Fermenting Feed for Meat Birds

[BCMaraniac]

How about building him a Guard Hut.... Something with three sides for prevailing wind and to help him keep his own heat in. Or do like Lacy Blues snag him up and put him inside. Is there enough room for him in there?

deb

Yes, there is room for him inside.....I guess I should have done that. He is protected from the wind and the snow Where he roosts, he is protected by the house and the windbreadk up against the house at a 90 degree angle as well a cover overhead. So he basically roosts in a corner and has protection on three sides He is up walking around on the roost this morning, and the others are out gathered around a feeder full of layer pellets in the covered part of their run. Everybody appears to be eating and moving about. I'm cooking them something warm this morning.

 

[Angelicisi]

Who's cold?

 

[KrazyChromatics]

so... am i the only one who when its frigid out heats their FF? i keep mine in the house in a 20 gallon trash can, but its in an unheated room, so it doesnt freeze but its still very cold and i lost a whole hatch of older chicks when they ate cold FF on a cold morning, they all got chilled and died, and my older hends even would stop eating and go off, stand on one foot and shiver so yes i litterally have it on the stove right now heating to a warm temp before i feed....

 

[Lacy Blues]

For what it's worth, just a note to say that my zone 8b is gonna be 19 with a windchill of 10 this weekend. Happens every few years.. But they said it was going to be a cold and wet winter.

Would you mind saying where you live? I live in what one chart says is 7a and another says is 5. I tend to believe that I live in 5! I haven't seen any forecasts like that for my area. I seriously hope it doesn't do that.

 

[Beekissed]

Well folks, we're going through a nasty storm at the moment... Blizzard and wind warnings up and it's currently 1 F with a windchill of - 20 F ! I went out to check on the girls tonight and noticed my poor, beautiful BA rooster has frostbite on his comb

. All of the tips have turned black

I feel terrible as I did everything I could to try and ensure this wouldn't happen but he was out some during the day and obviously didn't go in out of the wind when he should have. I feel just terrible about this. Does anyone have any suggestions on what I can do for him ? I know the damage is technically done and from what I'm reading he will likely lose the part of his comb that is affected. Most things I'm reading say to let nature take its course and it will eventually heal up on its own. He had such a nice comb and I hate the thought of him losing it

Usually frostbite occurs when there is high humidity and then cold temps. If you have your coop closed down tight to prevent the wind and cold and then they huddle together on the roosts all night, the humidity from their bodies and breathing moves upwards to the combs and wattles. I've rarely seen roosters that live wild outside with frostbite, but have seen those in coops wind up with it...it's something to consider. That's the only time my roosters ever got black tips..when I battened down the coop too much in single digit weather. When I opened it up more at the base of the coop and allowed more airflow, added deep litter, no more frost bite.

This pen of meat roosters had huge combs as most were leghorn mix birds and their pen was very open air, with temps in the low teens at night, and I saw a few white tips a time or two, but no true frostbite...their combs reddened right back up each day and no permanent damage happened.

You might want to open air flow at the bottom of the coop on these really cold nights, so as to move that humidity up and out the top vents and see if that will help keep him from frosting up.


Quote:

I LOVE this!!!! Perfect!!!!

so... am i the only one who when its frigid out heats their FF? i keep mine in the house in a 20 gallon trash can, but its in an unheated room, so it doesnt freeze but its still very cold and i lost a whole hatch of older chicks when they ate cold FF on a cold morning, they all got chilled and died, and my older hends even would stop eating and go off, stand on one foot and shiver so yes i litterally have it on the stove right now heating to a warm temp before i feed....

My FF wasn't ready to feed this morning as I had refreshed it too late last night and my room is pretty cold, so I fed dry....they hated it but they nibbled at it. That's an option when temps are this cold. My birds promptly left the coop, plowed through the snow and went to pick the cold food on the garbage pile...they clearly didn't appreciate the dry feed.

 

[Lacy Blues]

Who's cold?

Ugh! Should have rested in the house!

 

[LindaB220]

Would you mind saying where you live? I live in what one chart says is 7a and another says is 5. I tend to believe that I live in 5! I haven't seen any forecasts like that for my area. I seriously hope it doesn't do that.

Next door to Shreveport, La. 30 mi south of ark


Edited: I'm like 20 miles south of 8a

 

[LindaB220]

I LOVE this!!!! Perfect!!!!


My FF wasn't ready to feed this morning as I had refreshed it too late last night and my room is pretty cold, so I fed dry....they hated it but they nibbled at it. That's an option when temps are this cold. My birds promptly left the coop, plowed through the snow and went to pick the cold food on the garbage pile...they clearly didn't appreciate the dry feed.

Amazing pictures. I remember your video.

 

[Angelicisi]

Beautiful, keep thatt white stuff....but maaaaan you make it look so pretty.

I LOVE this!!!! Perfect!!!! My FF wasn't ready to feed this morning as I had refreshed it too late last night and my room is pretty cold, so I fed dry....they hated it but they nibbled at it. That's an option when temps are this cold. My birds promptly left the coop, plowed through the snow and went to pick the cold food on the garbage pile...they clearly didn't appreciate the dry feed.

 

[Beekissed]

I always look forward to going out in a fresh snow...feel like a kid again!

Then my body says, "Hey, moron! Down here! Remember me? Yeah, the old fart whose joints are sore and stiff.....yer not a kid anymore, you doofas!"

New snow always makes my heart happy..especially if the sun is shining and the sky is blue. Makes the snow look like a carpet of diamonds, glittering a million rays of light...and I feel so RICH! Ain't nobody gots diamonds like that in this world....