The 7th Annual BYC Easter Hatch-A-Long!

[aplynn]

ok so it is like -18*f outside right now, I think I am gonna make the decision to not let my flock out of the coop today. they have a LOT of room in there if I open the inside door. But , this bitter cold is with a nasty wind chill and I fear they will not be smart enough to go in in they get too cold. NOW, I feel so guilty not letting them out, has anyone else just said not a good idea today with your flock?

 

[OHfarmerswife]

[COLOR=4B0082]Very nice...I especially like the black hen with speckles[/COLOR].

Thanks Wickedchicken6 she is my favorite hen. Not sure there is anymore room for more flowers on her.

 

[chicken pickin]

ok so it is like -18*f outside right now, I think I am gonna make the decision to not let my flock out of the coop today. they have a LOT of room in there if I open the inside door. But , this bitter cold is with a nasty wind chill and I fear they will not be smart enough to go in in they get too cold. NOW, I feel so guilty not letting them out, has anyone else just said not a good idea today with your flock?

I have, on really bad days not let them out. I haven't let them out yet today, but I think I will head out and release them for a few hours and shut all doors again right at dark to block the wind. We aren't in the negatives yet but will be later this afternoon. Tomorrow I wont let them out until probably lunchtime-ish as well.

Some times I do feel bad about it though...

 

[NotAFarm]

ok so it is like -18*f outside right now, I think I am gonna make the decision to not let my flock out of the coop today. they have a LOT of room in there if I open the inside door. But , this bitter cold is with a nasty wind chill and I fear they will not be smart enough to go in in they get too cold. NOW, I feel so guilty not letting them out, has anyone else just said not a good idea today with your flock?

We haven't had the brutal cold this year that we had last year. I haven't kept them in this winter, but last winter, there were a couple of different weather systems that had below 0F temps for a few days in a row. I did keep mine in then. It was suppose to get to -4 F last night but it stayed at 0F and this morning it was 7F by 8:30. My big coop door opens to the east. On the north side of the big door, I have a low structure/run that has a pop-door from the coop on the west, a solid wall on the north, solid wall on the east and hardware cloth all on the south with a door. It is a sunny, albeit very cold, day and they will congregate along the east wall, blocked by the wind on the north by the low structure/run, and "sunbathe". When snow is on the ground, they don't venture far from the coop.
Best pics I could find, taken last year since I don't have any from this year:
east side of coop (which is 12' x 28',divided into sections, at the end of a 28' x 45' building) on the left. Low structure/run shows the south side w/ door partly open. On the ground are 4' x 6' rubber stall mats...easy to shovel off in the winter and spray off with the hose in the summer.



Main coop big door from the east side. Low structure/run on right. If it is really windy, I will leave the big door shut and only open the pop-door into the low structure/run and prop the pop open (see pic below) so that the flock has access to the outside but the coop stays warmer.

 

[cree57i]

Since Wazine is a worm medicine and not an antibiotic, Why is it on the list?

Because they can...It is 100 miles to the nearest vet that knows anything about chickens. My vet said, "I don't know anything about chickens". This is going to be a killer, literally.

 

[aplynn]

Hubby and I went out and secured tarps on the outside of the coop and opened the inside door I have them the option to go out and they looked at me like I had just totally insulted their intelligence lol maybe they are smarter than I thought

 

[NotAFarm]

The wet, damp conditions are so much more harmful to them than the cold temperatures. Keeping them dry and out of wind, as you are doing with the tarps, is the most important thing. They wear feather/down coats so the cold is not usually a problem unless they have some other underlying thing going on.
Mine will be off the roosts in the morning and eat whatever I bring out to them. They'll sunbathe if the sun is out but the minute it moves so that the east side of the barn is in the shade, they are back in the coop. They are smart!!

 

[ronott1]

Because they can...It is 100 miles to the nearest vet that knows anything about chickens. My vet said, "I don't know anything about chickens". This is going to be a killer, literally.

Kathy and I checked the list and Wazine is not on it. Ivermectin is. It would be a good idea to see if what you use is on the list. It does not have All Ag medicine on it.

 

[cree57i]

Kathy and I checked the list and Wazine is not on it. Ivermectin is. It would be a good idea to see if what you use is on the list. It does not have All Ag medicine on it.

The medication I use the most is corid. In the wet, wet, humid, swampy south I have terrible problems with coccidia. I know a big breeder here that keeps her chicks on medicated feed and wire for the entire first 4 months. I just can't do that to them! I am going to have to be more proactive about exposing them to the particularly virulent strains of coccidia we have here from hatch. If a broody hen can do it, surely I can eventually figure it out. I'm curious if this will be the end of medicated feed without a prescription as well as Amprol.
In my now considerable experience with Isbars and coccidia (way too much experience), they seem particularly susceptible as chicks and they do not do well on medicated feed either. It is always a struggle to get them out on the ground and live through it (where I live anyway). If they make it to 4 months, they are some of the sturdiest chickens I have. Snow, ice, rain they are out in it. We had an 8 inch snow recently and my little isbar rooster was like a snow plow running from coop to coop checking on everybody else who wouldn't come out. It was pretty hilarious.

 

[Wickedchicken6]

everyone!!!