Extream weather help now please

I am so not an expert about chickens yet. But I wanted to reply so you know someone is listening.

Do you have a garage? can you bring them into there for the night, maybe temporarily? Set up a small space heater for the coop, with extension cords? Put heating pads in the coop, covered in rags to keep them clean? Or hot water bottles, right against the chickens?

I'm sorry it's so cold where you are!

 

Do you have old tarps or, if nothing else, a sheet you can nail to north/west sides of coop? How old are your chooks? Is the draft moving through the coop fast enough to blow out a candle (make smoke move horizontally at speed)?

If they are adult they should be fine if you can throw up something to prevent the worst of the drafts.

Also, double check the integrity of attachment of heat lamps (don't just use clamps - zip tie or otherwise anchor clamps to beams).

Good luck!

 

If you have straw bales, stack these up on the windward sides of the coop for extra insulation.

That plus the tarps Ivan mentioned if your coop is drafty and/or the winds are strong. Even tack a sheet of plywood onto the exposed side to block the worst of the drafts as a temporary measure ... or put a sheet of plywood against the wind-exposed wall and then stack straw bales against that.

Is ice forming on the inside of the coop? If so, is it from sleet blowing in, or is your coop too damp? You want the coop to have no drafts at the roost and floor level, but you want some airflow up higher so that moisture escapes. Cold+damp=frostbite.

If you can get the coop insulated by stacking straw bales, and have heat lamps, and the coop is not damp, you should be ok. You might want to vasaline their combs as a precaution against frostbite.

 

Hi, I'm up in Arvada - not nice up here, either. I just went out and double-checked on mine, and put a blanket over the well pump. It's the draft you really need to worry about, more than the cold. As you can't go out right now and caulk all the leaks, I'd go for anything you can tack up to cover the outside of the coop to keep the drafts out - tarp, heavy blanket, big sheets of plastic (even big trash bags, insulated ground covers - you might have these if you're a camper, bubble wrap. Basically, anything to keep the drafts out. Best wishes. Keep us posted.

 

Coop Cabana, LOVE your avatar!

GLMC, did you get them buttoned up tight? You've got a lot of chickens, I see, so you can't really bring them into the kitchen.

 

It's early for such a severe storm- are any of the birds also in molt? here are some thoughts-

https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=7693-seasonal-concerns

But I think you're in a serious situation and need immediate shelter for these animals so you can regroup and consider what to do next...

One option is to have a huddle box inside the coop so that no matter how bad it gets outdoors they have a draft-proof well-bedded and preferably insulated extra shelter.

If you have any wild bird suet, it brings up their body temp fast, so does corn as part of a diet, not a full substitute.

Sorry to hear of your troubles, this weather will be coming to us soon and I *do* empathize.