Colorado

[samsr]

-5 here along fountain creek this morning. Havent seen the chickens yet. The remote thermometer tells menit is 14 in their coop this morning. The kids school is closed for the day. I will have them let me know what the chickens are doing later as i am on my way to work. Stay warm people.

 

[maggiemo]

-5F here in Boulder right now.
Mine didn't go out of the coop at all yesterday. I broke down and put water and food in the coop for them. I need to get them water now...bye...

 

[suncatcher]

Frosty here at -15 this morning, that is what the thermometer read on the outside of the coop. I refilled their water bowls and when I went out about 20 minutes later to top them off, they had thin layer of ice forming. Yikes, going to be a inside day for them, even though I cleard a path for them, no one seems interested in moving much today. Last I checked many of them were sunning themselves. The trees look beautiful today, they are covered in think frost.

Is always nice to have someone home to keep the home fire burning!

Hope the kids were dressed warming for their walk to the bus stop!

Glad the Turkey "hotel" was in use, even if it was the wrong guests! LOL

Having even a low wattage light can help keep the water from totally freezing.

Hope I get an egg today, my Lakenvelder was checking out one of the nests this morning. .... I had no eggs yesterday, but five the day before.

 

[Chick N Mama]

Quick question - some have advised me to put heat lamps in the coop when it gets this cold but I have heard some negatives feedback about this also. We already have a regular 100 Watt light bulb on and a heater for the water. Thoughts? Oh and does everyone put vasoline on combs or is it not necessary? Thanks!

 

[MsDrake]

Is anyone near the Greeley/evans area on here? Im VERY new at this, and because its -13 right now, I fear I may lose them....I cant stop the water from freezing, so I brought them into my mudroom...which is not heated, but attached to my home, so its only about 40 in there....Which is better than -13. They are moving around now, and drinking the water i placed....I just fear I am stressing them out too much. I only have one laying, and hope they all start soon, and im also trying to buy eggs, because mine dont produce enough yet...Any ideas on cheap eggs? I looked on ebay, and yes they are cheap, but Im wanting 10-20 right now, and it adds up right before the holidays with shipping....I have a incubator so no worries there.

 

[LeciaBee]

Well I haven't been on here in quite awhile! Had to completely start over with our chickens, apparently we had something going on causing them to get sick and some started dying off. Sadly we had to do off with all the unhealthy ones and I found homes for the ones that were still healthy. We tried just about everything we could think of to bring them back into good health. Nothing seemed to help out in the least. After everybody was gone, the DH and I completely cleaned and sanitized our coop. We have since then got a few more chickens and we are hoping for the best! Its been a few weeks and so far things have been fine.

On another note, had our first coyote snoopin around our coop. Freaked my ducks out but everybody is fine. Couldn't sleep a wink with having to listen out for them, but I'll be sleeping with my rifle beside the bed now!

 

[Percheron chick]

Is anyone near the Greeley/evans area on here? Im VERY new at this, and because its -13 right now, I fear I may lose them....I cant stop the water from freezing, so I brought them into my mudroom...which is not heated, but attached to my home, so its only about 40 in there....Which is better than -13. They are moving around now, and drinking the water i placed....I just fear I am stressing them out too much. I only have one laying, and hope they all start soon, and im also trying to buy eggs, because mine dont produce enough yet...Any ideas on cheap eggs? I looked on ebay, and yes they are cheap, but Im wanting 10-20 right now, and it adds up right before the holidays with shipping....I have a incubator so no worries there.

Don't worry about it. All of the chickens in the front range are dealing with the exact same conditions and they are fine. I will not run electricity to my "coop" so the water is going to freeze. Just go out there 3-4 X a day and fill it up. Bring the drinker in at night because they do not eat or drink in the dark and it's just going to freeze solid. Make sure they go to bed with a full crop. Corn chops is a good way to get a little extra food into them right before bed. They might not be too crazy about their layer feed but they'll all jump off the roosts for straight corn.


Why hatching eggs? You are not going to find locally fertile eggs until about Feb. Go to Feeder Supply in FC and pick up some sexed pullets. they will be laying by May and you won't get stuck with 50% roos.

 

[Mtn Margie]

Quick question - some have advised me to put heat lamps in the coop when it gets this cold but I have heard some negatives feedback about this also. We already have a regular 100 Watt light bulb on and a heater for the water. Thoughts? Oh and does everyone put vasoline on combs or is it not necessary? Thanks!

I do not have a heat lamp. I put heat out there when it is -20ish and windy. Heat lamps can be very dangerous for fires if something happens and it falls down. I just gave my crew hot oatmeal scratch raisin flax for breakfast and then for dinner I will do the same if it is going to get real cold again. I have never put Vasoline on the combs but my old rooster did get frostbite on his comb last year and the points fell off but he is fine, just looks different.

 

[Chick N Mama]

I do not have a heat lamp. I put heat out there when it is -20ish and windy. Heat lamps can be very dangerous for fires if something happens and it falls down. I just gave my crew hot oatmeal scratch raisin flax for breakfast and then for dinner I will do the same if it is going to get real cold again. I have never put Vasoline on the combs but my old rooster did get frostbite on his comb last year and the points fell off but he is fine, just looks different.

Thanks! I didn't want the risk of fire either. I just read the featured article on insulating the coop and decided they can handle it! They are eating and drinking the water so they will learn to be hardy - I am so new at this; so much to learn!

 

[suncatcher]

I don't heat my coop either, and I agree they will be fine, just make sure there are no drafts going through the coop. They will help keep each other warm while they are perched during the night, so ia a good idea to have at least five or six chickens, so they can do this. They also have down that they fluff up, and it helps keep them warm. Some people put on heat, some don't, it is up to you. If it is a small coop a 100 watt bulb will help, if it is a big coop, I am not so sure.

I too agree that fire danger is tooooooo scary, so they have lots of straw on the ground they can dig in and lay in during the day. I empty my water bowls every night, and also water them two or three times during the day, today may be more often.

I have never used vasiline, so not sure if it helps or not.

Glad you were able to get new chickens, hope they stay healthy, and that coyote leaves them alone!

What kind of chickens are you looking to hatch out?