Forgive the question but this is our first night in sub zero temps and snow-
My coop/enclosed run is loosely based on the Wichita Coop design. It is currently 8 degrees and will be -8 by morning. I'm not worried about the girls in the coop-it is dry and I believe it to be well ventilated. However, when I went out to check on them this evening I noticed that there is at least half an inch of snow in the run over the fresh pine shavings and straw that I put down earlier. I have tarp around some of the run but not the whole thing as I didn't want to block out all of the light and prevent air exchange in the run. That, of course, is why I have snow in there as it was pretty windy while it was snowing all afternoon.
I've only got 3 adult hens out there and they're all cold hardy breads-RIR, Dominique, and Australorp. That said, the Dominique is in the middle of molting and is missing her head, neck, and tail feathers.
I'm completely out of straw and my local place only has hay which I'm reluctant to use as the Australorp has had an impacted crop in the past from eating bedding and I'm not in love with introducing something new that might tempt her.
How concerned do I need to be about this? No more snow is forecast but it will be single digit temps all day and I hate thinking about them standing on frozen straw/snow/ice. Should I just trust they'll head indoors as they need to? Should I just risk it and get the hay to spread down? If I put down new bedding do I need to remove the frozen stuff first, I assume?
Love to hear your thoughts. Thanks!
My coop/enclosed run is loosely based on the Wichita Coop design. It is currently 8 degrees and will be -8 by morning. I'm not worried about the girls in the coop-it is dry and I believe it to be well ventilated. However, when I went out to check on them this evening I noticed that there is at least half an inch of snow in the run over the fresh pine shavings and straw that I put down earlier. I have tarp around some of the run but not the whole thing as I didn't want to block out all of the light and prevent air exchange in the run. That, of course, is why I have snow in there as it was pretty windy while it was snowing all afternoon.
I've only got 3 adult hens out there and they're all cold hardy breads-RIR, Dominique, and Australorp. That said, the Dominique is in the middle of molting and is missing her head, neck, and tail feathers.
I'm completely out of straw and my local place only has hay which I'm reluctant to use as the Australorp has had an impacted crop in the past from eating bedding and I'm not in love with introducing something new that might tempt her.
How concerned do I need to be about this? No more snow is forecast but it will be single digit temps all day and I hate thinking about them standing on frozen straw/snow/ice. Should I just trust they'll head indoors as they need to? Should I just risk it and get the hay to spread down? If I put down new bedding do I need to remove the frozen stuff first, I assume?
Love to hear your thoughts. Thanks!