Official Squatch Watchers

[21hens-incharge]

I took a couple of quick pix at lunch. I stood in the same place, for reference. Hubs keeps closing the vent. Im about ready to take the cover off The vents arent in The pic but this is where i plan on putting extras, the other side as well. There is a vent by their roost and opposite the roost. I do have a large branch propped up in the run and we have a small board put of the muck. View attachment 2435556 View attachment 2435556 View attachment 2435558 View attachment 2435559 Willgrab pallets this week.

That does help a ton!

It looks like the tall side faces south. If so that is a great place for windows/vents/holes. Let that sunshine in and less likely to let rain/snow in.

The sooner you add more venting the better.
If you want pics of my windows let me know.




Side note: Your chicken wire is not hooked to your 2x4 welded wire. A bird can get trapped between there. A few zip ties will fix that risk. I myself use J-clips so I don't have to replace zips but zips are cheap and easily available.

 

[Fishychix]

I will have to

That does help a ton!

It looks like the tall side faces south. If so that is a great place for windows/vents/holes. Let that sunshine in and less likely to let rain/snow in.

The sooner you add more venting the better.
If you want pics of my windows let me know.




Side note: Your chicken wire is not hooked to your 2x4 welded wire. A bird can get trapped between there. A few zip ties will fix that risk. I myself use J-clips so I don't have to replace zips but zips are cheap and easily available.

“ somebody” dropped them and didnt pick them up, outside. I have to wAit until it melts to get him to puck them up so i can do that. Ha ha, I’m so funny.
Or i could just get another box since i have one more bunny to get a wire cage for. I think that will be faster, and easier. She really loves her indoor cage though It has a little hidey hole where she runs in and peeks at you. I’ll have to make sure to replicate that for her.

 

[Chickassan]

The soothing sounds of Homer.Homer
I have one where she gets pecked but since I like you all non deaf I didn't upload it.

 

[Chickassan]

I only worry about frostbite when the wind chill gets crazy during the daytime and even then only the roosters with those big combs.
On the off chance a really wet snow like Nunny is facing comes through where humidity is crazy and ventilation be damned the coop is just damp I still just focus on the boys.
Hens tuck their heads at night boys don't so they're more at risk but honestly all I do is put a thin layer of chapstick on the comb tips no more than you'd put on your lips.
Never had any toe issues though, even with the freakish amount and featherd feet.

Good morning everybody

I know not to heat my coop, but I thought it would hold some heat on its own. It doesnt seem to though. Is that an issue? At what point should I put vaseline on their combs and feet? Their run is perpetually wet and all this now melting snow isnt helping. I worry about frostbite. We are running out of hay and I dont know if i can get wood chips but will look into it. Any suggestions though? If “quit worrying” applies, feel free to let me know

 

[21hens-incharge]

I will have to


“ somebody” dropped them and didnt pick them up, outside. I have to wAit until it melts to get him to puck them up so i can do that. Ha ha, I’m so funny.
Or i could just get another box since i have one more bunny to get a wire cage for. I think that will be faster, and easier. She really loves her indoor cage though It has a little hidey hole where she runs in and peeks at you. I’ll have to make sure to replicate that for her.

A garage magnet has been invaluable here. I have found tons of no no stuff in the chicken pen with it. Crap they dig up or crap I dropped and couldn't immediately find. Yup I have gathered spilled J clips with it.

https://www.harborfreight.com/17-in-mini-magnetic-sweeper-62704.html

 

[Fishychix]

A garage magnet has been invaluable here. I have found tons of no no stuff in the chicken pen with it. Crap they dig up or crap I dropped and couldn't immediately find. Yup I have gathered spilled J clips with it.

https://www.harborfreight.com/17-in-mini-magnetic-sweeper-62704.htmlnn

I bought aa pretty powerful one jst for that purpose. But it went down the hubs black hole. Honestly, everything he touches disappears.
Yours has wheels

I only worry about frostbite when the wind chill gets crazy during the daytime and even then only the roosters with those big combs.
On the off chance a really wet snow like Nunny is facing comes through where humidity is crazy and ventilation be damned the coop is just damp I still just focus on the boys.
Hens tuck their heads at night boys don't so they're more at risk but honestly all I do is put a thin layer of chapstick on the comb tips no more than you'd put on your lips.
Never had any toe issues though, even with the freakish amount and featherd feet.

Nunny and i live about 30 minutes apart, but she lives on the “wrong” side of the snow belt Mine was pretty, hers was pretty disastrous.

Honestly, I started freaking about frostbite mainly because of a thread where a chicken had lost all her feet and walked on stubs. By all I mean completely. The pictures are awful, poor thing. Apparently she does just fine. Chickens are amazing.

 

[Grammy60]

Good morning everyone have a great Friday

 

[21hens-incharge]

I bought aa pretty powerful one jst for that purpose. But it went down the hubs black hole. Honestly, everything he touches disappears.
Yours has wheels

Nunny and i live about 30 minutes apart, but she lives on the “wrong” side of the snow belt Mine was pretty, hers was pretty disastrous.

Honestly, I started freaking about frostbite mainly because of a thread where a chicken had lost all her feet and walked on stubs. By all I mean completely. The pictures are awful, poor thing. Apparently she does just fine. Chickens are amazing.

Mine is actually different than the one I linked. Mine is without wheels and about 20 years old now. It has become one of the things I grab whenever I set up for a backyard project. I used mine daily for several days after we had the roof replaced. It took a LONG time to find all the nails they dropped.
They can be quite expensive but Harbor freight has them at the best prices.

The cases where birds lose parts of their feet are fairly rare. I get the feeling you would notice very early on. You seem to be paying pretty close attention to your flock.

Sharing 2 of my "storm stories" that COULD have ended poorly but didn't.
Storm 1. We lived in the sticks so power going out meant it stayed out for a long time. We had an ice storm roll through and temps plummeted. Power went out. We had a solid week where the HIGH was 0°. Yes zero was the high for an entire week with no power. The following week was not much better hitting just 20° for the high. I had 30+ laying hens, 12 ducks, 2 geese, and around 5 bantam chickens. My dog helped me get the waterfowl into the barn. A big dry barn. No heat plus small children meant we headed for a hotel. No way to heat water so that was a struggle. I lost one tiny bantam who decided THAT was the best time to go broody. Zero birds got frostbite during the ordeal.

Storm 2. Living here in town we had a cold spell where we were -16 overnight. I only had a few birds but that included a naked molting leghorn. She did get touched by frostbite on the tips of her comb. Yes she lost the tips. No one else got hit at all. The other leghorns were fine as well as the australorps.

Those are the 2 extreme storms we have had. There have been many many storms that were still bad and BECAUSE of good venting and dry coops no one got frost bite.

What I am saying is frostbite on chickens is pretty rare in the grand scheme of things.

Good morning everyone have a great Friday

Good morning Sue. Happy Friday.

 

[Grammy60]

Good morning Henny have a great Friday !

 

[rjohns39]

Good morning folks

Good morning Sue. Happy Friday.

Good morning Henny, have a great day