Help what is wrong with my pet Rooster? this cold is killing my chickens!!

[Feath3rDust3r]

Hello. I'm in Iowa and the last couple of weeks the weather has been brutal...probably the same for most of the country! I don't usually use heat but I put a couple of panel heaters in my coop and its still only 10 degrees inside! I usually use heated waterers but even they cant' cope so I started carrying water from my house but it froze before I got to the coop! I have resorted to shoveling a mound of snow inside the shed for them to peck at. I have kept an eye on the moisture with a hydrometer and the snow hasn't raised the humidity.

So far I have lost 3 chickens 2 silkies (Age 2 1/2) and one leghorn (age 10 months). They seemed fine when I checked them during the day but by the morning they were dead. All on different days.

Now I'm concerned about my rooster. He's only 10 months old and has been a lively guy. He's actually my son's pet and he's our favorite of all the chickens. I went out this morning and decided to move the food inside the shed as it didnt look like they'd been eating any. They were obviously hungry as they all ran and started gorging themselves but pretty quickly the roo started a choking sound and he stood there with his beak open. He kept on making the sound and almost stumbling. After a bit it stopped and he started eating again...but I'm seriously worried...do you think this was just a random choking fit or something else?

 

[JacinLarkwell]

There is no way your water should freeze just walking to the coop. It's been in the negative teens and the water is still steaming when I get down to the coops (.25 mile down hill for one and 1/8 mile for the other) for them to drink at least long enough to get their fill

 

[Feath3rDust3r]

It's a 10 minute walk from my house to my coop and because it's hard going with the snow I can't carry more than a gallon at a time. By the time I got there it was frozen too hard to get it out of the bottle

 

[sourland]

You'll have to come up with some means of providing adequate feed and water or you will lose all of your birds. The rooster was so hungry that he gorged himself and got feed stuck in his throat. They need better access to feed and water.

 

[LaFleche]

I usually use heated waterers but even they cant' cope so I started carrying water from my house but it froze before I got to the coop! I have resorted to shoveling a mound of snow inside the shed for them to peck at. I have kept an eye on the moisture with a hydrometer and the snow hasn't raised the humidity.

My water heaters can't cope with our cold either: -22°Celsius and I have to go out several times during the day with my electric kettle to thaw their water by pouring some boiling water on top.
I have four different flocks in 4 different coops and aviaries to care for, so it is quite laborious, but still important to provide them with more feed and water to help them cope with these unusually cold temperatures.

Snow will not be eaten by most chickens, or if they do, the amount they can ingest will not be enough to keep them properly hydrated, so they might have just dies due to water deficiency.
And don't forget to provide granite grit.

 

[Feath3rDust3r]

My water heaters can't cope with our cold either: -22°Celsius and I have to go out several times during the day with my electric kettle to thaw their water by pouring some boiling water on top.

Snow will not be eaten by most chickens, or if they do, the amount they can ingest will not be enough to keep them properly hydrated, so they might have just dies due to water deficiency.

Thank you. I have solved the food issue by moving my feeders inside the coop. I am working on a solution for water. I never thought about taking boiling water...maybe that would help. I haven't wanted to keep my waters inside because of humidity

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Send one or more of your dead birds to your poultry lab to find out what killed them.
Iowa State University Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory
1800 Christensen Dr
Ames, Iowa 50011-1134
Phone: 515-294-1950

 

[LaFleche]

Thank you. I have solved the food issue by moving my feeders inside the coop. I am working on a solution for water. I never thought about taking boiling water...maybe that would help. I haven't wanted to keep my waters inside because of humidity

I take the waterers out every evening and keep them in my house to fill them up with luke warm water in the morning and bring them out again. Every 2-3 hours I go out and thaw them by pouring some boiling water over them, it works just fine.

 

[LaFleche]

If you are feeding pellets or similar, providing water in abundance is even more important.
And be careful not to use metal waterers in this cold weather as they might get stuck to the metal with their combs or wet wattles.

 

[Feath3rDust3r]

thank you all for your help. I just went and re hung my heated water bowls inside the coop. I have the farm innovators horizonal heated waters...I love them because the water stays clean. I'm hoping that being inside they will be able to keep up with the cold. I also found our Gatorade coolers and filled those up with boiling water and took them down on a sled...melted the ice inside the water buckets and refilled them. fingers crossed the chickens will now have constant access to fresh water!!