FLORIDA!!!!!ALWAYS SUNNY SIDE UP!!!

[math ace]

Quote:
Don't let the non-Florida people see that, Math Ace!!!! They'll make fun of us! They just don't understand - our coops - and our chickens - and us - we are built for the heat. Warmth. Sun. Not for this *&$^*!!

It is suppose to get down to 17 F tonight in my area. That is just CRAZzzzy. This year has been full of Crazzzzy Record Breakkking weather !

 

[welasharon]

I am about three hours west of you halfway in between Tallahassee and Panama City and they predict 19 here as well. We just aren't equipped to deal with this! Should be warmish again by Wed or Thurs if I don't freeze in the meantime.

sharon

 

[Nava]

20 here in Ocala
I got 27 birds in the garage bathroom

 

[jason389]

Hello all I am new here and will be getting 2 RR from my brother this weekend. Me and my son are just about done building there coop/run. There are about a year old he said and they are laying about an egg a day. We will be getting 2 more hens in a few more months from someone local here in Palm Beach County just dont know from who yet. Maybe by someone on here if they will be selling any in that time frame or sooner. Its nice to see how many BYC members are here locally.

 

[El Naked Neck]

Quote:
welcome jason, and look you used your first post in here, on the FL thread

 

[Sunny Side Up]

I just LOVE LOVE LOVE this cold weather!!!

I spend more than half the year melting in the oppressive heat. It burns away my motivation, I find I don't even want to move outdoors. The gardens and perennial beds go neglected, construction & repairs are put on hold. I feel like I'm being smothered by a huge hot hairy dog lying on top of me, panting its steamy dog breath on my face.

When the temperatures finally moderate, and the humidity finally comes down to an acceptable level, I start to feel alive again. Days like these cold snaps only last a short time and I try to make the most of them.

I really don't worry about the chickens, ducks or geese, I figure they can handle it. Their coops are airy, but have solid walls on the north sides to block the worst of the cold winds. They fluff their feathers & huddle together for warmth.

I do bring in our elderly bunny, even though she has a nice fur coat. I let her spend the cold nights in a carrier inside the house, but she goes back outside to her hutch during the day. I have 3 snakes that live in tanks on the patio, they are also brought inside at night. Their wild relations stay outside in this weather, but I pamper ours a little in the cold.

Tonight for the first time I brought our guinea hen indoors for the night. My kids were concerned that she would be too cold with no feathers on her head & neck to protect her. She scrunches her neck into her shoulder feathers, it looks like she's wearing a turtleneck sweater.

There's supposed to be a meteor shower visable tonight, look towards the north after midnight.

 

[fl_deb]

Jason389


Okay, I admit that I am so much a FL girl, that I went out in FL typical outfit = t=shirt and shorts to make sure the girls had water and plenty of food, and to get the eggs, however, I will deny, deny, deny the frostbite my hands had in the 10 minutes max. that I was out in that!

I felt bad for the girls in the coop, but I had already put up a wind block, and also knew that if they got too cold, they could retreat to the community nest box for warmth.

But I am still planning on surprising them with another warm breakfast in the morning.

 

[heatherndoug]

Supposed to get down to 19 here, I brought it my quail pairs and covered my other quail coups with tarps. My chickens should be ok, they were last year when we had that long cold spell and there were less of them. I think I will make some oatmeal for them in the AM. My husband from upstate NY thinks I am crazy. Its ok. I just might be.

 

[Sunny Side Up]

Oh yeah, I gotta remember to do the warm breakfast thing. The chickens sure seem to enjoy that. I'll just pour hot water over a pan of their layer pellets, maybe add some extra goodies like corn or raisins to it. Tomorrow (today) is my middle son's b-day, I'm making a big batch of homemade waffles for our human breakfast.

 

[featherbaby]

My two coops have a plywood back and ends, then I made a 3 layer canvas cover for the front with insulbrite insulating fabric sandwiched between a backing. So it's stretched across the front and tied down securely. I have a small ceramic heater suspended by a chain in the middle of each coop and it's thermostat is set on high for tonight. I like to keep the temps about 50 or so. I know they can survive more cold than this, but why stress them and risk them getting sick? Prevention is soooo much easier than cure.

And then there are the 12 babies who still live in the house until Spring.

I gave them warm ramen noodles cooked with oats and bulgur wheat this morning. I was afraid to take the empty bowl back after seeing what the little Pirhannachicks did to the food in a matter of secondsl. I wasn't sure my hand was safe in there! HA! I was suprised at how hard these sweet little Silkies can peck. I held a slice of bread in my fingers for a treat one day and they almost brought blood to my fingers. These are the same little cuties that want to be picked up and held, carried around and petted. Go figure.

Did I mention I hate the cold weather???? I love fall when it's cool and dry.....but anything below 32 is excessive in my book for Florida. My lowest depression of the year is the day after the "big freeze" when I walk around the yard and see the dead and dying in all my gardens. All that time, money and work shot to h@#l overnight. If I'd wanted to live in a frozen wasteland I'd have moved to Antarctica.