From 80 and sunny to 26 and snowing!

[CityslickerHomestead]

Do I need to worry about my girls? They are 8 weeks old, one is a slow grower and isn’t fully feathered out. Last weekend it was over 80 and sunny, it’s when we moved them to their outdoor coop. Today I wake up to snow and high winds! Welcome to Montana, I guess.

Yesterday I added more bedding for them to snuggle down in since they don’t roost (I think our coop is tilted from uneven ground). When I was in the coop I felt a draft coming through the door. We built it ourselves so it’s not perfect. I shoved some burlap in the door seam where I felt a draft. That is the extent on my “winterization”.

Unfortunately we moved them to their coop before the coop was 100% finished because my hubby was tired of them in the garage and justified the move with saying “winter is over! It’s hot outside!”

 

[littlebarngirl]

My 8 weekers spent their first night outback last night. They huddled together next to the sandbox and were pretty perky this morning when I went out to do the wake up call. I added more bedding in various corners and small ditches in the coop so they could have plenty of spots to cozy into. We're expecting rain and thunder today so I'm keeping a close watch too. If there are any signs of distress, I still have the tub set up in the garage that we could use for an over night return stay if needed. The chicks are super funny because they nestle so close together, they don't seem to care if they are stepping on each other or have one splatted on the bottom of the stack. My hubby is happily working on his car in the garage today chickless.

 

[Mrs. K]

Really I have found that once they re past 3 weeks old, if they have wind protection or shelter, they can really take wild temperatures swings. I am in SD and we are also trying on winter once again.

 

[CityslickerHomestead]

My 8 weekers spent their first night outback last night. They huddled together next to the sandbox and were pretty perky this morning when I went out to do the wake up call. I added more bedding in various corners and small ditches in the coop so they could have plenty of spots to cozy into. We're expecting rain and thunder today so I'm keeping a close watch too. If there are any signs of distress, I still have the tub set up in the garage that we could use for an over night return stay if needed. The chicks are super funny because they nestle so close together, they don't seem to care if they are stepping on each other or have one splatted on the bottom of the stack. My hubby is happily working on his car in the garage today chickless.

How did they do in the inclement weather? We still have another week of rain and winds in the forecast for the rest of this week.

 

[littlebarngirl]

How did they do in the inclement weather? We still have another week of rain and winds in the forecast for the rest of this week.

Hi, they all got really wet since the rain was coming down in sheets. Horrible rain! They seemed to take it in stride, when the sun came out later in the day, they were free to explore and didn't seem to mind their wet feathers. Today, I did about 3 hours of cleanup outback, tree branches and leaves all over. The girls all loved that I was out, it meant free ranging for them. Tonight the wind gusts are up, so I'm sure they are huddled together. Take care in the rain.

 

[CityslickerHomestead]

Hi, they all got really wet since the rain was coming down in sheets. Horrible rain! They seemed to take it in stride, when the sun came out later in the day, they were free to explore and didn't seem to mind their wet feathers. Today, I did about 3 hours of cleanup outback, tree branches and leaves all over. The girls all loved that I was out, it meant free ranging for them. Tonight the wind gusts are up, so I'm sure they are huddled together. Take care in the rain.

I stapled a bunch of vinyl over the vents that had the biggest exposure to the rain last week, and that helped prevent leaking. But that wind! Ugh.

 

[littlebarngirl]

I stapled a bunch of vinyl over the vents that had the biggest exposure to the rain last week, and that helped prevent leaking. But that wind! Ugh.[/QUO

I stapled a bunch of vinyl over the vents that had the biggest exposure to the rain last week, and that helped prevent leaking. But that wind! Ugh.

Rain watch is always so labor intensive. I keep raking the wood chips during the breaks. Very thankful for my rain boots!