Molting chickens are shivering in the cold

[karmical]

Straw bales! That's a GREAT idea that doesn't depend on electricity! Thanks, Ellieroo...I can at least line the west, south and north sides of the coop with them...do you think doing just those two walls would make a significant difference?

 

[jjthink]

Thank you for thinking to check on this.

If a bird is cold, no matter the reason (molt, ill, not cold hardy), I provide it with warmth. It's an awful torture for any being to be cold and have no way to warm up.

I have ceramic heat lamps (no light, just heat) that are suspended from the ceiling and touch nothing, so as to minimize (if not eliminate) any potential fire hazard. Hooked up to a timer so I can choose on and off times to add/subtract heat in accord with teh weather forecast. Have done this for years and years successfully. My roo is not cold hardy and he desperately needs added warmth as did my hen when she was molting. (In a power failure we can improvise. They don't happen all that often.)

Find a way to keep them warm till you can get some heat going. Shivering means "I am miserable". Thanks for caring!

JJ

Edited to add that stores like Petsmart should have the ceramic heat lamp bulbs and the appropriate metal lampshades in stock, so you could be in business pretty much immediately. Just suspend them in a way that they cannot fall down and you're good to go.

 

[karmical]

Thanks, JJ

I will swing into Petsmart on my way home (1.5 hours before I can leave work) and get things warmed up a bit in there tonight! Wish I could leave NOW!!!

 

[ellieroo]

Quote:
I've always done the N and W here because winds are strongest from those directions, stack them 2 high.It works really well .

 

[jjthink]

You're most welcome.
I'm right with you - will be so happy when your birds are feeling comfy! (I have a roo that is not cold hardy at all and he is struggling right now - today I left he and his hen friend cooped up, so to speak, in their small house with heat. Felt terrible cooping them up but I knew he would be utterly miserable by the time I get home from work tonight...)

Given the temps in your (and my) area right now, you don't have to worry about a timer right away - it's cold enough to leave the heat on. And will be utterly frigid next week with windchills in the single digits or below zero at night. We went into this cold pretty perecipitously - the birds didn't have time to adjust and those with something additional to compromise them (e.g. molt) can be in real trouble.

Also do everything you can to ensure there are no drafts. Ventilation is needed (high up) but drafts at their roosting height or lower are very difficult on birds in the cold weather.

JJ

 

[elmo]

Shivering is how birds produce enough heat to survive winter:

http://books.google.com/books?id=pW...EwCDgK#v=onepage&q=shivering by birds&f=false

It burns up lots of calories, so be sure to offer some good scratch feed late in the day so your birds can go to roost with full crops. If your chickens haven't completed their molt, then they aren't going to be able to retain the heat their bodies produce as well as fully feathered birds. A little supplemental heat until their feathers are grown back would probably be a good idea.

 

[karmical]

Well...the sun must have warmed up the coop during the day yesterday...when I got home last night, everyone was up on the roost, all cuddled in and happy I still put a ceramic heat emitter bulb in my brooder clamp and clamped it above the roost to try to keep the coop temp above freezing overnight...no one was shivering this morning, but it wasn't as cold overnight as it was yesterday. I also added half a bag of shavings this morning.

I'll rig it up this weekend so that I can hang it from the ceiling...that way it's a little lower during the daytime down where they will probably be. Need to work out what a safe height is though...the lamp has a cage on it...should I be worried about them bumping into it?

 

[WoodlandWoman]

My rule is to secure lamps so they don't fall if they get bounced around like a pinata. Adults, children, pets and chickens can all knock them down. Sometimes chickens flap or fly around in a coop. If you clamp a lamp, attach a safety chain to it, so that if it gets knocked off it won't fall onto anything flammable. Guards are good, but don't have them be your only line of defense against a fire.

 

[theblackridge16]

thank you for bringing up the issue about loosing power. although that is not a problem for me because i have everything from my house, dog house, and coop wired to back-up generators and keep plenty of fuel on hand. that is a very good point though. i also use deep litter in the coop, 6-8 in. i use heat lamps so i am sure they have enough light for egg production and warmth

 

[joe sixpack]

I have a brooding light that I use for keeping their water from freezing. I raise it about 24" above their 6"tall water pan. If your birds are cold and uncomfortable they will move in closer to the light. I wouldn't worry about them. Moulting is natural. As long as they have good clean shelter,food, and water; just let nature take its course.