Keeping chickens warm

[Poultryrgreat]

No. This doesn't work and can make it worse.
Hands of before and especially after FB.

I never put anything on them I don’t think I will

 

[Bwc]

No. This doesn't work and can make it worse.
Hands of before and especially after FB.

Oh??? I never heard that before...!!

 

[aart]

Oh??? I never heard that before...!!

Now you have

Scenario where Vaseline did not work:

- Vaseline on chickens in Quebec = the combs are sure to get frostbitten. The salve adds moisture to the skin instead of protecting it, so covering the single combs of my birds with it during particularly cold nights is a very bad idea. If there is a way to protect single combs with Vaseline without icing them over, I have not found it.

 

[Bwc]

Poor chickens... i need someone to knit comb socks for my flock...!!

Now you have

Scenario where Vaseline did not work:

 

[illinoishiker]

Good info. I live in Arkansas with mild winters but this winter we are having a super cold spell and I can't sleep for worrying about my birds. They do have a good house. I've picked up some tips reading this blog to help them though this rough spell.

 

[cracrzy4chicks]

If you have electricity in the coop, which you do. Buy a heated dog water bowl. They hold between a gallon to a gallon and half of water. Depending on how many chickens you have you may need more than one.

 

[The Brick Coop]

A few more suggestions: I second what cracrzy4chicks suggested. A heated waterer may help encourage them to drink and stay hydrated and even add a bit of warmth to the coop. If you cannot find a heated dog water bowl or if your flock is bigger, get the small heated bucket but Not the big heated bucket that your Silkie would not reach (or climb out of it it fell in). If your flock is big then just get two of the heated dog bowls. Set it up on an upside-down plant nursery tray that is like a milk crate but shallow. that will keep the water mess down a little inside the coop. Put it all inside a big plastic boot tray. Keep the area around it cleaned up so it doesn't get their feet too wet so they have more chance to get chapped.

Make sure even the Silkie can get up on a "roost", even if it is just a low 2x4 lumber (rounded edges). The toes can be brought into the fluff that way and up off the cold floor.

You could put hot water jugs near where they roost at night, then take them back in the morning to re-fill again with hot water the next night. These will radiate heat for at least a half-hour to get them a head-start on some relaxing rest.

If your coop is huge and your flock is small, wall off some of the coldest space with a heavy canvas tarp. or tent it where they sleep to hold in more body heat around their roost.

If you have a small coop, cover (much of) it with a heavy canvas tarp for extra insulation.

If your coop has drafts, close the big holes. If the floor is cold, make a sub-floor using thin styrofoam covered completely with thin plywood like sub-floor underlayment. Later in the nicer weather you can clean and dry it and coat it with polyurethane to make it last longer. or just replace it if/when they scratch holes in it. Walls can be covered with thin styrofoam and plywood underlayment (polyurethane to make it easy to clean) and it looks like paneling.

I kept chickens out in a tent-like dome structure once all winter. It was sort of mild for SE PA but had bitter winds many times. I found a really big double-walled cardboard box. I put the box on the long side on the ground and stuffed it with straw. Then I put the flaps only partly closed so the birds could go in and keep warm in a group. this took some convincing because they were not used to it but after I put warm jugs in there and stuffed them all in there, they stayed. AFter that they went in by themselves, forsaking their roosts at night. None suffered frostbite, and it was actually warm in their box when they were all in there. I had to find new boxes for the next season because they roosted on top of the box in the daytime, causing it to sag. Cardboard is compostable...

If you have an open coop door, hang a woven plastic feed bag over it to cut down on the draft coming in, leaving a crack where they can see out and find the door in the morning.

Even if they have a heated waterer all day, give them a bowl of nearly-hot fruit-flavored water before they go to roost at night. They probably like strawberry flavor, as do some chickens in a study I once read. Or a warm mash like other people suggested.

Some feeds have more fat which will help for energy. "All-Flock" is someone's brand name, I guess. Around here, we can get bagged Kalmbach's Game Bird Breeder/"Wild Flush" which is small pellets that even bantams can eat easily and it has excellent coverage of protein, fat, and vitamins and minerals including calcium for most breeding domestic bird species. just read feed analysis tags of what is in your area and get the best complete with high-fat and protein with all they need according to published data.

These are just suggestions. You might study your situation and pick a couple things to try and see if they help.