Live in a Very Cold Winter area? Post link to your personal page here!

[Mrs MIA]

LOL! I'm sorry Pat!!!

It warmed up to -4F here this afternoon... still going, and I'm holding onto the hope that we'll be above 0F soon. It's amazing how warm that feels after -35F. I actually went outside at -15F in a sweatshirt with hat and gloves, and didn't succumb to the cold!!

 

[FrontPorchIndiana]

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That's true! My in-laws were just here for the holidays visiting from Newfoundland. Froze their fannies off down here.

 

[havingfun]

I live in central Maine and its pretty snowy and cold here. Its my first winter with my flock and so far so good. Coop is not insulated or heated. I have the heated base for water. I have 3 roosters and 35 hens. Everybody seems very happy. I will take some pictures and post them for all to see.

 

[oldrock]

We built a small outbuilding/barn this year for rabbits and chickens (12X16). The rabbits are on one side and the chickens are on the other. In northwestern Maine we have had about 2-3 feet of snow so far although we did have a little rain in between so the snow pack is only about 2 feet. We have had quite a few nights that were between 10 and 20 below zero so far and we have not had any issues at all. The chicken coop is not insulated but is is sealed up very well including an inside ceiling. There is an insulated window in the south side of the coop so they do get quite a bit of sunlight during the day. We are using the deep liter method and the girls just have not been interested in going out in the snow. I finally closed up the door to the outside run and they seem quite happy about that (I don't think they liked the draft or the really cold air). We are using a lightbulb in a ceramic fixture in a fairly tall tin to act as a heater for the galvanized watering can. I did use a 2X4 with the wide side up for the roost (courtesy of BYC) and that seems to work well. We go out every morning to feed the girls and it always is pretty nice in the coop. It is certainly a lot warmer than the outside air. I do have a large red heat lamp in the coop near the roost but only ran it once or twice. It seemed to keep the girls up and I didn't like that so have dispensed with it. I still might turn it on if we get the threat of 30 or 40 below but none of the girls have any signs of frostbite or anything else for that matter. They seem as healthy as... well, chickens.

I have 10 barred rocks and they are wonderful. We are still getting between 7 and 10 eggs every day.

Just a note for those living in the south. I grew up in the mountains of North Carolina. We always had chickens and they lived in open "coops" for many years. They were just four poles a roof and chicken wire sides. We did use a little plastic on the north and west sides during the winter but our chickens lived long and prospered. Chickens have been around for a long time and they are very tough when they need to be. (I can still see those chickens eating the left over grits from breakfast... now that was funny).

Winter well everyone

 

[luvmygirlsinAK]

Howdy, havingfun and oldrock!!

Hope you enjoy your stay!!!

 

[Catalina]

I made a page of my chickens enjoying the snow - https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=3174-snow-days

Our high here today was 15F and the high on Thurs. is forecast at 0F and the low at -15.
It was really nice and warm today, because we didn't have any wind.
The wind has been really strong the last few days, from 15 to 35 mph.
The temp was 25F last week and I actually sat outside in the chicken run with flip-flops on.

On a side note: Does anyone live near Chicken, Alaska?

edited to add: I live in planting zone 3. It sucks! My mailbox is filling up with plant catalogs and all the stuff I want is zone 4 or higher.

 

[luvmygirlsinAK]

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O.K. I'm a waitin'!!!!!...........!!!!!!!!!!!

Still a waitin'!!! It was _45 F. again this morning when we woke up, and now it's a nice warmer? _41 F. !!! I really don't consider that a warming trend, do you?!!!!

 

[Mrs MIA]

Hahaha... it's -3F here. Was -19F this morning, but it's getting cloudy again. I was told we'd be above 0F before the weekend was out, and not have to worry about negative temps for at least 7-10 days. I'm beginning to wonder, now.

 

[Catalina]

It's -5 here and the temp has dropped 10 degrees in the last hour!
Can't wait until morning.

My mom goes jogging with a friend every morning at 5 am - they are crazy! She says it's better when the temp is around -10 and below, because an ice film builds up over her face mask and the air is warmer to breath. I said she was crazy!

 

[luvmygirlsinAK]

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Really makes you excited for spring, huh?! Ever looked to see what can grow in zone 1?!

That's why we are building an attached year round greenhouse.

Can't wait to put our "dwarf" banana tree and coconut palm tree in it when it is done!!!!

Even more, I can't wait to get those little bananas from it when it is finished maturing. They are supposed to be like the little Apple bananas that we ate when we were in Hawaii last. They are soooooo good!!