The Old Folks Home

[chickadoodles]

You did enough work!

That sounds terrible!

x2

 

[Cynthia12]

I went out to check on the roosters and the heater. Normally they pile up in a corner of the coop far from the door. The propane heater is in the middle of the floor. it puts out a soft red glow. The building was up to over 40° and they had all moved in front of the heater. It looked like a fraternity party with a bunch of dudes passed out in front of the fireplace.

That's too funny. Picture..oh a picture would have been great!

Although, I have a pretty good picture of it all in my mind.

And, congratulations on getting best hatch percipient in the hatch a long! You were a great help many a time!

 

[IttyBiddyRedHen]

Quote: Here's what we ended up doing. The BR cockerel (he's big with a proud single comb), he got his own cage and a lightbulb and his own pump house, nicely insulated. He did fine, and he has been in there ALL. DAY. LONG. hehe. His crowing is much better in there than on the washing machine

My half naked hen...running around without any fluffy pants on.....she is in the living room. she's gonna stay there till it warms back up to normal. She's not linking it..... it's a small portable cage compared to her big spacious coop and run. Oh well.....

It got down to 8/f this morning. Our propane heaters are struggling in this cold, we have no furnace....and the heat pump wall units don't work very good when the temps get too low. But we survived. It did get down to 51 in the living room last night. 23f on the laundry porch where the kitten sleeps.

 

[superchemicalgirl]

It did get down to 51 in the living room last night. 23f on the laundry porch where the kitten sleeps.

Yick, 51 is terrible!

I've got the pellet stove cranked at 78 right now and I'm not warm enough!!!

Anyone finally warming up outside? We're back down to where we should be temp wise and as predicted, my driveway was an adventure in ice skating. I slid down it sideways this morning (screaming, but did not soil my pants), hit a snowbank like a bumper on the side of the driveway (luckily we still had that or it would have been a tree) which straightened me out and I cruised to the bottom of the driveway (whimpering), stopped in the road and texted BF that he had better spend his morning salting and sanding the area after our hairpin turn or else risk my wrath.

Hours later he in turn sent me the following message:
I'm not sure if these are your claw marks or HenPecked [my car] but the driveway has been fixed as requested.

I guess my studded tires were technically working, but this picture made me giggle so hard. It seemed like I slid an eternity and the "claw marks" pretty much confirm that. I'm surprised Oz didn't hear me screaming from his house.

 

[ronott1]

Yick, 51 is terrible!

I've got the pellet stove cranked at 78 right now and I'm not warm enough!!!

Anyone finally warming up outside? We're back down to where we should be temp wise and as predicted, my driveway was an adventure in ice skating. I slid down it sideways this morning (screaming, but did not soil my pants), hit a snowbank like a bumper on the side of the driveway (luckily we still had that or it would have been a tree) which straightened me out and I cruised to the bottom of the driveway (whimpering), stopped in the road and texted BF that he had better spend his morning salting and sanding the area after our hairpin turn or else risk my wrath.

Hours later he in turn sent me the following message:
I'm not sure if these are your claw marks or HenPecked [my car] but the driveway has been fixed as requested.

I guess my studded tires were technically working, but this picture made me giggle so hard. It seemed like I slid an eternity and the "claw marks" pretty much confirm that. I'm surprised Oz didn't hear me screaming from his house.

Was that you that woke me up in the Middle of the night? Amazing how many time zones that scream went through to get to California...

I hope it warms up like predicted.

We are part of the small percentage of the US that was missed by the Arctic Blast.

 

[Pozees]

I went out to check on the roosters and the heater. Normally they pile up in a corner of the coop far from the door. The propane heater is in the middle of the floor. it puts out a soft red glow. The building was up to over 40° and they had all moved in front of the heater. It looked like a fraternity party with a bunch of dudes passed out in front of the fireplace.

LOL Great visual image I've been looking at heaters for emergency cold nights, although to be honest it's been below zero here and I have not lost any birds to cold, but I;d rather be prepared for nights it gets worse (worst so far has been -6, didn't get quite that cold in the coop). We've also been talking about insulating the coop this summer - more as a hedge against the heat than the cold, but it would help in either case. Right now it's just T-111 siding with 2x4 studs, 16" on center on the walls, I'd be grateful for input on this upcoming project.

 

[Pozees]

Quote:
Eee-yikes!!! I wondered what that sound was passing overhead on its way to Ron! Glad you are okay and that BF did as requested <cough commanded>. It appears he'd like you to remain among the living, eh? Thank him for us, please

 

[superchemicalgirl]

LOL Great visual image I've been looking at heaters for emergency cold nights, although to be honest it's been below zero here and I have not lost any birds to cold, but I;d rather be prepared for nights it gets worse (worst so far has been -6, didn't get quite that cold in the coop). We've also been talking about insulating the coop this summer - more as a hedge against the heat than the cold, but it would help in either case. Right now it's just T-111 siding with 2x4 studs, 16" on center on the walls, I'd be grateful for input on this upcoming project.

Have pretty much the same thing here but we did finish it with insulation and then put plywood up over it. We used both the styrofoam and the batting insulation, depending on where it was in the coop (two walls had studs going the wrong way so regular batting insulation didn't fit) and the coop stays pretty warm even with the windows and vents open. It was -28 here plus wind and the coop was much warmer than the outside, although still way below 32. The first couple winters I kept a long range thermometer in the coop that I could read from the kitchen and then temps were always about 10 to 20 degrees warmer in there than outside.

I don't worry about them and don't supplement heat, and don't lose birds to the cold.

 

[Pozees]

Quote:
So you used the styrofoam board-like stuff on the verticals? Or the batting? Paper-backed? Sorry, just been going over this in my head repeatedly, and I need to get a plan in place - including another structure to house birds in while we complete this one, ugh ...

 

[ozexpat]

i was in the basement in a lead lined room. i did not hear the scream but saw a blip on my hemodynamic monitors. i almost got up and turned the defib on