Consolidated Kansas

[Trish44]

It's 10 degrees here now & it's only supposed to get to 19 today, brrrrr! I guess we have to be thankful we're not in Wisconsin where it's going to be 50 below. I can't imagine that kind of temperature. I heard that it's colder in NY right now than it is in Alaska. I was in Alaska on vacation one year in June & even around the glaciers it was chilly, but not uncomfortably so. We didn't even have to have a coat except for one day when it got windy, wet, & cold. Other than that it was really beautiful up there.

I have had one loss so far to this arctic blast, I hope I don't have any more. I lost my little black shoulder peahen. It was really sad because she has fought so hard to make it & she was such a cute little thing. She just didn't have the strength to fight off that terrible cold. So now all I have left if the lone peacock. I guess for now he's going to have to be happy with 3 turkey hens as company.

Well you all try to stay warm today.

 

[HEChicken]

Oh no, another peahen. Trish, that is awful and I'm so sorry for your loss.

Our high so far has only been 6 and the next time I looked at the thermometer it had dropped back to 5. Our forecast high is 14 but I don't think we're going to make it...

I finally got my tree taken down. Last year it worked so well to leave the lights on that this year I left everything on it and just carried it downstairs fully decorated. Is that not lazy??? For some reason I just really don't like decorating and undercorating so this way all I have to do is carry the tree up and down and call it good. It is nice to have the space back in the living room too.

KKB - my apologies you did say it was oxytetracycline and I forgot. Anyway, I will try to get a bottle of the Agrimycin to have on hand. I'm sure it will get used at some point. I've had the Tylan for months and this is the first time I've used it but I was really glad to have it when I needed it.

 

[chicken danz]

Well I went outside about 10:00 am to feed and water and just finished a minute ago. Two and a half hours out there! I was bundled up pretty good and the only thing that got really miserable was one finger on my right hand and my toes got cold. And even though I had my mouth and nose covered my asthma is acting up right now. That cold air and asthma just don't get along.
I did have a loss in the brooder house. One little chick was under a light but the waterers were frozen even with oil heaters in both places. I did turn up the oil heater in the brooder while I was out there. It will be pulling a lot more amps so I will have to watch it carefully to make sure it doesn't trip the breaker. It's on a thermostat but at the lower power setting it just wasn't putting out enough heat. Thank goodness for the sweeter heaters. I have them set down really low and the chicks are all gathered under them. I need to find another cord and put a florescent light out in the brooder so I can see it and tell the power is still on.
One of my geese got separated from her group and she was limping. I caught her and put her in the pen with the older geese. I wish I could corral all of them in there. But that is a two person job for sure.
I just bucketed out water instead of attempting to use the outdoor spigot and/or hose. Not fun but it was better than fighting frozen hoses for the next few days.
We are up to a whopping 5 degrees right now but unfortunately the wind has increased quite a bit.

 

[KsKingBee]

Anyways, I just posted a review of my Ador Store auto chicken pop door. I know there are discussions every now and then on who uses what. I've been very happy with my purchase.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/products/adorstore-ador1/reviews/8387

We bought an Ador last summer too. After having a problem with it eating batteries from it having a drag on the door I installed two washers and it has worked great ever since. We use the button a lot when feeding the birds, very convenient. We will probably get another one when I build another coop.

 

[sunflowerparrot]

My chickens (and all the other animals) have fared very well with this arctic blast. They've been getting awesome treats of cooked pasta, oatmeal, mashed potatoes and tons and tons of meal worms! I do believe the worse is over as far as the temperatures.

 

[zigzag45]

It's been super cold here. I accidentally cracked two eggs getting them inside so I scrambled them and put them back in the coop along with some keifer to top it off. They seemed pretty happy with that.

Also, with cutting back on their dairy the runny poo thing seems to have gone away. I still see it some, but it seems fair. Thanks for the help on that.

I was glad to see the question on vasoline. I've seen others that say they do it. But, it just didn't seem very practical. However, since I have a smaller number than most of you I figured I could if I needed to. It was -5 this morning and most of the birds were outside under the coop. I was hoping that they were smart enough to go inside if it were bad. I did leave their "good morning" light on all day in case that helped. However, they all left it and went outside, so I figured they were ok.

@HEChicken -- the battery isn't rechargeable. However, their website now lists an AC option where you put a rechargeable in on an AC trickle charger (that's what I'm guessing it is). I might do that. For now I'm just putting a new battery in. Back when I bought mine they were selling AC adapters for $40 I think it was. Now they suggest just buying the charger and battery at WalMart. I know it's hard for businesses to compete with large chains like that, but I appreciate when they admit there's a good solution out there and refer you to where to get it.

Here's their link: http://adorstore.com/products/115v-ac-power-adapter-for-ador1

@KsKingBee - the washer thing sounds interesting. Where did you put the washers? Mine seems to operate pretty clean. There is one place where it sorta "bumps" while it goes up. But, I can't detect any drag/issues on it.

 

[chicken danz]

I went back out to move the light so I could see the brooder house still had power. That poor oil heater is putting out heat but it just can't keep up with this cold. I moved it closer to the side where the biggest bunch of, and the smallest chicks have been hanging out hoping it would help a little more. I just keep telling myself that I only have one more day to deal with this mess and it will warm up some.
I feel totally exhausted and I think it's just because of the cold wearing on me.
I did manage to catch one of the turkeys just as she laid her egg today. The other one had already laid and it froze. So while it was still warm I popped it in the incubator. It'll be a day later than the other two in there but at least I know this one didn't freeze. I didn't even bother looking for other eggs today. I just wanted to make sure the birds were thriving. They all went back to their coops mid bm-afternoon when the wind came up a little. Not that many of them were out to begin with.
I must admit I did miss interacting with them today. Usually one or two of them do some dumb looking run and tumble when they see me, getting so excited about fresh food. Today I could have been invisible. They just didn't care!
Come on spring!!!

 

[Trish44]

Yeah Danz my birds in the breeder coop came out very briefly to eat today & went right back in, they didn't want anything to do with that cold out there. I didn't even let me laying flock out today, it was just too cold to let them out there. I know what you mean about missing them, I miss seeing them out in the yard running around when they can't come out. I did take them a cake of suet out to pick at, I figure that would give them some extra fuel for the cold night. I had taken them out a head of cabbage yesterday to pick at & entertain themselves & they ate all of that. The other day I had several apples that were past their prime for my DH's lunch so I took them out & let the birds in the main coop eat them, they just love apples. I just leave them whole now & they just attack them. I did just minimum stuff out there today, just what I had to do to get them all fed & watered. So far the chicks on the growout pen are doing OK & the ones in the brooder in the garage as well. The water in the garage did freeze last night, so I had to replace that waterer with a plastic bottle cut off so I could empty out the ice. I also moved it closer to the heat lamp too by a bit to see if that would keep it from freezing.

We just have to hope that since winter started so early that we will have an early spring, good thoughts everyone.

 

[cherwill]

I'm sorry some of you are losing birds to this nasty cold weather. So far, my girls are handling it. They might be handling it better than I am!

 

[Trish44]

I'm sorry some of you are losing birds to this nasty cold weather. So far, my girls are handling it. They might be handling it better than I am!

I agree with you there cherwill, I know I'm not handling it well myself either. The cold is making my chest hurt every time I go out there with this cold, ugh. I hope it's warmer tomorrow so I can at least breathe out there & the chickens can come out & get some fresh air. I'm sure they're getting bored standing in the coops. Our forecast says a high of 42 tomorrow, I sure hope that's right & it actually comes true.