Lily21
Chirping
- Apr 18, 2013
- 25
- 0
- 85
I have a leghorn hen that is about 6 months old. We have had really cold temps here -10. The for-cast for Monday is -12. My coop is 8 x 12 and fully insulated, I have a drop ceiling with an opening in the middle about 3 x 3 for a future cupola. There is venting on both ends of the coop and all around the sofit area. There are also four windows. When it got cold the windows got a thick layer of ice on them on the inside. Even the walls had frost on them. My husband had almost closed the hole in the ceiling because he thought they would stay warmer that way, but that just kept all the moisture in the coop. So I opened it all the way and the temps have been in the 20s now so not an issue. I'm thinking way to much moisture going on. I have a heated water-er that they drink from and her wattles hang in it when she drinks and then they freeze. She is bleeding from them and I keep putting flour on them to stop the bleeding and then antibiotic ointment after they stop bleeding. I have also put Vaseline on them. Would a heat lamp help take the moisture out of the coop when it's so cold? Is there any way to wrap up her wattles? She seems healthy otherwise. She has spattered blood one night all over the walls and roost and I'm afraid she is going to get pecked at because of the blood. They freerange during the day and I have been making sure no one is pecking her because of the blood. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks
