Is this Frostbite!!!

Your picture of their living area shows some problems. They should have solid flooring with thick pine shavings. Their area is also too small. A toe could be easily broken by getting caught in the wire floor. Is the outside visible through the walls? You need a different larger house for them in my opinion.
 
Last edited:
Ok, I don't know why it doubles every post and comments I post or get. Ok I'll have to do it next week. I'm going on a vacation to Wyoming to visit family.
 
So, today I went outside to check on my gals. I saw that they were both walking around funny. So, I picked both of them up and saw this.

This Bock Bock


This is Roseay

Shingles are fine for roofing, so if you are having problems with the wood sucking up water, you most likely do have a leak somewhere.
I'm not an expert on building for sure - I let my hubby worry about most of those types of things, but you could try placing a tarp over the roof temporarily to help stop the leak. Years ago I had roll roofing (it's like asphalt paper?) on one of my outbuildings, it did a good job and I think it was less $ than shingles, so you may want to check that out when you have time.

A lot of people do keep their birds on wire flooring year round in all types of weather. Since you are having some cold weather, the wire may be a bit cold, so adding a board for winter time and covering with shavings may be a solution.

Here's the thing about keeping birds in winter. You need to block wind and drafts, but they need a lot of ventilation. Birds breath moisture and their dropping are moist as well. So the moisture needs to go up and out, especially at night when they are roosting. I see you may have the wind/draft problem taken care of with a tarp, but does the roof line have any ventilation? Got any photos of the outside of the coop showing your roofline/ventilation? I know our instinct is to close them in tightly, but fresh air needs to circulate at all time, but not blow directly on the birds.

As for space, since you only have 2, it is probably o.k. A general "rule" is to have 4sq. ft of space for each bird in your coop, but rules are flexible, it all depends on how well your birds get along. If they have access to outdoors either free range or a run, then I think they will be o.k. If you feel they need a bit more room, you can opt for a smaller feeder as a first step.

For their feet, if they are still both limping, seeming to have trouble, check the bottoms of their feet to make sure they have no sores or redness. It's possible they could have been a bit cold, but keep an eye on them.

Let us know how they are doing.

Here's an article on ventilation that explains it much better than I ever could:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/...-go-out-there-and-cut-more-holes-in-your-coop
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom