Hope you went easy on her! Remember: No harm, no fowl... or is it the other way around? Anyways, maybe she was making sure there wasn't any moisture inside the coop.
Connecticut!
- Thread starter Foghorn
- Start date
Hope you went easy on her! Remember: No harm, no fowl... or is it the other way around? Anyways, maybe she was making sure there wasn't any moisture inside the coop.
I'm thinking this might get more help if it was here. if CT stands for Connecticut.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...tion-for-this-sweet-duck-please#post_12612903
and it's actually 2 geese.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...tion-for-this-sweet-duck-please#post_12612903
and it's actually 2 geese.
Haven't been on here in a while, but I wanted to share what happened to one of our silkies not in the most recent record cold temps but afterwards. Last Friday it was down to at least -2 in our unheated coop, and while we usually keep the pop door open at night we had it shut. We had also gotten lax on the poop scooping (we have a poop board with PDZ in it). Our chickens were all fine the next day (Saturday), walking around and eating and drinking.
Sunday late-morning (back to normal temps in the teens overnight) we found one silkie dead in a nest box, frozen stiff (husband had replaced the water early in the morning but she was likely already dead then and he thought she was just laying or brooding). She'd shown no signs of distress. We'd had the pop door closed again overnight. It was pretty stinky in the coop, as the back vent was closed too.
I'm thinking it was not just the cold but the excessive moisture/ammonia from the waste buildup. We had 6 silkies and 2 large fowl in a 5x6 coop. I'd been reminding my husband of this and I know it's a risk factor but now we've had the rotten experience of possibly being responsible for the loss of a chicken. The others are doing great, even the weak little silkie who makes thin-shelled eggs and recently had a prolapse followed by a molt. They have a run to go out in during the day and we offer them supervised free roaming, but this winter they've mostly elected to stay inside. Just rotten weather.
Anyways, just wanted to put it out there. Could have been a random loss, but they're all 1.5 years old and had been doing just fine. Birds sadly don't always give much warning.
Sunday late-morning (back to normal temps in the teens overnight) we found one silkie dead in a nest box, frozen stiff (husband had replaced the water early in the morning but she was likely already dead then and he thought she was just laying or brooding). She'd shown no signs of distress. We'd had the pop door closed again overnight. It was pretty stinky in the coop, as the back vent was closed too.
I'm thinking it was not just the cold but the excessive moisture/ammonia from the waste buildup. We had 6 silkies and 2 large fowl in a 5x6 coop. I'd been reminding my husband of this and I know it's a risk factor but now we've had the rotten experience of possibly being responsible for the loss of a chicken. The others are doing great, even the weak little silkie who makes thin-shelled eggs and recently had a prolapse followed by a molt. They have a run to go out in during the day and we offer them supervised free roaming, but this winter they've mostly elected to stay inside. Just rotten weather.
Anyways, just wanted to put it out there. Could have been a random loss, but they're all 1.5 years old and had been doing just fine. Birds sadly don't always give much warning.
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Exposure is a matter of low temps x time. A chicken surviving one night of very low temps doesn't mean it can do it for a second night, in fact it will be all the more vulnerable the next. I'm very sorry for your loss.
So you think it was just the cold?
We've also been struggling with the silkies being broody and she'd been spending a lot of time in a box alone vs. some of the others would huddle up together. The molting chicken we'd make sure was placed between the two large fowl on the roost, but no amount of trying kept the broodies from going back down to the nest boxes.
It's so hard to tell what the best thing to do is. I've heard so many warnings on here about moisture and people saying to keep the airflow going even if you lose some more heat that way. Also so many warnings about the fire risk with heat lamps and the cost of lost-acclimation if you put a lamp in and the chickens then move away from the heat source. Now I wonder what to do the rest of the winter.
We did think of putting them in the garage that coldest night, but that's swinging them between 0 degrees and 50 degrees. That didn't seem like a great plan for their health either.
We've also been struggling with the silkies being broody and she'd been spending a lot of time in a box alone vs. some of the others would huddle up together. The molting chicken we'd make sure was placed between the two large fowl on the roost, but no amount of trying kept the broodies from going back down to the nest boxes.
It's so hard to tell what the best thing to do is. I've heard so many warnings on here about moisture and people saying to keep the airflow going even if you lose some more heat that way. Also so many warnings about the fire risk with heat lamps and the cost of lost-acclimation if you put a lamp in and the chickens then move away from the heat source. Now I wonder what to do the rest of the winter.
We did think of putting them in the garage that coldest night, but that's swinging them between 0 degrees and 50 degrees. That didn't seem like a great plan for their health either.
Broodies can be so single minded. I swear, i had one that would turn into a zombie. Being in the box alone instead of with the rest can be an issue. I put a ton of bedding in them this week just in case though.
Unlike allot of people here on BYC, I have no problem with adding a little heat in these extreme cases. it's not like I use it all winter, just on the crazy low swings.
Moist air can lead to frost bite or respiratory things, but it doesn't sound like that was your issue.
Unlike allot of people here on BYC, I have no problem with adding a little heat in these extreme cases. it's not like I use it all winter, just on the crazy low swings.
Moist air can lead to frost bite or respiratory things, but it doesn't sound like that was your issue.
Thank you for the input New chick. We may run power out to the coop so we at least have an extra option.
I am glad the temperature is going back up. I have been almost afraid to check on my chickens for fear of finding them all frozen. So far so good but none of them have started laying. I am hoping that they will start laying when it warms up a bit. They are 24 weeks old and I am dying for my first egg! Lol 
We got our first egg in over a month. Hooray for slightly longer days!
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