Help with cold weather

[mamasnowwolf]

Hi Guys,
I have a unique situation. I have a partially blind cock that we put in a dogloo to raise. My husband and son got attached and we ended up with a pet. As the weather got colder, we brought up a older hen for him to partner with. She is no longer able to roost on bars, and she doesn't pick on him because he's blind. I put boards down under the top shell of the dogloo to help get them up off the cold ground. So far, the two seem pretty happy in this makeshift house (I now have lumber for a small coop, but it's too cold and frozen to build). The cock is a silver penciled rock and the hen is a Orpington. Both cold weather breeds. My question is will they be ok in this dogloo when the temperatures get into the single digits? It's supposed to be very cold tonight and the next couple of nights. I could throw some wood shavings into the dogloo on top of the boards, or I can bring them inside if need be. They were both dusted for mites, but I still see evidence of bugs on them so I hesitate bringing them inside. I don't want frozen birds though. I know they are both cold weather birds, and recently got nice new fluffy feathers to take them through the winter. Is there anything else I can watch out for or do to help them?

 

[azygous]

It would help you to understand the vulnerabilities of chickens in extreme cold. While, overall, their feathers help them retain body heat, they need adequate calories to generate the body heat in the first place. Sleeping huddled together will also help keep them both warm.

Satisfying their calorie needs is the first step. The second is to protect them from frostbite on their exposed tissue - comb, wattles, and feet. Frostbite is the most serious problem in extreme cold, and it can be prevented by proper air circulation and direct contact with wetness.

Frostbite can occur more easily in a confined area if the condensation from their breath isn't carried up and out of their enclosure, but instead is allowed to settle on their combs or feet. If you're a gardener, you're familiar with how frost can settle on plant tissue and cause severe damage. Same principle.

Providing air circulation will be your challenge while avoiding direct drafts, which involve wind chill and will also damage live tissue. Plenty of straw or shavings for them to snuggle into can help keep feet safe, but you will need to vent the moisture from their breath somehow. Normally, an air intake at the bottom will suck in air and a vent up above will allow that air to push out the moist air from their breath, cold air from below being carried upward and out by the warmer air from their bodies.

 

[saysfaa]

... Is there anything else I can watch out for or do to help them?

Yes. Being well hydrated will help them keep warm. Also, having full crops as night falls. Having feed available from dawn to dusk is more important in the winter because the short days give them less time to eat.

 

[WI chickens]

I don't think they are going to do well if that is their only shelter.

 

[mamasnowwolf]

I keep food and water for them all day. They can eat as they please. I also give them scratch in the late afternoon because I was told it burns hotter. So they get as much food as they want. Water is kept in the shelter until night because it will freeze if I don't remove it. I make sure water gets back to them at first light. I forgot to mention, I do block out the mouth of the dogloo. I use a piece of plywood to prevent wind and drafts so during the day, even though the temps never rise above 32, the water is ice free. It doesn't stay that way however. When night comes it freezes so I just remove it. I do have a small hole near the top of the dogloo it was not there by design, it just happened. it does allow ventilation without letting all the heat escape. Perhaps when the nights are in the single digits I will have to bring them inside. Or find a way to partition the larger coop to keep them inside, but not so they will end up fighting.

 

[Yardmom]

The small space with 2 birds may actually be warmer than your coop. Just make sure it has enough air flow to let the moisture out.

 

[WI chickens]

The small space with 2 birds may actually be warmer than your coop. Just make sure it has enough air flow to let the moisture out.

That is the problem with a very small "coop". If you give it enough ventilation, it's very hard to block drafts.

 

[geno 9129]

Hi Guys,
I have a unique situation. I have a partially blind cock that we put in a dogloo to raise. My husband and son got attached and we ended up with a pet. As the weather got colder, we brought up a older hen for him to partner with. She is no longer able to roost on bars, and she doesn't pick on him because he's blind. I put boards down under the top shell of the dogloo to help get them up off the cold ground. So far, the two seem pretty happy in this makeshift house (I now have lumber for a small coop, but it's too cold and frozen to build). The cock is a silver penciled rock and the hen is a Orpington. Both cold weather breeds. My question is will they be ok in this dogloo when the temperatures get into the single digits? It's supposed to be very cold tonight and the next couple of nights. I could throw some wood shavings into the dogloo on top of the boards, or I can bring them inside if need be. They were both dusted for mites, but I still see evidence of bugs on them so I hesitate bringing them inside. I don't want frozen birds though. I know they are both cold weather birds, and recently got nice new fluffy feathers to take them through the winter. Is there anything else I can watch out for or do to help them?

 

[geno 9129]

BRING THEM INSIDE ,I LOST A HEN LAST NITE ,SHE STAYED IN THIS IGLOO INSTEAD OF HER COOP WITH AHEAT LAMP,FOUD HER FROZEN TO DEATH SHE WAS AVERY OLD HEN ,SO IF I WAS YOU BRING THEM IN GENO 9129