Ideas for Blizzards

[Welshies]

That's not enough time for a full days fuel in cold weather.
Either clear the run and protect it from at least wind if not snow accumulation.....
....or put the feed and water in the coop.

X2. Food keeps them warm. Feeding=body heat.

 

[PirateGirl]

Ok, here are some ideas to help, a wind block and/or snow fence so hopefully the drifts form out of the run and not IN the run. My chickens love their wind block. Also you could put a curtain over their coop/house door so they can go in and out but it will cut back the wind/draft and snow in their house. Also mine prefer to walk on things that aren't snow and are happier to go out when there is more to walk on. This can be achieved a variety of ways, straw or pine shavings over snow, shoveling snow down to dirt, or put something on top of the snow like a piece of plywood or a door mat or something. It's up to you whether you want to feed and water in the coop, it totally depends how your coop is set up if this can work for you. I know it's easier with more space. If you are home you can always give them food and water inside first thing in the morning, and then at a time when the weather seems to have improved some you can move it outside and see if your birds will venture out.

 

[chickens really]

Hello.
It's cold here in Alberta, Canada today..-24C windchill of -28C..My Birds are in heated Buildings...Birds do get cold...I feed and water in the houses when it's this cold

 

[Welshies]

Hello.
It's cold here in Alberta, Canada today..-24C windchill of -28C..My Birds are in heated Buildings...Birds do get cold...I feed and water in the houses when it's this cold

Here as well. Even worse my dog is in labour. Outside.
It gets very cold but my chickens are having no issues. The only heat source I have is a heat lamp for my seperated injured chick.

 

[chickens really]

I can help with puppies being born...Raised many litters...

 

[chickens really]

You can bring her in an into the bath tub to whelp out

 

[Welshies]

You can bring her in an into the bath tub to whelp out

Haha, yeah no... this is off topic (sorry OP)
My parents allow no animals inside. Her birthing will be fine it's the cold.

 

[Duckworth]

It's about 6 degrees Fahrenheit here with snow coming down for a few more hours yet. My ducks are in their house for the night. I have a tarp over the house, with several inches of snow on the roof to help insulate it. The tarp keeps the wind and snow out of the windows. There's a sheltered window for ventilation. The litter is about ten inches deep and the floor is insulated, as are all of the walls and ceiling. There is no water or food in their house.

My ducks look cold, but they aren't shivering. They are puffed up, huddling together and sitting on their feet. Temps will be at or below zero F tomorrow night. These are the coldest temperatures my ducks have experienced, so I hope they are ready. It's been an unusually warm fall.

 

[onaharley]

Great info here, hanging around to see what else pops up!

 

[3bird]

Thanks everyone. We let them out for a bit just before dark to eat and drink and generally do duck stuff, and then we locked them back in for the night. They've been snuggled in the straw ever since and look quite content.

It's interesting posting in various places and seeing the responses. Elsewhere, we've been gently admonished for not locking them in at night with the cold temps--here it seems folks generally think we're being over-protective. I'll be clear that we are fairly new to ducks, and we certainly appreciate everyone's experience and willingness to share. Based on all the feedback we've received (and the run/duckhouse setup we've constructed), we've been comfortable with mostly trusting their ability to get out of the weather (wind especially), and so we've opted to not lock them in and just watch them very closely as we move through these first cold spells and winter storms. Today we observed pretty consistent shivering, but they insisted on staying out in the run. So we made the call that we would feel better with them all inside during the brunt of the storm. Was it the right call? They seemed content, and when we let them out toward the end of the day, they ate and drank, and acted their normal goofy selves...and then they got cold again, so we locked them in for the night.

I'm guessing we'll be locking them in for the next three nights with temps well below zero F. We'll let them out each morning in their run where they have ample water in heated buckets and free choice feed. No snow in the forecast until next weekend. We're pretty committed to not putting water or food in the duckhouse unless something extraordinary happens. As we've done so far, we'll watch them closely and take our cues from their behaviour. We'll certainly pop back in here to ask the advice of all of you with so much more experience.

For what it's worth, here's a picture of our set-up:

And as you can see here, they have a nice protected spot under the duckhouse where they can get out of the weather:

One issue with our elevated duckhouse is the elevated door, which is pretty exposed to the wind when it comes out of that direction. The idea of a "curtain" is interesting, but I can't see our guys taking to that too readily...but who knows. We do need a better job of shielding the drifting snow beyond just the single row of straw bales (the straw bales now extend around the entire length of the run, but only one bale high). We're working on that.

Anyway, thanks for all the comments and suggestions. We'll keep you posted!