Okies in the BYC The Original

[quenston]

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I'll be 10 degrees higher than you, but I'll be praying for the same thing. That, and providing TONS of hot food for them, and cracked corn too if I can get it.

I am so glad you reminded me I have to get cracked corn!!

 

[poultryand bees]

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If we can figure out transportation, I am interested in all of them.

I will send you a PM

 

[artsyrobin]

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I'll be 10 degrees higher than you, but I'll be praying for the same thing. That, and providing TONS of hot food for them, and cracked corn too if I can get it.

yep- mine are getting oatmeal mash in the morning and evening or hot rice, my worry is frostbite- what does it look like? since our coop is attached to the house, adjacent to the spare bathroom window, i have that open and a heater going by the window- blowing into the coop.. the coop is 4 x 8 - here is how it is set up-

the heater only keeps the chill off, but with the temps they are forcasting, i doubt it will even do that, i have blankets up at the door and far window

there is a total of ten in the coop

 

[poultryand bees]

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Tell Mike it is too cold for snakes and the wood will likely be burned before it gets warm enough for them to come out of their hidey holes to inhabit the wood.

 

[poultryand bees]

Quote:
I'll be 10 degrees higher than you, but I'll be praying for the same thing. That, and providing TONS of hot food for them, and cracked corn too if I can get it.

yep- mine are getting oatmeal mash in the morning and evening or hot rice, my worry is frostbite- what does it look like? since our coop is attached to the house, adjacent to the spare bathroom window, i have that open and a heater going by the window- blowing into the coop.. the coop is 4 x 8 - here is how it is set up-

http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o155/rgortonart/coop4.jpg
http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o155/rgortonart/coopinside.jpg

the heater only keeps the chill off, but with the temps they are forcasting, i doubt it will even do that, i have blankets up at the door and far window

there is a total of ten in the coop

Your chickens should do fine, even with these low temps, because they have roosts and will sleep with their heads under one wing, which will protect their combs and wattles to some extent. Since they are roosting, they will be sitting on their feet, which will protect their feet and you won't need to worry about "piling" and suffocation because they are not on the ground. I bet the heater keeps their area from freezing.

I don't heat my chicken coops and except for some young chicks that piled on top of each other, haven't lost any to this cold weather.

 

[HennyPennies2007]

Thanks Maribeth! Mike sees snakes under every tree, in every hole, under every rock...even if it's 10 degrees. In his mind, he sees them in large groups underground wearing miners caps...with plans and maps plotting the best method of attack. He sees them amassing large amounts of weapons and practicing methods of torture. He believes they can unlock doors and open cars, fly and read.... According to Mike....snakes have superpowers that humans cannot match.

 

[TheBarnSwallow]

Yea we also havent lost any due to the cold as ours roost in the evening and we have a brooder lamp in there but its over their water to keep it from freezing, for our geese and duck we have hay layed down for them and our turkeys have a roost in their pen....

 

[artsyrobin]

Your chickens should do fine, even with these low temps, because they have roosts and will sleep with their heads under one wing, which will protect their combs and wattles to some extent. Since they are roosting, they will be sitting on their feet, which will protect their feet

ok, i am such a worry wart! they do have access outside during the day and can come in and out at will, guess life is warmer if you are born with feathers!!​

 

[artsyrobin]

just found a really good thread, https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=281933

the reply is to a question on the cold in the UK-she added some interesting links

hope its ok to paste parts of it here

Chickens have a down coat. They handle cold better than heat. .......

Your danger is not that they will freeze to death but that they might get frostbite, primarily when they are roosting. They can get frostbite anytime the temperature gets below freezing, but mine don't when the temperature gets into the single digits F here. Whether they are in danger of frostbite depends on several things, but mainly draft and humidity. If they are roosting in a draft, you need to fix that. End of story!!!

Humidity is a bit more complicated. Chickens and their poop gives off humidity. If you have adequate ventilation, this humidity is taken away and you don't have the problems. How do you have ventilation without drafts, you ask. Good question. Have the openings for ventilation higher than they are roosting. Don't have anything open below their roost while they are roosting.


I'll give you two links to documents Pat wrote. She is the resident expert on this forum concerning cold weather and ventilation. In my opinion, you can depend on her for this topic.

Pat’s Winter Coop Temperatures
https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/vie … mperatures

Pat’s Ventilation
https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=1642-VENTILATION

I'll also point out that electricity sometimes fails. I firmly believe in having coops that do not require outside heating sources to allow the chickens to do well if at all possible. In truly cold climates that may not be possible, but in climates like yours and mine, it should be.​

 

[Sooner]

good evening everyone!

I see that everyone is in a twist with the weather. I think it was Stimpy that said we would be complaining about the cold weather once it got here. LOL. I for one am a summer time girl but I will take this because I would rather have snow than ice an as long the ground is froze then I don't have to wade through mud and so far I haven't lost any to the weather so things are going my way!

I have to add that I am really glad to have coveralls now.