Our birdies seem to be freezing!

[Melissa in the PNW]

We have 19 chickens and four ducks. It very quickly has dropped in temperature to about -10 at night and maybe 3° during the day. I went to check on the birds this morning and it looks like our ducks are literally shaking from the cold. The coop is not large enough for me to feel safe putting a heat lamp of some sort in there but I’m worried and don’t know what to do for my birds! We have a tarp over one side of their pen/run area and are going to put up a second on the other but I’m just still so worried!! What else can I do to help them? Should we make a home in the garage for them until the temp warms back up in a few days? The chickens seems to be doing fine but I can’t tell.

 

[TooCheep]

Where are you located? Many questions, including this one will be made easier if you add you general location into your profile. Are those temps Fahrenheit or Celsius?

Assuming you mean Fahrenheit, most chickens (those that are cold tolerant) will be fine. What breed(s) do you have? That is relevant.

The biggest thing they need is area(s) where they can go that are dry and out of the wind. Their feathers provide good insulation.

Do they have access to liquid water?

Sorry, I can't offer any info on the ducks. Hopefully, someone else can chime in. You might want to put a separate post in the ducks forum to get better input there.

 

[Melissa in the PNW]

Where are you located? Many questions, including this one will be made easier if you add you general location into your profile. Are those temps Fahrenheit or Celsius?

Assuming you mean Fahrenheit, most chickens (those that are cold tolerant) will be fine. What breed(s) do you have? That is relevant.

The biggest thing they need is area(s) where they can go that are dry and out of the wind. Their feathers provide good insulation.

Do they have access to liquid water?

Sorry, I can't offer any info on the ducks. Hopefully, someone else can chime in. You might want to put a separate post in the ducks forum to get better input there.

I’m in Spokane Washington! And I’m taking Fahrenheit! We have a bundle of random birds! We did an assortment order so being new to this it’s hard to narrow down which is which! Looking through a few hatchery magazines I believe we have a handful of leghorns, a Dominique, polish, Delaware, faverolles, and Marans. Our ducks are Pekin and khaki campbells. They do have fresh water and we give them extra scratch grains and meal worms to help! They have a coop they can go in and their pen area attached to the coop has most of the side covered with tarps to block wind. I’ve just never had so many birds and it’s not been this cold for a long time so I worry!

Thank you so much for responding!!

 

[Penpal]

We had Khaki Campbells in Michigan. We had negative temperatures. The ducks did not like having ice on their pond, but they seemed to soldier on. Is there straw in their coop? I would make sure they have a good layer of straw, it is good insulation.

I never fed them scratch grains. As soon as you break the grain it starts loosing nutrition, which means it doesn't store well. Whole grains will store for a much longer time. Whole oats, whole wheat. A little corn. Keep it in metal garbage cans to keep rats and mice from it.

 

[TooCheep]

They have a coop they can go in and their pen area attached to the coop has most of the side covered with tarps to block wind. I’ve just never had so many birds and it’s not been this cold for a long time so I worry!

Those chicken breeds should be fine. As for the tarps, I mainly cover 2-3 sides of the run area where the prevailing winds comes from (assuming you can't cover the top to keep out precipitation). They can handle the ambient temps as long as they can stay dry and out of the winds.

 

[Melissa in the PNW]

We had Khaki Campbells in Michigan. We had negative temperatures. The ducks did not like having ice on their pond, but they seemed to soldier on. Is there straw in their coop? I would make sure they have a good layer of straw, it is good insulation.

I never fed them scratch grains. As soon as you break the grain it starts loosing nutrition, which means it doesn't store well. Whole grains will store for a much longer time. Whole oats, whole wheat. A little corn. Keep it in metal garbage cans to keep rats and mice from it.

Yes we have straw in the coop and then all over the pen since the ground is petty frozen! Thank you for the info about the grain too!!

 

[Melissa in the PNW]

Those chicken breeds should be fine. As for the tarps, I mainly cover 2-3 sides of the run area where the prevailing winds comes from (assuming you can't cover the top to keep out precipitation). They can handle the ambient temps as long as they can stay dry and out of the winds.

We just covered most of the pen besides where we they can get in and out and we have a roof over it that blocks a lot so good to know!! It is supposed to warm up here in the next few days so just hoping we did enough until then! Thank you again!!!

 

[jBabychickn]

We have 19 chickens and four ducks. It very quickly has dropped in temperature to about -10 at night and maybe 3° during the day. I went to check on the birds this morning and it looks like our ducks are literally shaking from the cold. The coop is not large enough for me to feel safe putting a heat lamp of some sort in there but I’m worried and don’t know what to do for my birds! We have a tarp over one side of their pen/run area and are going to put up a second on the other but I’m just still so worried!! What else can I do to help them? Should we make a home in the garage for them until the temp warms back up in a few days? The chickens seems to be doing fine but I can’t tell.

If you’re worried and have a place to bring them in at night; I’d totally go it!
I mean.. Why not? — I’ve heard way too many stories about birds freezing to death during the night. It’s a senseless way to go, IMO.

Birds need Winter care & support just as much as they need Summertime heat stress relief and support..

 

[Mrs. K]

Truthfully - I think you are cold, and perhaps miserable outside, and think your birds must be too. You really are doing things right to keep them comfortable, Wind protection and deep bedding. Don't think warm, think dry and out of the wind.

Mrs K