Minnesota!

[justplainbatty]

Parts of the north here are supposed to have windchill values of -50. Ugh.

I was just looking for a post about this! What do you plan to do to prevent chicken Popsicles? I live in MI and that weather may be coming this way. I guess it's up to whatever the not in the chill temp is but I'm a little worried. Just wondering....

 

[duluthralphie]

JJ How hard was it to get your birds trained to use the nipples?

My birds are not all that bright, I bought some vertical nipples but am afraid to try it because of the low IQ of my birds.

 

[PoultryBird12]

Parts of the north here are supposed to have windchill values of -50. Ugh.

Yikes! That's not good... D: I live in MN. I heard it was supposed to be really cold tomorrow.

 

[Chickenchick11]

I was just looking for a post about this! What do you plan to do to prevent chicken Popsicles? I live in MI and that weather may be coming this way. I guess it's up to whatever the not in the chill temp is but I'm a little worried. Just wondering....

I have 1 heat lamp running in the coop, everybody got Vaseline on their combs to help prevent frostbite, and I gave them some corn and BOSS. I'm going to pick up another heat lamp bulb tomorrow as well.

 

[cmom]

Quote:
I am originally from Elk Rapids. MI. Moved to Florida about 45 years ago. My bothers chickens had a coop but wouldn't use it, they preferred his barn in the hay.

 

[jailerjoe]

JJ How hard was it to get your birds trained to use the nipples?

My birds are  not all that bright, I bought some vertical nipples but am afraid to try it because of the low IQ of my birds.

They figured it out in like 5 minutes. I was a little suprised at how fast they learned.

 

[PoultryBird12]

Do you really have to be this cautious about chickens and cold... ? I don't have any heat lamps in my coop.... but I do have eight chickens and six ducks who snuggle together to keep warm. Is a heat lamp really that much needed with chickens????????

 

[Cluckies]

@duluthralphie The vertical nipples are very easy to learn, chickens have no problem. They are good in summer, However, they will freeze in the winter, I haven't found anyone who can keep them thawed. The horizontal ones have a better chance of not freezing. I have a 2 gallon bucket with an aquarium heater and a circulating pump so far so good with three nipples on it. I will tell you even though the heater is on the bottom of the pail, the water gets warmer as you go up the pail. I have a point and shoot thermometer and that is what I discovered. basically it was approx 25 degrees near the bottom of the bucket and 50-60 at the top. I have my nipples staggered, the bottom one may freeze, we'll see. Better to be up higher on the bucket, maybe half way.

 

[lalaland]

Do you really have to be this cautious about chickens and cold... ? I don't have any heat lamps in my coop.... but I do have eight chickens and six ducks who snuggle together to keep warm. Is a heat lamp really that much needed with chickens????????

I don't think you need heat, but you definitely need protection against wind and big drafts. Also enough ventilation that moisture/frost crystals aren't happening in the coop.

If you are worried, go stick your fingers in under the feathers while they are on the roost, you will see how toasty warm they can be.

Consider lubing up the combs, esp on roosters that don't tuck their heads under their wings, or that have really big combs...

 

[jailerjoe]

@duluthralphie
 The vertical nipples are very easy to learn, chickens have no problem. They are good in summer, However, they will freeze in the winter, I haven't found anyone who can keep them thawed. The horizontal ones have a better chance of not freezing. I have a 2 gallon bucket with an aquarium heater and a circulating pump so far so good with three nipples on it.  I will tell you even though the heater is on the bottom of the pail, the water gets warmer as you go up the pail. I have a point and shoot thermometer and that is what I discovered. basically it was approx 25 degrees near the bottom of the bucket and 50-60 at the top.  I have my nipples staggered, the bottom one may freeze, we'll see.  Better to be up higher on the bucket, maybe half way.

The horizontal nipples work great and haven't froze at all. Also there isn't much for drippage. I do get frost and build up at the top of the bucket above the level of the water from steam. You can't actually see steam coming out of the bucket but I'm sure there is some with the drastic difference in temperatures between the water and the air in the coop.