Mama Heating Pad in the Brooder (Picture Heavy) - UPDATE

[ShrekDawg]

The coop isn't really drafty i dont think but there are some little gaps o gotta fix. But the coop is fairly small and they all huddle together on the roost, usually about half on one half on the other or 5 or 6 on one, 2 or 3 on the other and they swap spots a lot hah

 

[bruceha2000]

Wind chill means NOTHING unless you are out in the wind.

It was around 0F overnight 4 times in January. It was -7F Friday morning, warmed to 22F during the day. It was 1F at 6 AM today, it is currently -7F. Supposed to drop all day to -14F overnight. Warm up all the way to 3F tomorrow then -7F again Sunday night. The chickens are happily hanging out in the run in the barn.

You want wind chill? -35F from 1 AM to 7 AM overnight here. By 10 AM it is supposed to be -9F with a wind chill of -28F. The only critter here that will be out in that is ME when I go down to check for "not yet frozen eggs" every couple of hours. I don't have feathers, I'll be bundled up in my insulated overalls.

I have NEVER had heat in my coop (*) and it has gotten to -20F in past years. I have NEVER lost a chicken to cold (fox, yes). They fluff up, they make day nests in the shavings on the run floor (inside the old drafty barn). None has ever shown any illness, not related to cold or anything else.

* Except when I had the heat lamp over the waterer a couple of winters ago. It was NOT in the coop and NO chicken EVER hung out near it except when they were drinking. Not even the girl that waited until the last week of January to moult.

 

[TheChickenQueen]

It's completely fine to be worried about them, especially if it's your first time dealing with them in the winter. But they are tough little creatures who tend to do just fine without us babying them all the time.
If you are really worried you could bundle up and go out in the middle of the night to make sure everyone is okay.

As for the feed, eight hens don't eat a ton of food; but after they eat through this feed you could try to find some crumble feed to give them instead.

 

[Beekissed]

Agree with Bruce! Unless a wind is blowing right through the roosts in a coop, the windchill factor is what it is. Wind chill. I have 4 in. vents within a foot of my roosting chicken's combs, right on level with their combs, and they are showing no frosted tips, even the rooster. Across from the roosts, right on level with the roosts, but 10 ft away, I have a huge window open(top half of a screen door) with smaller window spaces on either side of it open as well. Unless the wind shifts from its normal pattern, those open areas will not blow a chill wind on my roosting chickens...and even if it does, I can arrange draping for the largest areas, diffusing that wind.

I think your chickens will be fine and when you parents see them being fine, maybe they'll start to see the nature of chickens. Not human nature, chicken nature.

 

[Beekissed]

That's what I've always heard and so far they've been fine but it just scares me

they're our first chickens so maybe I'm a bit overprotective hah but -5 plus the wind chill just seems so cold.

I have 8 and some of them eat it, there was some missing this morning, but they don't eat a lot of it. I think maybe they don't like the bigger bits because they eat the smaller broken pieces. I may slow down on the BOSS after the freezing cold just until they figure it out.

If you aren't already, you might want to give some grit with that BOSS and only give a little BOSS, not a whole lot. It's good for adding some fat to their diet in the winter but it can become their favorite food real quick and they'll eat it before they eat the balanced feed. If there is a lot of BOSS on hand they'll skip the good food and focus on the BOSS.

 

[bruceha2000]

DO NOT tighten up the coop. Re-read what Bee wrote. Twice. Three times. Four if necessary. Have your parents read it too. Keep rereading it until you understand that chickens NEED ventilation, they just need to not have a breeze blowing over them on the roost. You WILL kill your chickens if you put them in a coop that doesn't have enough air exchange to get the extra moisture and ammonia (from their poop) OUT of the coop.

Most likely the reason they aren't eating the new chicken food is BECAUSE you are giving them BOSS. It is high in protein and fats. Much tastier than pelleted chicken feed. My 16 get maybe a 1/2 to 3/4 cup every morning, spread out for them to fight over (because hens are not really good at sharing). At night they get about the same amount of scratch. This time of year, the only other things they get are kitchen scraps (BTW they LOVE LOVE LOVE meat and fat including bacon and sausage grease) and their layer feed.

 

[ShrekDawg]

Thank you for the excellent help and advice! Definitely helps ease most of my concerns, though of course I am still worried about my babies and scared that I'm going to assume they're fine then have them die or get sick

They have no direct drafts i don't think but have a window in the back door and a window above the front door. Both are almost level with them. So that worries me, I'll get pictures. But they huddle together. Sometimes icant distingush if theres one chicken or two without a light (lately I've been not getting a flashlight cause it bugs them. Much harder to see), cause theyre so close and i worry when it doesnt add up.

But sorry, i don't think i was very clear. I wasn't saying to close up all the ventilation. I just meant the places that shouldn't be open. For example there's a small gap in the door, not big but still, and the slide out tray gets shavings caught on the lip in the coop and.doesn't close fully. That's easy, just a matter of cleaning the shavings out of the way. There's a gap between the nezt box roof and coop wall but that's not really blowing on them since it's not by the roost and aimed down being the nest roof. I don't know. There's just a lot of small dumb little things i more meant rather than closing off all the ventilation

 

[ShrekDawg]

OH! and as for the BOSS, yeah, I've been way too heavy handed with that lately haha gotta slow down. I used to give them a handful of that (about 1/4 cup i think) and a handful or more of cracked corn but they just ran out Of corn a few days ago so it's been BOSS and usually multiple handfuls tossed, partly to keep them busy. I gotta ease up on it and or find another way to relieve boredom. The first day with the food i put some boss on top to get them to eat it and they mostly tossed it out and ate the BOSS so definitely creating spoiled little monsters lol gonna slow down or stop altogether

 

[duluthralphie]

I made my second Mama cave thingy today. I stole Aart's idea of the screw on a block to raise and lower. Works super.

I also attached the pad to the wire with small wire ties.. I just took some chicks out of the incubator and they immediately went under the pad.

It is an amazing device.

Below is the cable ties snaked through the fabric ..



And here it is tied to the hardware cloth. (triple thickness)

And below is all you see of 7 chicks. the rest are way under it.

 

[duluthralphie]

Last night my older chicks did not go into the cave. They stayed outside in a corner of the cage (Blooie they are in a MUCH larger cage now. They huddled together and the only sounds I heard were those little happy cooing noises chicks make. They are fine this morning, playing and chasing each other, mock fights and so on. I have a feeling I was over heating my chicks with the heat lamps.

I'm going to turn the heating pad down a notch now. The oldest were hatched Jan 24th. The younger 3 about a week later.

I really like this cave. My hatch from Friday are loving their cave. The take to it just like it was a hen..

Thanks Blooie!