Please calm me down, my northern friends

[wildorchid053]

we are really cold too.. mine go out if it is 20 and above for the day.. but with wind or colder i keep them inside. just keep the wind from blowing on them directly. and you have enough in each coop to keep themselves warm at night.. i have 8 chickens in an 8x8 6' tall coop
they even go into the snow if it is warm enough.. 30 seems to be their magic number lol

 

[CityGirlintheCountry]

Well, it's a balmy 19 degrees out there right now and to add insult to injury, it has begun to snow.

On the plus side, the chickens seem fine. I made a big ol' batch of oatmeal this morning and took out 4 gallons of hot tap water. They got scratch and BOSS and are happy as pigs in the sunshine. Er... chickens in the sunshine... er... snow. I froze my heinie off tending to their needs, but they seem fine.

I put a gallon of hot water in the banty coop last night. I don't know if it worked or not. It was slushy frozen this morning. All the banties seemed okay though, so who knows.

Thanks for the help! We'll just batten down the hatches and hope for normal winter weather soon.

 

[CityChook]

If it makes you feel any better, snow is quite insulating and will help keep your coop warmer. I am always happy to have a nice thick blanket of snow on my flower gardens before the bitter negative temperatures hit. You're gonna be fine - I stressed HARD my first winter with the chookies. Although it's -15 outside right now (11 a.m.), and not even expected to reach 0 today, I'm feeling much more relaxed. Make sure they have a space to cuddle up together, give them a little water bottle to snuggle up with (burying it in the shavings will make it last longer) and make sure they have no drafts blowing on them and have fluid water. Chickens are pretty darned tough.

I like the idea of hot water bottle in your coop. If you don't have the ability to get electricity to them (don't remember if you do...), the this seems like a good alternative. It wouldn't work here as water freezes pretty fast, but it seems like a good alternative in more mild climates. 30s are really quite balmy and your girls will be fine.

Good luck and enjoy the snow! It's so pretty!

 

[jhm47]

I was wrong! I thought it would get to -35F last night, but it only made it to -32F. It's already up to -14F, so as long as the wind is mostly calm, it isn't too bad out. Chickens did OK, but the cows are a bit slow this morning. I don't move very fast either, so I don't blame them.

 

[PaulaJoAnne]

-16 here, at the moment, in south central Alaska. In November, it was at least -20, and I fully expect it to get that low again soon.
I let our birds have access to the run down to -10.
Anything lower then that, and I close off the pop door.
We have a little ceramic heater that runs anytime its below zero, just to prevent frostbite.
Everyone is happy, laying eggs, scratching in the extra hay I gave them, and loving the extra apples I gave them this morning with there hot alfalfa crumbles.

 

[NEK38583]

Quote:
I am glad you posted this I have been worried to. I did the same thing to person in paris did. I went and got plastic yesterday and put it around my coops it seem like everything is doing pretty good. I am just going to be glad when this is over with. I am looking forward to spring. I hate winter. I am just keeping my finger cross.

 

[CityGirlintheCountry]

I don't usually mind our winters, but this is ridiculous! It's not supposed to be this cold here! Grrrrr!!! We don't usually have to deal with ice in the waterers until February. This does not bode well for the next three months.

 

[WisconsinGardenChick]

Quote:
Reading through this thread, it sounds like some of you make the decision for the chickens. I've been letting mine decide for themselves, but it's HARD. Today the high is 6F. It was 20F in their coop, but do you think those bird brains would go in there??? After we hauled out hot water bottles to keep it that warm? Nooooo....

I asked about this a few weeks ago, and someone said maybe the ammonia build-up in my coop was deterring them; but that can't be the case. I remove all the droppings from the tray under their perch and spot clean daily. I have the cleanest coop I've ever seen!

It has windows and lots of light too, so why do they stay out?

And, biggest question to all of you, Should I make them stay in when I think it's too cold out?

Many thanks for any responses. My first winter with chickens and I can't seem to stop worrying...

 

[cposz]

It was -17 when we got up this morning, and somewhere below 0 in the henhouse (the thermometer doesn't register anything below 0). They all seemed fine - all four of them laid this morning - but to make ourselves - and hopefully them - feel better, we installed a second light for additional heat this morning.
Right now the temp outside is 0 - but it's 32 degrees in the henhouse. They are all outside, though, soaking up the sunlight.

 

[SundownWaterfowl]

I dont put any heat source in any of the pens other than my young silkies that were hatched this fall. I do add some whole corn to their feed.