Pennsylvania!! Unite!!

[LittleMissPurdy]

Tonights low in my area is 0, the lowest it has ever been for my chickens by a long shot. I'm wondering if there are any special things I should do like add a heat lamp or close off ventilation, or if my chickens will be fine just the way they are. My coop is completely draft free and I have two windows up top that I keep open pretty much all year round

I slightly closed the front "window"..only because the wind was blowing that way..it will most likely go back to it's normal blowing pattern, from the back. I wouldn't shut things up too much as it could/will promote humidity, very quickly inside ..I only have 6 birds, but the area is small...as cold as it is and getting, they are really going to be putting out the heat!!

Bucks county

Hello & welcome..Clinton co.here!! middle of the mountains.....

so you drove the whole way there and they said "sorry, can't do it!" ?.....and all that way..I don't think I would be in as good spirits about it as you...don't they send out info. as to what exactly the birds need for vaccs.?..anyway, so sorry to hear that Meta.-Danielle

wow!!! the best meals are the ones that you just dig thru and use what you got..

onion
tomato
spinach
cream cheese
all with a fried egg on top



yep, the entire family is looking at me like I lost it.

that sounds good & I could even eat that, being careful with the onion..i think anything with cream cheese is a winner!!

so my chickens did not want to go outside.

They had the door open all day.

Finally I decided to put a garden bench right outside their open door with their water .

This is door to door service!

They DID go out to their garden bench " deck" for water

they also DID spill their food all over the inside of the coop-------but they have food right!


This deck idea might be something I can incorporate into my new coop plans..!

Are they spoiled or what?

birds in the wild have to find food and water IN THE SNOW and STAY WARM.....

so our chickens are doing pretty well--------

shelter provided and secured and food delivered!

yes, they are very spoiled!!

 

[Katt66]

I am against using heat lamps for the simple reason that the heat will cause humidity, and that is when frostbite and other problems start

I know all of this and so far I've been doing good with leaving them to themselves and not treating them like papered house cats but cold tolerant farm animals that are happier when cold than when hot. Coop is well sealed all around except for the ventilation at the eaves and a couple of places around the coop door. Run is enclosed totally in plastic, again except for ventilation around the top below the roof. Everybody's been wonderful all winter so far. Usually I leave the coop door open anymore now that they're all grown up. Tonight I closed it. When I peeked in on them all ten were lined up along the higher roost in the front of the coop. And they've got a choice of high roosting space, low roosting space and on a night like this I wouldn't even care if they all crawled into the nest boxes or down on the floor and snuggled into the straw to sleep. And I'm sure with all that shared body heat they will be fine. But I'm still tempted to go out and grab them all down off the roost one by one and stuff them in some kennels in the basement for the night. I know they'll be fine out there but I keep finding myself wandering towards the door to go out to the coop and peek in on them again just to be sure. Then I catch myself and remember that they're fine and if I open the door they WON'T be as fine because I'll be leaving all that wind chill into their cozy little home and what little heat they do produce tonight right out into the cold subzero night. I have a heat lamp run out there but it's hanging out in the run as a source of light if I need to see out there in the middle of the night for some reason. And I am NOT going to put it in their coop tonight. I will NOT break down and treat them like housepets. Growing up our chickens lived in a coop with no heat lamp. Heck, when we were kids, those mean old Leghorn Roosters we had didn't even have a coop but roosted in trees in the dead of winter with snow all around and icicles hanging off of the branches they slept on. And I'm just rambling on here trying to convince myself that I've done everything right by my babies and they WILL be fine tomorrow morning when I get up...

 

[LittleMissPurdy]

I'm worried about my girls too for the next few days. I'll let the older 2 out tomorrow & Sunday into their run but the 2 newest ones may have to stay in the coop since there is an ongoing battle between my dominant old one & the dominant new one. I'm going batty trying to keep them separated. I have a small enclosed run inside the big run for the new girls that way they can still interact some without harming each other but I have a hard time getting the new girls in to it & hubby works early in the morning & can't help. The guy I bought the 2 new young ones from (which is by the way the same person I bought my older gals from), said to keep them apart but close together with barriers if I could. He said 2 days & 1 night should do it but it will be a week Sunday & they are no happier with each other than the day we brought them home. I'll never again try to introduce new girls to my flock again in the winter months. I have the coop divided into 2 areas also trying to keep them apart but there is no roost in the new girls area & I have lots of straw down but they seem to push it around & end up on the bare linoleum floor. I am not having fun with this at all. Kinda sorry I got more if I can't get them to accept each other. The other older gal & the 2 new ones get along fine so far. Any ideas? Getting very discouraged & this weather isn't helping at all....lol The first 2 pics are of the new girls, Gabbie, the Black Australorp & Gussie the Gold Laced Wyandotte. The bottom is of the older girls, Gracie & Gertie. Gracie is the dominant one...always thought Gertie was...go figure....the quiet silent type is Gracie I suppose...lol Gabbie just paces in front of the barrier for hours at a time & they do try to peck each other between the holes. I came out the 2nd morning that we had them & opened the coop, Gracie was in front of the barrier in the new chicken area & the 2 new ones were back behind the barrier with Gertie....lol Like Houdini's I guess....lol

I had a hard time with the Marans being accepted as she was the only one(2 to1)..well they just work it out..it is not nice..not at all ..but they have to do their thing..as long as there isn't any "blood shed" and everyone is eating..everything is good in the chicken world of house wives....When I integrated the new three,(2 BLRW & 1 BLW) with the "old" three (1Partridge Dotte , 1 BLW & 1 Marans), there was some fussing..still is a little here and there, especially with the Marans..she is just nuttsy anyway...they settled down and things are good.
It is funny to watch them when they go into the big run..the new three generally stick together..and the 'old' three do the same..funny, but they get along well enough to be a 'single' flock....it takes time..and it takes US not being to emotional about them doing what is natural to them...as long as there is NO blood...and everyone is eating. I am just learning these things, so I am not an expert... JMO-Danielle

 

[wingstone]

Quote:

 

[LittleMissPurdy]

I know all of this and so far I've been doing good with leaving them to themselves and not treating them like papered house cats but cold tolerant farm animals that are happier when cold than when hot. Coop is well sealed all around except for the ventilation at the eaves and a couple of places around the coop door. Run is enclosed totally in plastic, again except for ventilation around the top below the roof. Everybody's been wonderful all winter so far. Usually I leave the coop door open anymore now that they're all grown up. Tonight I closed it. When I peeked in on them all ten were lined up along the higher roost in the front of the coop. And they've got a choice of high roosting space, low roosting space and on a night like this I wouldn't even care if they all crawled into the nest boxes or down on the floor and snuggled into the straw to sleep. And I'm sure with all that shared body heat they will be fine. But I'm still tempted to go out and grab them all down off the roost one by one and stuff them in some kennels in the basement for the night. I know they'll be fine out there but I keep finding myself wandering towards the door to go out to the coop and peek in on them again just to be sure. Then I catch myself and remember that they're fine and if I open the door they WON'T be as fine because I'll be leaving all that wind chill into their cozy little home and what little heat they do produce tonight right out into the cold subzero night. I have a heat lamp run out there but it's hanging out in the run as a source of light if I need to see out there in the middle of the night for some reason. And I am NOT going to put it in their coop tonight. I will NOT break down and treat them like housepets. Growing up our chickens lived in a coop with no heat lamp. Heck, when we were kids, those mean old Leghorn Roosters we had didn't even have a coop but roosted in trees in the dead of winter with snow all around and icicles hanging off of the branches they slept on. And I'm just rambling on here trying to convince myself that I've done everything right by my babies and they WILL be fine tomorrow morning when I get up...

I only have to think of our ancestors & all the ways they "lived" without all the modern conveniences we have and the way they raised their animals....that fixes me right then and there. I still have a lot of family in the farming business...dairy and such, so I am not too removed from how things work with animals husbandry. The animals will be fine, we will be fine..life is good.

 

[LittleMissPurdy]

same page of the same book?

 

[Farmer Mike S]

I know all of this and so far I've been doing good with leaving them to themselves and not treating them like papered house cats but cold tolerant farm animals that are happier when cold than when hot.  Coop is well sealed all around except for the ventilation at the eaves and a couple of places around the coop door.  Run is enclosed totally in plastic, again except for ventilation around the top below the roof.  Everybody's been wonderful all winter so far.  Usually I leave the coop door open anymore now that they're all grown up.  Tonight I closed it.  When I peeked in on them all ten were lined up along the higher roost in the front of the coop.  And they've got a choice of high roosting space, low roosting space and on a night like this I wouldn't even care if they all crawled into the nest boxes or down on the floor and snuggled into the straw to sleep.  And I'm sure with all that shared body heat they will be fine.  But I'm still tempted to go out and grab them all down off the roost one by one and stuff them in some kennels in the basement for the night.  I know they'll be fine out there but I keep finding myself wandering towards the door to go out to the coop and peek in on them again just to be sure.  Then I catch myself and remember that they're fine and if I open the door they WON'T be as fine because I'll be leaving all that wind chill into their cozy little home and what little heat they do produce tonight right out into the cold subzero night.  I have a heat lamp run out there but it's hanging out in the run as a source of light if I need to see out there in the middle of the night for some reason.  And I am NOT going to put it in their coop tonight.  I will NOT break down and treat them like housepets.  Growing up our chickens lived in a coop with no heat lamp.  Heck, when we were kids, those mean old Leghorn Roosters we had didn't even have a coop but roosted in trees in the dead of winter with snow all around and icicles hanging off of the branches they slept on.  And I'm just rambling on here trying to convince myself that I've done everything right by my babies and they WILL be fine tomorrow morning when I get up...

Yea that's pretty much how I feel. Especially having a small number of five, they become more like your pet cat then just some farm animals. When I first got my chickens I considered using them for meat but that thought quickly left my mind. When they're free ranging I watch over them like a hawk, and when I'm not, they're in a run. If I had like 30+ I'm sure they'd feel more like farm animals than pets though. But yea, I know they will be fine in the cold but it does worry me a bit, but I'm calm about it.

This is sort of off topic but I never enclosed my run in plastic, but it's something I might consider. My chickens are fine going outside in the cold, but if there's even just a thin dusting of snow they won't even attempt to set foot outside. So as you would imagine they've been confined to my 4x4 coop for some time this winter, and that created some issues with feather plucking. Today I shoveled snow and poured hot water through the run to get rid of the snow, and they went out for a bit, but then a big breeze with some drifting snow it it came along, and they freaked out like never before. They never went back out after that, so yea, I might try to enclose my run in plastic...

 

[LadyBehir]

Yay, going to meet up with my sister tomorrow at the farm show.

 

[Farmer Mike S]

I only have to think of our ancestors & all the ways they "lived" without all the modern conveniences we have and the way they raised their animals....that fixes me right then and there. I still have a lot of family in the farming business...dairy and such, so I am not too removed from how things work with animals husbandry. The animals will be fine, we will be fine..life is good.

Oh God, our ancestors. In today's America people freak out if the cables out for a day, and if the power goes out, people treat it like it's life threatening. Compared to today's world, it's hard to imagine people going outside to use the bathroom, having no electricity, no phones, no cars, etc. It's even getting rare to see people doing physical labor these days. Not everyone's like those though, put me out in the woods and I can make it a few years, but I'd have to admit life would be a bit tough without some of our modern conveniences.

 

[stake]

Bucks county

Howdy from Chester Co....