Help! Unexpected winter storm

make sure their water doesn't freeze.

If you don't already have a heated waterer, there are other ways to deal with this.

--Don't worry about water while it's dark. It will freeze, but they wouldn't be drinking in the dark anyway.

--Give them fresh water as soon as it gets light in the morning. Cold or warm is fine, but not hot enough to burn their mouths.

--If possible, check after 2 hours or so. If the water hasn't frozen, they might be fine until evening. But if it is frozen, give them fresh water again and (if possible) come out in another few hours.

--Make sure they have unfrozen water in the last hour or so before dark, when they are trying to eat & drink before dark.

The most important times are first thing in the morning, and when they are eating before bed. They can survive the middle of the day with frozen water if they have to (like if you have to be away at work.) And if snow gets in their pen, they might eat some of it too. (Don't count on snow for all their water needs, but eating some snow will not hurt them and will provide a small amount of water.)

It can also help to give them a dish of wet chicken feed first thing in the morning, and again shortly before their bedtime. They can gobble it up quickly, and then you know they got a cropful of food AND water at least twice in the day. Just chicken feed + water and let it sit for a minute or two.
 
Thank you everyone for the advice and the time to took to respond. The girls did survive, they actually had the time of their lives; running and playing, and thank God we also survived, we spent 48 hours without power, I am blessed with an old house with a chimney, gas stove and and handyman husband that owns a generator, tools of all kinds, and wood that I always questioned him what for. I hope everyone in this community is doing well, also my fellow Texans, that we endured the worst winter days we could’ve imagine, thank you all again and blessings.
 
Hi there, in a couple of days we will have the coldest day in my lifetime (35 years). Temperatures are expected to drop in southeast Texas (border) 21 F. My hens and roo have a coop but I don’t know if I need to take extra precautions. Please any advice from northern folks that are used to this temperature, we aren’t used to this weather, some of my Christmas had been in the 90s F. Any tips will help; by the way I have 5 red Rhode Island beauties, a Delaware doll, and a handsome Andalusian.
Where in southeast texas are you. I'm in groves.
 
Oh man, I'm in west texas. We got down to the negatives. All of my girls did fine,even my then 3 week olds. We also lost power for 3 days and had to rely on our gas stove. But it worked.
 
Wow! I am so impressed of how chickens have the ability to survive in the toughest conditions, I’m glad your girls did good
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom