deep freeze - brilliant :(

[fiberart57]

I also deeply empathize. Last week it got down to -4 degrees and while my coop is insulated I have vents all around the top. I'm more afraid of them getting poisoned by an unvented coop. We vaselined their combs but it still got them. Four of them, the four with single, floppy combs, got frostbitten. I felt so much like a bad chicken owner I wanted to cry. But I got some Bag Balm, as recommended by someone here, and rubbed it on their combs. It's been warmer this week, 19 degrees or so, but I'm thinking of finding a way to heat the coop with a light. Someone recommended a black light because all it puts out is heat.

Mary

 

[chookchick]

If it's that humid in there I would open up any ventilation you can get going up high. You CAN get the humidity down lower than outside, all you need to do is keep things dry, a bit warmer so warm moist air rises, and keep poop cleaned up so it is not adding to humidity. If you've got a few concrete pavers around, and a fireplace insert or wood stove, you can heat and rotate them out, putting them under the water until you get something better. They can handle the teens just fine if acclimated, good luck! We just came out of our "freeze week", and pipes are bursting all over, but now it is close to 50F!

 

[technodoll]

The poop is frozen solid to the sleeping pallet, I need a hammer and chisel to whack it off.

I do clean the coop often, keep the bedding dry, have a heat lamp in there 24/7.

I draft-proofed and insulated as best as I could but there is only so much you can do with a shabby, crooked, 100+ year old building that the rats and mice keep invading.

I sawed out some vents near the top of the coop but freezing cold air keeps seeping in, nothing is rising to carry out any moisture.

100% humidity in the coop this morning, two coughing hens, it's a nightmare.