So what do you do when the power goes out?

[Imp]

Usually doesn't get cold enough here in western washington to worry about it, but I do have large cardboard boxes stored in case of an unusual situation. I could bring them into the house with the woodstove. Probably would not be practical if you had lots of chickens. In Dec. 2006, lost power for a week, wasn't cold and I think I would've been better off moving myself into the coop.

 

[jubylives]

I find it amussing that people in climates that are not prone to temps below death

are always saying not to heat. 150 years ago they may not have had certain breeds in colder climate areas. Today we have breeds that may not normally be found in our areas in our areas.

So if you were to take an animal found normally in southern states and bring them north to say Canada then what? It adapts or dies but I would bet more that it dies. Plus the age of chickens would be something to consider. I have some older hens that still produce eggs but I am not so sure they would survive the -0f temps we frequently get here.

Ok heres a question. What did they do back 100+ years ago? What about water? What about freezing eggs or chickens? What breeds did they normally have in the central plains or Canada.

jeremy

 

[gritsar]

Quote:
If you live in a northern climate IMO it would be prudent to only get breeds that are known to be cold hardy. Alot of people pick breeds that appeal to them beauty-wise, without taking their weather tolerances into consideration.
You might not think much of our winters here in the south, but we do have freezing or below freezing temps for days on end, ice storms, and in Arkansas in particular very wet winters. In contrast our summers are hotter than ****. That's why I picked a breed known for both their cold hardiness and their heat tolerance. I want to be able to raise my chickens without having to worry about climate control.

 

[patandchickens]

Quote:
No, it's not just people in warmer climates. Notice there are also lots of people here in the upper midwest and in Canada who don't heat their coops

150 years ago they may not have had certain breeds in colder climate areas.

Yes, exactly, and it's wise practice today, too. There is a wide, wide selection of cold-hardy breeds available. And note that when people say you don't necessarily need heat, they usually qualify it with "for typical chickens" i.e. not horribly out-of-place breeds.

What did they do back 100+ years ago? What about water? What about freezing eggs or chickens? What breeds did they normally have in the central plains or Canada.

Water? They brought pans or buckets from the house multiple times a day.

Freezing eggs? Not much of an issue - eggs don't freeze til IIRC about the mid 20s F plus which it takes them a good long time to get that cold (remember they start at 'hen temperature' and are typically half-insulated by the nestbox bedding they're lying in).

Also, remember that back then, just like today, there were LOTS of measures that help prevent the coop from getting as cold as the nightly lows outside.

AFAIK breeds that were common a hundred or a hundred fifty years ago, as general farmstead chickens, in colder areas, were things like Javas, Dominiques, Rocks, Dorkings (game types were also common in that era but I honestly have no idea whether they were common in cold areas). Plus of course by that time fancy breeds such as Brahmas, Cochins, Wyandottes were reasonably widespread, although more as a hobby than as Yer Basic Farm Chicken. There are many other breeds that are common today that also make good cold-weather chickens, of course (buckeyes, chanteclers, and orpingtons come first to mind).

Yes, some people would have some chickens lose some comb points or toes to frostbite. Avoiding that is largely a matter of good coop design and keeping an eye on what's going on. Also since we now have electricity freely available we can put a lamp on during especially cold nights if we think we have to (which is a lot different, IMHO, than regularly using a lamp or trying to 'heat the coop' as such). And of course the more you want to avoid frostbite risks, the more you want to choose your breeds intelligently.

Really, the comb is the most vulnerable part (assuming a wide roost) -- beyond that, look at the other birds that do just FINE in very cold temperatures. Chickens are birds. Chickens have coped with winters without heat (in a good coop, with good management) for centuries. They're still basically the same chickens today

Pat​

 

[jubylives]

Quote:
Oh I know all too well. I spent half my life in Oklahoma north of Tulsa. Some weird names for towns in OK.

The point of my questions was to draw conversation as to why heat could be necessary. Along with learning something I may not know. In the past like brought up by Pat the chickens were tended more often then is allowed nowadays. If it weren't for my wife working out of the home and having children there would be streches of days that I might not be able to tend to my flock. As I work a rotating schedule and a 12 hour days. So that being said it might be necessary to have a heat source in a coop as it is becoming more common for larger amounts of time to elapse between flock tending.


Just some food for thought.


Jeremy

 

[mudman]

Heat is a concern right now because 14 of our birds are 8wks old. They were in a seperate structure until last weekend and we had been slowly bringing their temps down for several weeks. Right now they have a milk house heater and a 90w flood keeping the coop above 40F at night.

Water is less of a concern as we live on a lake and can run a generator for our house. Also we try to keep several gallons on hand in case our stupid country goes haywire. I've got guns for more supplies when we run out...

I guess I would like to keep the coop just a couple/few degrees warmer for the birds' comfort. Will keeping the coop 5F warmer prevent them from being as hardy as they should be? I don't think so.

For reference we have two silkies that are supposed to be bantams but they are pretty big(hen, roo) and four bantams(OE roo, OE hen, 2 dorkings). All the young birds are winter hardy by MPC standards.

 

[Anny]

People have been keeping chickens for 100's of years in cold climates with out any heat. I think they should be fine .

 

[patandchickens]

Quote:
Assuming we're talking about whether to heat the coop, not whether to use a heated waterer/base (I'm not sure I've ever heard anyone argue that heated waterers/bases are a bad thing -- they are not *essential*, but they sure do make life easier and pleasanter!) then the only issue I can see that involves time availability is the issue of frozen eggs. Which, let's be honest, is not the hugest thing in the world for the majority of people, and again, eggs really don't freeze all that quickly anyhow.

Really, there are SO so many things you can do to moderate coop temperature that do not involve pouring lotsa time or electrical watts into it. That, plus breed selection, can can make a giant difference.

(Frankly even without a particularly thermally-efficient heat-conserving coop, you can still get away with a lot... my first introduction to chickens in Canada was a friend about 20 minutes away with some sort of generic brown and black chickens, in retrospect I'd guess prolly sexlinks, living in an unheated, totally uninsulated coop with one side made entirely of wire that was covered by thin transparent plastic for the winter... period. They did FINE for her, despite outdoor lows around -20 to -25 F.)

I can tell you from many, many years working with horses and horse owners, and it seems to be true in chickens too, that a lot of people have trouble getting past "man oh man *I* would sure not wanna be out there, outdoors, wearing just a sweater in this weather!". Unfortunately this is a terribly terribly inaccurate and misleading guide to what is healthiest and most preferred by horses, or, apparently in some cases, chickens either

JME,

Pat

 

[jubylives]

I'm kinda talking about both. Since some like to throw out the whole thing about what happened 100 years ago. So I'd assume that those against using a little heat in the coop would also be against using a heated waterer. Chickens didn't have them 100 years ago.

I used to work at a dude ranch in Arizona and had to deal with the heat but not cold. Sometimes I miss those days. Well except for having a nail shoved in the knee while trying to nail in a shoe. I still have a picture of me driving a wagon in the big Rodeo Day parade. I was terrified the whole time. lol


jeremy

 

[Omran]

When power goes out I go to bed hehehehe.