By the way welcome to the new chicken or soon to be chicken owners. You'll love it around here. Someday I hope to meet a few of these folks in person.

 

[zoelovesmom]

I couldn't sleep with my babies outside last night, so I put them in the (unheated) garage. I'm sure it was still cold, but nothing like it was out in their coop. They are showing a little sign of frostbite on a couple of their combs. The strange thing is that the worst-looking one is my Easter Egger, the one with the pea comb.

All this snow and deep freeze is stressing me out! My store-bought coop is really not weather-proofed well. Despite my best efforts, the snow keeps getting in during each storm. It's been a really frustrating process.

 

[coloradochick]

When we lived down in Arvada, I had one of those little barn tyepe coops that supposed to hold 4-6 LF birds. The most I had in there was about 8 LF and a couple of bantams. They were only on there for the nights then freeranged the back yard. But last year when we dipped below 0 everyone stayed really toasty. Now since we have moved to Brighton, I've got them in an old horribly built cow barn. There are spaces everywhere so the snow will blow in, and the wind is horrible. This whole coop situation is not ideal and it's wearing on my emotions and patience. Hubby doesn't quite understand the urgency to fix the probelm. Anyways, I only have two girls (Silver Spangled Hamburgs) that sleep up in the rafters, that have any frostbight. Which surprised me. I thought the bigger combed birds would have it.

But as long as your birds can get out during the day, they should be fine in the toasty warm "little" coop at night

 

[wattsjadajoe]

Well, the wife and I couldn't stand it....I put the Sat. temp. sensor in the coop to keep checks on the temps. It got down to the lowest of -3 deg. (inside coop)
We have a crock pot under our waterer to keep it from freezing and also have a 500watt heat lamp + a 100watt lamp in the coop to help keep the ladies warm.


The girls seem to be doing better. They have even started their egg production back up!

Joe