No supplemental heat in CO?

[hispoptart]

Well my girls are already suffering from the -8 temps. 2 have frostbit combs. Naughty naughty is the worst. So far no sign of infection just black spots. I will just keep an eye on them and deal with the fact that next spring I may have combless chickens.

 

[mom22alcorns]

Quote:
Any thoughts?

 

[Feather_wrangler]

Quote:
Any thoughts?

I am curious as to how many cluckers you have in the snuggle club. I close all doors and windows when the temp gets below freezing and at night. They can free range during the day but rarely come out unless I am outside or the sun is setting and the wind calms down.(Hawks and wind on the plains, go figure) This is my first winter with cluckers here on the plains, so I am on a learning curve also. So far so good, no frostbite. Just a couple of frozen eggs I missed. If it were me, I would close it up when it gets that cold, to preserve what heat they generate. I am not sure where you are, but here I don't have to worry about excess humidity in the coop.

 

[JodyJo]

Quote:
Any thoughts?

I am curious as to how many cluckers you have in the snuggle club. I close all doors and windows when the temp gets below freezing and at night. They can free range during the day but rarely come out unless I am outside or the sun is setting and the wind calms down.(Hawks and wind on the plains, go figure) This is my first winter with cluckers here on the plains, so I am on a learning curve also. So far so good, no frostbite. Just a couple of frozen eggs I missed. If it were me, I would close it up when it gets that cold, to preserve what heat they generate. I am not sure where you are, but here I don't have to worry about excess humidity in the coop.

we have been hovering just above zero that past few days...coldest spot in Colorado once again....NO added heat...they do fine...don't worry about them getting cold. You may have to deal with frostbite, but they are not cold...they are covered with down! hard to imagine any animal is ok with -20*, but my chickens do fine....yours will too. They even go out and free range in the stuff!

 

[Feather_wrangler]

Thanks Jody Jo: I know they are a hardy bunch. I raised Legerns (IA pronunciation) in Iowa years ago. Sustained COLD and deep wet snow.
I'm just not use to this much wind and the cluckers don't like it either. Thankfully I have only one oddball EE with a single comb, but the remainder have pea combs and no wattles to worry about getting frostbit.
At daybreak when I go out every morning they grab a swig out of the water bucket and bolt out the door.

 

[ShelleyN]

My girls finally decided to brave the great outdoors yesterday for the first time in a week! It was a hoot as they found a way to get to the far side of the yard going along the deck where there wasn't a lot of snow, but wouldn't go back up to the coop at dark. Me and my DH had to carry them up because they just wouldn't do it and it was pitch dark. Dingbats.

 

[Feather_wrangler]

Fun - Entertaining and eggs to boot.

 

[Linn Bee]

Quote:
I know it has been mentioned by others, but unless you have warm weather birds, -8 degrees should not cause any problems. I would suspect frostbite from high humidity in the coop rather than low temperatures.

My first experience with chickens - 100 leghorn cockerels - was in a drafty storage shed. We had temps of -25 degrees (F) with no problems. It wasn't until the temps got down near -30 that I had a few birds with the tips of their combs frostbitten.

Check out the ventilation situation. Hum-m-m-m. I don't know if I've ever seen what level of humidity was safe. I would take out my humidity gauge out to the coop, but aside from the true moisture level I don't know what I'd learn. Guess I'll ask the old timers where the humidity should be.

Love, Linn B (aka Smart Red) Gardening zone 5a - 4b in south-est, central-est Wisconsin

 

[mom22alcorns]

Thanks so much for the help!

Even without a door, they seem to be doing great. They are out in the run every morning waiting on me and scratching around. I checked them last night as it was 16 degrees out and I was going to try and find something to block the door with and they were all lined up on the roost with their heads tucked under their wings. I snuck a hand up and felt the feet of the one closest to the doorway and they were toasty! Who knew!

I think when it gets below zero I will have to work something out about the door, but for now they seem happy.

 

[alaskafox]

This was my first full year of raising birds. We had record snow fall (130+ inches) and at least 4 weeks subzero temps. I used more bedding for them but no heat lamp. It was a long winter trying to figure out how to keep fresh water out there- ended up changing out water morning and night on most days as no water heating device I found could keep up with temperatures that low. The only light I used was a 40w yard lamp and a 25w coop lamp on timers to simulate day light. All the hens made it through the winter in goo shape, kept laying too!