Colorado

[luckied]

Howdy strangers, its good to see some familiar faces   and some new ones, too   Is there a better way to heat a coop at 7,000 feet than with lamps? My electric bill was astronomical last winter.

I'm glad you posted this!! I had just been thinking about posting this same question. I'm at about 7500' and this is my 1st winter with my ladies. They have an elevated coop that my husband built and can modify if necessary, but we have no intentions of putting a heat lamp in.
I've been told if the coop is draft free and moisture can not get in then they can be just fine even through the freezing temps outside. Can anyone tell me if they can say that's true because that is how they also do it this way?
It's a personal choice to not want a heat lamp not that it would be impossible.
Thank you for any advice you might be able to give.

 

[lomine]

I'm glad you posted this!! I had just been thinking about posting this same question. I'm at about 7500' and this is my 1st winter with my ladies. They have an elevated coop that my husband built and can modify if necessary, but we have no intentions of putting a heat lamp in.
I've been told if the coop is draft free and moisture can not get in then they can be just fine even through the freezing temps outside. Can anyone tell me if they can say that's true because that is how they also do it this way?
It's a personal choice to not want a heat lamp not that it would be impossible.
Thank you for any advice you might be able to give.

It's more about moisture being able to get out. The coop should be draft free but it also needs to be well ventilated. The best is to have lots of vents at the top to draw the moisture out. The chickens will add moisture to the air as they exhale. If that moisture is trapped in the coop if will feel colder and you run a greater risk of frostbite.

ETA: If the coop is heated is makes it harder for the birds to acclimate to the colder temperatures. Some breeds are better in the cold but most should be just fine.

 

[aim0474]

I just ordered a K&H heat mat for mine. My smallest girl only has wing feathers but it is time for them to move outside. She can lean on it for warmth if she needs it, but it wont heat the entire coop. The other 2 have enough feathers I am not worried.

We are camping in Estes this weekend freezing our tail feathers off, but having fun. We even dared heading into the park for the free day. Wasnt as bad as I was expecting people wise, but the top was closed for snow.

 

[Mtn Margie]

Welcome to the hood!

The elk are in full rut. It is noisy out there.......

 

[aim0474]

I took the neicemails in lae over to the YMCA to see some elk. The lazy way of doing it. We did get to hear the big guy bugle.

It was all beautiful scenery but after a few hours I was done with all the traffic. We didn't even go into town this time and we usually go and get a treat.

Sad the cookie store closed down though. That was our favorite place. We found the other location in Loveland by Boyd but just not the same.

 

[aim0474]

Seriously my phones auto correct is something else.

 

[uzisuzuki]

Question for y'all: so, I just had to euthanise my last 2 Polish hens on Friday due to the same issues the other 2 had to be euthanised for in July (prolapse vent, egg shell breakage inside). Again, none of the other hens are showing any of the same issues. My question is, can this type of thing be a genetic problem? They were never consistent/reliable layers & had always had issues to some degree, but I guess I'm just trying to find a reason other than my being a crap owner for what happened to them. I dusted/cleaned for external parasites & will be starting a dewormer this week, as well as reintroducing layer pellets into their all flock feed for the remaining birds just to be on the safe side.

I'm pretty broke up about this. They were the first hens I bought after Odysseus adopted me & started treating me like his hen. Having to decide to euthanise hasn't gotten any easier despite how crappy this year has been by giving me ample practice.

 

[ryan820]

Hi everyone...been trying to read up on what's been going on ... this thread is insanely long.

Anyway, having a bad chicken day....after losing all but one of our lav Orpingtons, I get a text from the neighbor telling us a hawk got our remaining orp. She escaped the run...how I do not know. Friday's bout of wind knocked a branch down that broke our fence. I thought it was fixed... was too dark to see but I suspect she got out that way.

Now...how to tell the seven year old of the loss.

We have the rest of our flock but we loved those lavs.

 

[ryan820]

Question for y'all: so, I just had to euthanise my last 2 Polish hens on Friday due to the same issues the other 2 had to be euthanised for in July (prolapse vent, egg shell breakage inside). Again, none of the other hens are showing any of the same issues. My question is, can this type of thing be a genetic problem? They were never consistent/reliable layers & had always had issues to some degree, but I guess I'm just trying to find a reason other than my being a crap owner for what happened to them. I dusted/cleaned for external parasites & will be starting a dewormer this week, as well as reintroducing layer pellets into their all flock feed for the remaining birds just to be on the safe side.

I'm pretty broke up about this. They were the first hens I bought after Odysseus adopted me & started treating me like his hen. Having to decide to euthanise hasn't gotten any easier despite how crappy this year has been by giving me ample practice.

I can't sany for sure but it certainly seems that way. We had six lavender Orpingtons and five of the six all fell "ill" with the same issues. None of my other orps had this illness but the seller/breeder gave me useless advice and then just stopped calling me.

Anyway, ar these birds the same age and of the same parents?

 

[ryan820]

Seriously my phones auto correct is something else.

It won't be the bomb that ends the world but a bad autocorrect between two world leaders.