OHio ~ Come on Buckeyes, let me know your out there!

[WVduckchick]

In this pic, the blue tape is just electrical tape holding the black heat tape onto the pipe, I think we will add zip ties also. But I can fill this from outside the pen. Ran the heat tape almost up to where the water goes in, it holds a few gallons of water.

 

[Laurel Meadows]

Have another more detailed winterizing coop concern...
How do you keep water from freezing without burning down chicken coop? Leaving water and feed outside is not an option as our run is open. I wanted to get the waterer heater (that is under the metal waterer) to use but it will catch bedding on fire.

Also what bedding to use for winter?? We have one side with straw (the nesting box/ water and feeder) and the other side with pine shavings (perches).

We have to insulate different than most others as we have to insulate from outside (cause rafters & how roof is designed).

Had to put tar paper covering vents and spaces in the roof to coop. I hated covering vents but at least windows can be opened. It was way to Cold still with vents open.

For water in the large fowl coops that only have adult birds in them, we use heated dog bowls which work great! You can leave them outside in the run as well. For the bantams and young chicks and juveniles we set their waterers on homemade cookie tin heaters that have 40 watt appliance bulbs in them. We use electrical tape around the area where the cord goes into the tin to keep drips out. We just run outdoor extension cords to each of our coops (we have 6!) and each waterer is plugged into a thermo cube so they power on the bowls and tins when temperatures are 34 degrees and turn off automatically at 45 degrees.
We use pine shavings year-round for bedding and our roosts are 2x4's for large fowl, 2x3's for bantams set wide side up so that when the birds roost at night, toes are covered.
Our coops are also insulated and we have adjustable vents up high. Birds actually seems to do better with the cold than the heat from my experience. Keeping direct wind and drafts off the birds goes a long way to help them manage the cold temperatures, especially at night. We put up tarps on the sides of the runs that get the most wind (just secure with zip ties) and our birds do tend to go outside more often in the daytime in winter with them up

 

[mamatink7]

Extension cord worked and wasn't super expensive. It's strung in a tree to keep it from being run over by the lawn mower. Lol I go for easy and inexpensive. As long as it's safe for the chickens.

Thanks Again. I think I know the one you mentioned. I will show husband next weekend. He said we'll have to use extension cord no matter what until we get the gfi hooked up.

 

[mamatink7]

For water in the large fowl coops that only have adult birds in them, we use heated dog bowls which work great! You can leave them outside in the run as well. For the bantams and young chicks and juveniles we set their waterers on homemade cookie tin heaters that have 40 watt appliance bulbs in them. We use electrical tape around the area where the cord goes into the tin to keep drips out. We just run outdoor extension cords to each of our coops (we have 6!) and each waterer is plugged into a thermo cube so they power on the bowls and tins when temperatures are 34 degrees and turn off automatically at 45 degrees.
We use pine shavings year-round for bedding and our roosts are 2x4's for large fowl, 2x3's for bantams set wide side up so that when the birds roost at night, toes are covered.
Our coops are also insulated and we have adjustable vents up high. Birds actually seems to do better with the cold than the heat from my experience. Keeping direct wind and drafts off the birds goes a long way to help them manage the cold temperatures, especially at night. We put up tarps on the sides of the runs that get the most wind (just secure with zip ties) and our birds do tend to go outside more often in the daytime in winter with them up

thank you. Those are some good ideas. At what weather or temps do you keep them inside the coop? We keep them in if there's a storm rolling in and extremely high winds. Not sure about winter yet. They do not like the heat, they start panting at 80s+. We have heavily feathered breeds. Think worried about is combs and wattles, but flying nun mentioned bag balm so i will begin that once gets back down in temps. Do you think I should uncover the vents?

 

[mamatink7]

In this pic, the blue tape is just electrical tape holding the black heat tape onto the pipe, I think we will add zip ties also. But I can fill this from outside the pen. Ran the heat tape almost up to where the water goes in, it holds a few gallons of water.

I do want to start the PVC waterer and I do like your setup for protecting the wires from the chickens. Thank you.

 

[mamatink7]

I use the metal waterer with the 'pan' heater under it.  There is no problem about bedding catching fire...the heating element is only in the very center of the heater, and doesn't run all the time, I think it has a thermostat so it is only on when it's below freezing.  The water is never warm, but never frozen.  We do have electricity run to a coop in a plastic conduit to keep the birds from messing with the cord. I don't use a heat lamp or light, but last winter I put up plastic over most of the run to keep the wind and snow out.  We also drilled a few vent holes near the roof line right over where the water sits to help keep down any moisture.

would they knock it over though? Was thinking about putting top of cinder blocks then still hang waterer (just as precautionary measure for our girls who like to jump and knock things over lol).

 

[FlyingNunFarm]

Pardon but What The H*** is this!?! I have a BCM who been having a hard time starting up. She's layed 2 shell less eggs. I know that can happen but they had yolks. This one seems to have a giant hunk of meat in it.

This is what I found in the nest box. The non-shell was already off the insides. The white of the egg seemed thick to me but complete. I took it all in the house and separated that big hunk to inspect further. It was fairly hard. I could squeeze it a little and I did break it open. It was solid. I've heard of meat spots but this seems extreme.

 

[mlm Mike]

They are about 5-6 months old

That's a pretty flock!

 

[Laurel Meadows]

thank you. Those are some good ideas. At what weather or temps do you keep them inside the coop? We keep them in if there's a storm rolling in and extremely high winds. Not sure about winter yet. They do not like the heat, they start panting at 80s+. We have heavily feathered breeds. Think worried about is combs and wattles, but flying nun mentioned bag balm so i will begin that once gets back down in temps. Do you think I should uncover the vents?

Glad I could help Most all the time during daylight hours, my chicken doors are open-rain, shine, snow or cold. The only times that we have closed them in longer periods were the extreme cold days when temps were below zero or when we had like -15 with wind chill. I always opened the chicken doors in the afternoon on the super cold days for several hours though. Some would come outside, some wouldn't but I think a lot depends on your birds personalities and the size of your coop too. Some of mine hate snow, some it doesn't phase them one bit

Plus if they want to go outside that's great too because it's less droppings inside the coop!
I haven't used any bag balm or Vaseline on combs but I know lots of people do. Many of my birds sleep with their heads tucked under their wings (including the roosters) so knock on wood I haven't had any frostbite issues but I also leave vents open a little to help move air a little and keep that moist, stagnant air from settling over the birds. I've found that leaving vents closed results in more moisture inside which is more risky in terms of frostbite. I would recommend not having a fully closed up coop for extended periods between dust, droppings/ ammonia which are respiratory irritants and moisture that can lead to frostbite, but that's just imho

 

[henny1129]

For the folks that have been to the Ohio National Poultry Show.......are there ever nice, show quality birds for sale? We're looking for some show quality birds to show in bigger shows like this and of course do a bit better in 4-H shows. I've never been to a show like this, so I don't know what people generally bring to the sales section. Thanks!