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

[LaFleche]

Fingers crossed that they will all stay well and healthy from now on.

 

[Cattle dog Mom]

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

Use a thermos. (That's what I do.)

 

[Malkaris]

The multi-quote function is disrespecting me... but for the chickens to drink straight I bring out warm water not cold. I know it's not ideal but actually when it's cold I find they prefer to drink it that way. Not hot of course if they'd be drinking it right away. But other than a thermos that might help. I'd go with hot water tbh for a 10 minute walk if the water is freezing on the way...

My heated waterer is a FI (iirc) and rated to -17C but I'm not sure it's gotten that cold in the coop (been colder outside of course). I don't think it would completely stop working the moment it hit -17...
But I hope you've got it sorted, it's frustrating for sure!

 

[MissE]

The last 3 nights in a row have been -40 F or colder. We haven't been above 0 in 11 days. My heated waterer has been just fine. There may be a skim of ice in the morning, but nothing I can remove with just my finger. My coop is 300 feet away, and gallon water jugs don't even come close to freezing during transport.

My chickens also have not had heat. I seriously thought about it, but their coop has enough ventilation it wouldn't have made much difference.

I think you may have a problem other than the cold. If you haven't done so, get a necropsy to determine the actual cause of death.

Hope the rest do ok.

 

[NatJ]

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?

Probably ate too much dry food, too fast. He will be fine if dry food was the cause.

I think you may have a problem other than the cold. If you haven't done so, get a necropsy to determine the actual cause of death.

Maybe, but I think it was just cold + thirst + hunger.

The food was outside and they were not going outside to eat, but when the food was brought into their pen they acted starved. That's in addition to the water being frozen and having only snow for "water."

So those chickens were basically sitting in the cold coop with no food or water (none that they considered themselves able to get.)

Now that they have the water & food inside their pen, I would expect them to do much better.

@Feath3rDust3r If you have a similar situation again, you might be able to fill a bottle with warm water and carry it inside your coat so your body keeps it warm. Then in the chicken pen, put some chicken feed in a bowl, and pour the warm water until it covers the feed. The water will soak into the feed quite quickly, and the chickens can gobble it down without choking as much (because it's not so dry.) A good cropful of food & water can make a big difference to them in cold weather. I don't know how often you go out to them each day, but it's best if they get a drink and a good meal (wet or dry) at least twice a day, morning and evening.

 

[webmistress32]

The best way to keep water liquid is to use a base that's heated. The simplest way to do it is to use an old round cookie tin and install a light bulb inside by using the top part of a lamp. You only need a 60w bulb inside and then put a metal waterer on top and it stays liquid all day. I upgraded this year to the farm innovations heated base for three coops and everyone has liquid water all day. I run a lot of extension cords, and bought the super heavy duty ones over the summer so I was ready this year. No outages so far knock on wood

 

[Feath3rDust3r]

I figured out that my heated waterer is not working! I went back out half an hour later after I put it outside and it was frozen solid again! I put a temporary heated dog bowl in there for now and it's staying defrosted no problem. I'll be taking my other one back to Fleet and farm!