First winter storm & lessons learned

[Idaho Chicken Bungalow]

I have seen a pattern in where they migrate during the day. I have not experienced the extreme temps you have described minus 6 has been out coldest. Now for the thaw out. muddy mess for sure. The best of Luck sent your way.

 

[ChickyWhicky]

Good thing we moved birds to the barn. I can barely get into the front of coop.

 

[Idaho Chicken Bungalow]

Please take care of yourself as well!

 

[3KillerBs]

I could only stand working outside a little at a time yesterday. My lungs literally hurt from being out there.

When I lived in Massachusetts I learned the value of an old-fashioned WOOL scarf.

Wool because it stays warm even if it gets wet from your breath condensing on it.

 

[YourChickHasAPastyButt]

Learned nothing may stop snow getting into the coop in weather like this. It's not been a fun weekend. We ended up with 14 birds in 4 big dog crates in our basement through the worst of it, after having added another bag of bedding in the coop the day before the storm was coming. I kept an eye on them and made the call in the night to get them out of the coop when we hit -10 ambient. Didn't want to shock them temperature wise from our house back out to negative temps, so they stayed inside until yesterday when it made it back up to almost 20. Went back out yesterday to find a dusting of snow throughout the coop. (cleaned it out completely and new bedding) Not sure if anything I would have done would have stopped it, save sealing the ventilation off completely. Had already covered the East and West louvered vents, but the wind was so bad and the snow was a very fine powdery type that it apparently blew inside when the wind shifted toward the South. Sucked dealing with that many birds in those crates (what a mess), but none of our birds got hurt save one from pecking from being confined in such small places. I have two birds now with Hen Healer on them from a rooster injury and then pecking to an EE prior to the storm, and then pecking on a Barred Rock from being confined with another, but it's a small spot. Before we placed them back in the coop we took the time to give them each a well check and clean off and dry their feet good. Also learned our Golden Comet is laying, which we weren't sure of until we found one from her in a crate with 3 EE'rs.

Sometimes things you weren't expecting save you from disaster. I had bought two dog crates to have a couple makeshift chicken hospitals and had an EE in one from a rooster injury and pecking. Then ended up putting 7 birds in each until first thing in the morning until I could get to tractor supply to buy the last two they had. We're $240 into dog crates this week, but we have 'em now in case this happens again. They tolerated it for about a day before getting mean with each other, being placed 4, 4, 3, and 3 in the crates. Our 4 australorps didn't care about the situation in the least and they were kept together in one. Easy going breed.

Learned a few things. As soon as we put the last bird in the crates, even packed in 2 crates, we made it pitch black and they all just laid down within a few minutes. Kept it dark until I was able to get a couple more crates to separate them more. Also learned the upkeep in this situation is almost nonstop to keep them fed and watered and the cleanup... well...

Worst story from the area is one farmer who apparently didn't pay attention and lost 50 head of cattle.

 

[SmiYa0126]

Learned nothing may stop snow getting into the coop in weather like this. It's not been a fun weekend. We ended up with 14 birds in 4 big dog crates in our basement through the worst of it, after having added another bag of bedding in the coop the day before the storm was coming. I kept an eye on them and made the call in the night to get them out of the coop when we hit -10 ambient. Didn't want to shock them temperature wise from our house back out to negative temps, so they stayed inside until yesterday when it made it back up to almost 20. Went back out yesterday to find a dusting of snow throughout the coop. (cleaned it out completely and new bedding) Not sure if anything I would have done would have stopped it, save sealing the ventilation off completely. Had already covered the East and West louvered vents, but the wind was so bad and the snow was a very fine powdery type that it apparently blew inside when the wind shifted toward the South. Sucked dealing with that many birds in those crates (what a mess), but none of our birds got hurt save one from pecking from being confined in such small places. I have two birds now with Hen Healer on them from a rooster injury and then pecking to an EE prior to the storm, and then pecking on a Barred Rock from being confined with another, but it's a small spot. Before we placed them back in the coop we took the time to give them each a well check and clean off and dry their feet good. Also learned our Golden Comet is laying, which we weren't sure of until we found one from her in a crate with 3 EE'rs.

Sometimes things you weren't expecting save you from disaster. I had bought two dog crates to have a couple makeshift chicken hospitals and had an EE in one from a rooster injury and pecking. Then ended up putting 7 birds in each until first thing in the morning until I could get to tractor supply to buy the last two they had. We're $240 into dog crates this week, but we have 'em now in case this happens again. They tolerated it for about a day before getting mean with each other, being placed 4, 4, 3, and 3 in the crates. Our 4 australorps didn't care about the situation in the least and they were kept together in one. Easy going breed.

Learned a few things. As soon as we put the last bird in the crates, even packed in 2 crates, we made it pitch black and they all just laid down within a few minutes. Kept it dark until I was able to get a couple more crates to separate them more. Also learned the upkeep in this situation is almost nonstop to keep them fed and watered and the cleanup... well...

Worst story from the area is one farmer who apparently didn't pay attention and lost 50 head of cattle.

Great job!

So sorry for those cows, it had to be really cold for them to die.

 

[Iluveggers]

I feel very fortunate up in the NE with a low of 4 over the last few days. May spend my TSC gift card on a new crate to have a 2nd on hand.

One thing I did over the windows was add 2 layers of garden cloth. It’s breathable but kept any snow from blowing in, and dulled the wind quite a bit. I had an old row cover with some tears, but cut out a couple of pieces big enough to fit over the windows. Glad I didn’t throw it away. It was too torn to cover anything next year, so I was happy to find a new life for it.

 

[centrarchid]

With next storm event you might be able to use wind to move drifts away from walkway using a carefully placed pieced of plywood, especially if you know the direction of prevailing wind during and following snowfall. The same scour holes created can be places the chickens will hang out.

 

[3KillerBs]

Learned nothing may stop snow getting into the coop in weather like this. It's not been a fun weekend.

Not sure if anything I would have done would have stopped it, save sealing the ventilation off completely. Had already covered the East and West louvered vents, but the wind was so bad and the snow was a very fine powdery type that it apparently blew inside when the wind shifted toward the South.

I don't know how big your coop is, but I've been very glad to have made mine so huge because of a few tropical storms, the ice storms here last winter, and the DRIVING rain that came ahead of this cold snap for us.

You're right. Some wind and precipitation combinations just cannot be kept out completely. But if the coop is big enough you still have a dry area out of the wind's reach.

Learned a few things. As soon as we put the last bird in the crates, even packed in 2 crates, we made it pitch black and they all just laid down within a few minutes. Kept it dark until I was able to get a couple more crates to separate them more.

Excellent idea!

You should write up this experience as an article to share these lessons with people for the future.

Our 4 australorps didn't care about the situation in the least and they were kept together in one. Easy going breed.

Yes, that's one of the things I love about mine. The Australorps and the French Cuckoo Marans are bomb-proof unflappable.

Worst story from the area is one farmer who apparently didn't pay attention and lost 50 head of cattle.

That's so sad.

 

[Chickeeaholic]

I feel very fortunate up in the NE with a low of 4 over the last few days. May spend my TSC gift card on a new crate to have a 2nd on hand.

One thing I did over the windows was add 2 layers of garden cloth. It’s breathable but kept any snow from blowing in, and dulled the wind quite a bit. I had an old row cover with some tears, but cut out a couple of pieces big enough to fit over the windows. Glad I didn’t throw it away. It was too torn to cover anything next year, so I was happy to find a new life for it.

That is a great idea about garden cloth. It’s a bonus to find second life for things.