Colorado

[iluvchessies]

How about eggs in the cold? Either my husband or I have been home since this cold snap started so we are able to collect several times a day. But when it's single digits outside and not much warmer in the coop, those egg can freeze quickly. This is our first winter with hens. What do you all do, if anything?

The girls seem no worse for wear in this weather....they just don't venture out in the run much. I'm feeding them scratch and BOSS both in and outside to coax them out a little. My dogs are very happy to not be outside in this frigid cold (at the moment, 2.7 degrees, above zero finally today)....especially the newest addition to the family! Our 12 week old CBR puppy definitely preferred the weather on Sunday!!

 

[trsturself]

How about eggs in the cold? Either my husband or I have been home since this cold snap started so we are able to collect several times a day. But when it's single digits outside and not much warmer in the coop, those egg can freeze quickly. This is our first winter with hens. What do you all do, if anything? The girls seem no worse for wear in this weather....they just don't venture out in the run much. I'm feeding them scratch and BOSS both in and outside to coax them out a little. My dogs are very happy to not be outside in this frigid cold (at the moment, 2.7 degrees, above zero finally today)....especially the newest addition to the family! Our 12 week old CBR puppy definitely preferred the weather on Sunday!!

I have collected frozen eggs last winter. They are ok for hard boiling, that's about it. If they crack, throw them away. Someone on the diy contest thread just posted a heated nest box to keep the eggs above freezing. If we supplemented light and had more eggs in the winter I might think about this but as it is I'm ok with a few frozen eggs here or there. Just thought I'd post this pic I just took. It says it's -4 here. These guys don't seem to mind. Time to fill the feeder for them though so they have enough fuel to stay warm. You can see a bunch more in the tree. And people worry about the big fluffy chickens inside a coop!

 

[jime]

Today I got my new Turkeys (2 trios Midget Whites) all the way from Oregon and they are not liking the weather a bit.
I open the coops for everybody but no one want out gave them food an water them.
I was a bit late for getting organize for winter yesterday have to put the tarps on the 12 coops and straw. Connect the heated buckets for the horses, the rabbits and the cow and the goats.
My barn cats are not staying in the hay any more they just want to be in the tack room in their fluffy bed.
My German Shepherd dog (the flock guardian is out of duty we got him all the way from Germany to avoid leg problems and well we got one that turn out to have more problems than one wants.He has problem with the two hips and the two knees surgery is not happening 12k each and not even 50% guarantee for hips. He is on injections for the pain every three weeks but with this cold can not even be out as soon as he gets out is a three legged dog. So now I am gonna have to be looking into put lactic fence all over my chicken pens, something I have too do pretty soon before the foxes start to get hungry again.
Lots of things to do and not enough nice days

 

[maggiemo]

I collected eggs three times today and I still had one that was frozen. If I had a heated nest box I think all 28 birds would be in it.

 

[COChix]

I have been collecting eggs regularly so freezing is not an issue, but check this out....

https://www.backyardchickens.com/g/a/6860533/heated-nesting-boxes-help-stop-frozen-eggs/

Thought the idea was rather smart, I found it on this thread which has a lot of good ideas, it is a long thread but with reading...

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/631861/diy-thread-lets-see-your-inventions/2980#post_14334217


Had to rig up a heat lamp in the coop as it was -1, went back out and changed some of the material I had covered the openings with on the coop. Went ahead and put plywood over those opening and left a little opening at the top of th coop for ventilation, we will see how that goes....

 

[ryan820]

Hey guys I have an issue with my new peeps...

The hen isn't leaving her nest when she poops and so the box is deplorable. I didn't realize she was doing this so today I checked her peeps and found one of them filthy. So I took her inside and gave her a warm bath and got her all fluffy. I noticed when I returned her that her sister was kind of messy too but mostly fine and the other was clean and fluffy. This fuzz is very important right now! So I guess I need to find them clean conditions as momma isn't taking proper care of herself.

So my plan is to place her in her own box with the heat lamp and check them every day to ensure they're clean and dry and well fed.

Any input for suggestions??

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[trsturself]

It didn't get above 0 here today. So much for 7deg! It's supposed to be -7 tonight with a wind chill of -10 to -25 tonight! Brrr! Since it's already -4 I think we'll get lower than -4.
Thinking maybe I should find a way to lock the horses into their stall. We don't have a door on it so I'm not sure how I'd do that but one already has ice crystals on it's back from staying outside all day. We don't have trees or other wind breaks on our property so the stall is their only option for cover. I put more hay in there to entice them in but they usually just eat and leave.


Ok, I noticed it was getting dark while typing this so I put the computer down and went out to see where they were and give them more hay. I think they were already in the stall because I didn't see them and it took them awhile to notice I was getting hay out. Usually they are right there waiting for me to load the wagon so they can eat out of it. I started moving towards the stall and they ran for it. They are both in there eating now so hopefully they'll stay. One didn't have any snow on her so I think she's figured out it's nicer in there. We'll see how they are in the morning.
I did a quick search on it and it said the temp horses are most comfortable in is 20-40deg. That is the temp their body doesn't have to work to heat or cool itself. It also says the temp they need intervention with shelter and/or extra food is -15! It said it takes 10-20 days for a horse to acclimate to colder weather. Too bad we only had 1 day! We've had a few cold spells prior to this but lots of nice warm weather in between. Our Tennessee Walker is bigger and has a much thicker coat of hair so I think he doesn't mind it as much but our Arabian is much smaller and I think she gets colder faster. I think that's why she is in the stall more often.

I checked on the outdoor kitty. I opened the door and he stuck his head out of his crate. I was glad to see him in there. That's where it is the warmest and comfiest for him. It is a small crate with a moving blanket and towel shoved in there near the 2 lights keeping things above freezing.

 

[yawningreyhound]

So today I did something different. I left the heat lamp on in the "sleeping" coop and put a light in the covered run. I've never used the heatlamp. I left it on yesterday to heat their sleeping coop during the day and it actually got up to 27 in there. But dropped down to the normal 7 degrees plus ambient by midnight. They were moving pretty slowly this morning.

I go out every couple hours to trade out their frigid (tho' in a heated bowl) water so it's more chicken drinking temp and what do I find?

Two birds in the "sleeping" coop (where the heat lamp is and it's 18 degrees) happily perched on one of the roosts and two birds underneath the 60w halogen in the covered run (it's probably 4 feet above them). I had chased them into the coop while I was tramping around in the run doing chores and trading out lightbulbs and I guess they decided they quite liked it!

AND I had to fill the feeder. They've not been eating their normal gargantuan amount since starting the molt. Today they chowed.

It's minus 3 outside.

I'm sorry, folks, I've just given in on the heat thing. Please don't judge too harshly.

We're forecast to get -15 tonight.

If the power goes out, chicken coop will be one of the things we give power to with the generator.

If they weren't molting, maybe I wouldn't be so paranoid (yes, I would, who am I kidding, eh?).

 

[COChix]

So today I did something different.  I left the heat lamp on in the "sleeping" coop and put a light in the covered run.  I've never used the heatlamp.  I left it on yesterday to heat their sleeping coop during the day and it actually got up to 27 in there.  But dropped down to the normal 7 degrees plus ambient by midnight.  They were moving pretty slowly this morning.

I go out every couple hours to trade out their frigid (tho' in a heated bowl) water so it's more chicken drinking temp and what do I find?

Two birds in the "sleeping" coop (where the heat lamp is and it's 18 degrees) happily perched on one of the roosts and two birds underneath the 60w halogen in the covered run (it's probably 4 feet above them).  I had chased them into the coop while I was tramping around in the run doing chores and trading out lightbulbs and I guess they decided they quite liked it!

AND I had to fill the feeder.  They've not been eating their normal gargantuan amount since starting the molt.  Today they chowed.  

It's minus 3 outside.

I'm sorry, folks, I've just given in on the heat thing.  Please don't judge too harshly.   

We're forecast to get -15 tonight.

If the power goes out, chicken coop will be one of the things we give power to with the generator.

If they weren't molting, maybe I wouldn't be so paranoid (yes, I would, who am I kidding, eh?).

Hey, nobody is gonna judge you for taking an animals well being into consideration, given they cannot speak to us. It's not like your subjecting them to a space no larger than a sheet of paper their entire life, like a battery hens are. If you feel better that is all that matter right? Plus your at 7000ft! Here is what I posted on another thread, sorry for the duplication to anyone in both threads.....

Ok so went out and the coop was -1 at like 3pm. So had to change the material on all the opening of the coop except the top vent. So of course it was the calamity of errors, wrong drill bit, the wood we had for coop window last year got used somewhere else, so had to round that up, I had to dig out plastic for part of a window and tack both inside the coop and outside. Boy was the gang unhappy with me climbing in the coop and staple gunning plastic on the upper windows, drilling a 2x4 into the ceiling and loudly hanging two infrared heat lamps. Of course they were happier with the outcome at lights out, meaning the run door gets closed, the temp was 4. So that is positive, now we are under a winter advisory overnight and windchill tomorrow am is expected to be -10 to -20. Definitely going to worry about the gang, but aside from brining them inside, which I am sure my bf and four dogs would object. Or maybe the dogs wouldn't wink.png. I have done all I can do for them today. They do have about 2 - 3 feet of deep bedding on the floor of the coop, roosts off the ground and insulated coop, so all should be fine. sad.png please tell me it will.....

On a positive we got 17/23 eggs today, I expect less tomorrow given today's scenario.

 

[trsturself]

So today I did something different. I left the heat lamp on in the "sleeping" coop and put a light in the covered run. I've never used the heatlamp. I left it on yesterday to heat their sleeping coop during the day and it actually got up to 27 in there. But dropped down to the normal 7 degrees plus ambient by midnight. They were moving pretty slowly this morning.

I go out every couple hours to trade out their frigid (tho' in a heated bowl) water so it's more chicken drinking temp and what do I find?

Two birds in the "sleeping" coop (where the heat lamp is and it's 18 degrees) happily perched on one of the roosts and two birds underneath the 60w halogen in the covered run (it's probably 4 feet above them). I had chased them into the coop while I was tramping around in the run doing chores and trading out lightbulbs and I guess they decided they quite liked it!

AND I had to fill the feeder. They've not been eating their normal gargantuan amount since starting the molt. Today they chowed.

It's minus 3 outside.

I'm sorry, folks, I've just given in on the heat thing. Please don't judge too harshly.

We're forecast to get -15 tonight.

If the power goes out, chicken coop will be one of the things we give power to with the generator.

If they weren't molting, maybe I wouldn't be so paranoid (yes, I would, who am I kidding, eh?).

As long as you have adequate ventilation a little heat to raise it above 0 to make you feel better isn't a bad thing. The temp a chicken needs shelter and/or extra feed is 12F. Since we are getting well below that some help isn't a bad thing.