molting and sub-zero temps

[WNCcluck]

i am in southern new hampshire and dealing with the simlar issues.

One of my girls is missing a small patch on her crop but thats it.

temps are expected to drop to -8 with extreme wind chill (not that that matters much to them in the coop, its draft free and i can block the windows in such a way wind does enter but vapor/moisture can circulate out)

Last night temps got down near zero and the coop never dipped below 21 degrees with only our 6 hen's heat and the ice melter i have running in their water bucket (5 gallon bucket with watering nipples)

the bucket stayed thawed and the girls seemed completely normal and happy this morning at 0500 when i went to check on them before work.


I'm nervous about them facing their first deep sub zero temps, hoping all my preperation and design holds up.

guess i'm just looking to comiserate with some local folks.

one question i do have: early morning thursday? i think, the temps are still going to be in the negatives with -20 or -25 wind chill. should i leave my girls inside their coop for that day or trust their judgement to go inside when they feel too cold?

i'm leaning towards confinement.

stay warm everyone.

We're expecting roughly the same wind chill here. We're not expecting any precipitation to come with the 0*'s and wind chill though. Our plan right now is to open the pop door on the coop but not the two large windows in front or the narrow one in back. They can go out and get food and water in the run and will go in and cuddle when they get cold.

I realize, being in the NC mountains, that I'm not "local folks". We do have some wonderfully cold weather here. The best part for us is that, being as far south of you as we are, we've got slightly longer daylight hours. It's close to 6:00 before it gets dark.

Good luck with the cold. Y'all stay warm!

 

[flock 603]

Getting cold all over this week! My girls are still hanging in there, hope you and yours do well!

Today their coop is holding 15F ish higher than the ambient outside temp.

Edit: that temp is just retained heat from the water de-icer and bird heat!!

 

[kbrunnergirl]

Here we go New England folks! I have taken your advise and left the birds in their coop. The wind is already starting to roar out there. I made sure they were well fed and watered before nightfall, and I just checked on them and the ones that are molting are all snuggled in next to some fluffier girls. I blocked the one open window so it's just open an inch - I had to resist closing it completely; I know ventilation is super important in the cold. Are you Ma/NH/Maine folks doing anything else? What about tomorrow morning when the wind is still blowing? Leaving them in or opening the door for them to go out?

 

[TalkALittle]

I'm in massachusetts too and not too pleased by the expected temps. Going on the thought that it's easier for the girls to heat a smaller space than a larger one, I stuck a bale of straw in the coop to take up some of the extra space.

I did also plug in their heater tonight. It's just two 60watt light bulbs encased in a cinder block. I got the idea online. Some guy was using the same setup to keep his waterer from freezing. It doesn't put out much heat--basically the equivalent of having a couple more birds in the coop. My husband's a fire protection engineer--no heat lamps allowed in my coop!

 

[kbrunnergirl]

How did everyone's birds do overnight? The thermometer inside the coop showed 21 degrees this morning when I went out at 6am - its amazing what the body heat of 5 birds can do! They went outside for a bit and ate breakfast, but were pretty fluffed up and were back inside the coop by the time I left for work. No signs of frostbite. Hopefully the worst of this weather is over!

 

[BrushCreekFarm]

I'm so sad, I found my turken dead today in the coop. She was going through a terrible molt, all pin feathers over her whole body except flight feathers and a few raggedy tail feathers. We have been about -15F at night and about 0 for a high during the day. The other 15 chickens are fine. Could she have froze or is this just one of those mysterious chicken deaths? No sign of any trauma on her.

 

[flock 603]

Got down to -8 here, coop never dipped below 11F.

Woke up multiple times to check out the thermometer.

Went and saw them shortly after sunrise, one of the first girls out the door had what looked like some blood on her neck, no wounds to her neck or head, just what looked like maybe some irritation to her comb.

By the time I was done inspecting her I realized there only 5 of my 6 girls outside the coop. I heard no noises at all from inside and feared the worst.
I opened the door and found a very alive, very scared, chicken stuck hung upside down from her right foot from the burlap type material I had hung in front of their nesting boxes.

Part of her body was supported on the ground but a lot was suspended on that leg.
I got her down and after a little while she seemed fine

They spent most of the day in and out of the run and coop doing chicken things.

Overall they seem fine now. That was not enjoyable, however.

 

[flock 603]