Secrets to keeping chickens in extreme weather

[Mahonri]

Rita...

Welcome to BYC!!!

 

[sommrluv]

Thank you very much. That helps alot.

 

[neuchicontheblock]

I like the hot water in a jug. I have small coops so that would work. Kinda like a foot warmer for us!

 

[TheresaB]

Help a newbie out!

We are in Colorado, currently it is 8 degrees outside with only an expected high of 18 today. I have 5 laying hens in a coop approx. 7ft square, unheated. Is there anything I should do for them?

 

[Bwaaak!]

Hi everyone! I live on the outskirts of Seattle where the temps right now will be below freezing for the next week or more at night and daytime temps will hover in the 40s. This is my first year raising banties of the standard breeds and I worry about them. My husband built a goodsized chicken tractor with an insulated roof. In it he installed a porcelain chicken light with a 100 watt ceramic reptile light. Gives off low heat and no light, and safe for the tractor.

My coop (or run, as most people call it) is fairly large. I just got done stringing three 100 watt (incandescent bulbs) porcelain chicken lights in a group to warm them up during the morning and day (if its still in the 30s). Incandescent bulbs give off more instant heat than a reptile bulb.

Even with all that, I still worry about them. Best of luck to you in the cold climates. Barb

 

[teach1rusl]

Quote:
Theresa...are you saying 7ft. sq. as in 49 sq. feet????? That's a big area for 5 birds, which is GOOD in just about any sense other than warming up in really cold temps. That's about my situation. My coop is insulated though. Other than a heat lamp, which may or may not be feasible for you, you could stack up hay bales for insulation, put lots of bedding down, add a "huddle" box inside the bigger coop, put a tarp around the run to block wind...lots of things to try to see what might work for you and your girls...

 

[TheresaB]

Yes, it's about 49sq feet. It's a converted wooden storage shed. I originally bought 10 chicks for this space, but some roos in the mix and some "personality conflicts" dwindled my flock. The girls prefer to roost on the support beams close to the roof, even though they have 2 other roosts in the coop. There are ventilation holes on two sides of the coop at approx. preferred roosting level. There is a window that I keep closed at anything below freezing. There pop door to the run is open. Breeds are: Buff Orpington, Red Sex Link and Americauna

 

[Gunnygranny]

Hi Theresa and other cold weather folks!
We also live in CO -- but in south central -- at 8,000 -- it was about -15 this morning. Yes I was concerned about our hens. This is our first year and so much to learn
Our coop is about 8’X12’ -- it was an eave off of a storage shed that we converted into a coop. There was already electricity to the shed. We put in lots of insulation and windows. The windows and glass door are currently covered (on the outside) with plastic. We also put in a cat size pet door that give them access to a “run”. The run had once been part of a “chicken trailer” we first built last summer. We built a roost like we found on this site and it works very well. We currently have a 100w bulb above the roost. When I went out there this morning to check on them it was about 17 degrees in there. The other thing we did was take a heated dog water dish and set their water in there. We have a plastic water dish for them that has a red base and a clear reservoir. The red part fits just right in the rim of the dog dish --this has worked to keep the water in the rim from freezing, but I think the water in the reservoir is frozen. So not sure what we are going to do about that. We also took 2 plastic containers that kitty litter came in, painted it black and filled them with water. We’ve been putting them out in the sun during the day to heat up. This worked for a while, we were gone for a few days and the person taking care of the chickens didn’t put them out and they are now pretty frozen.

Paula from Alaska said she put a ceramic heater in her coop -- and we may have to try that tonight. We have a couple of weeks where our temps go to -20+ and don’t get much above 0 -- so keeping the girls warm is a challenge.

I too am open to any and all ideas --so thanks in advance
Rita

 

[Gunnygranny]

Paula (my oldest daughter's name is Paula Jo!)
Your posting about the temps makes me feel much better. I also had not thought about them having to adjust to outside/inside temps. We did close their "door" to the outside run last night when we realized it was going to get so cold.

I guess I'm just a "mother hen" ha ha

Rita

 

[Gunnygranny]

As long as I'm on the computer, I do have a question.
Yesterday I found 2 eggs that were "layed" while they were on their roost -- both looked like they had very soft shells. There was also a broken one, again with a soft shell in one of the nesting boxes.

What causes this?? They really haven't had any change in thier diet -- well the compost ben is pretty frozen, so they aren't getting much from it anymore -- unless its really fresh! They get organic mixed chicken feed be buy from a feed store. It says it had the oyster shells in it. They also get milk/home made cheese everynow and then.

Any thought/suggestions???
Rita