Think it's too cold for your chickens? Think again...

[Mrs MIA]

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I am sorry to hear about your little hen... every once in a while there is one that just doesn't figure it out.

I lost a Dorking pullet when they piled on her over night...
Not all situations are the same... you DO have to watch them for signs of distress. It all depends on the housing and how strong and healthy they are, as well as the breed. I have 3 silkie roos out in the general population... they're outside and it's -20F right now. I don't know how they do it! You do what you need to do to keep them safe, and if in your situation heat is needed, then by all means add it.

 

[ParadiseFoundFarm]

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how can you tell if eggs are frozen besides breaking them open as soon as I bring them in? When I bring eggs in, they stay on the counter until I see how many I got that day. Are eggs that have been frozen "bad" for us to consume?

If an egg is frozen, you can tell because it will be cracked. The albumen inside expands as it freezes and cracks the shell. When you bring the egg inside, it will thaw and the hairline crack in the shell will be hard to see. I have never had a problem eating/using frozen eggs if I do it right away, but I would never sell an egg that had been frozen. To be really safe, cook them and feed them back to your chickens or your dog (it is so hard to throw away an egg, I find - after all that work). The concern is that bacteria can enter easily into a cracked shell.

If the egg has frozen and cracked, I inspect it. If I found dirt or poop on it - trash. If it is clean then it is washed in cool water and eaten by the next few days and cooked throughly. The frozen egg will come out of it's shell and not leave behind the white covering that is on the inside. This is easier for me to see since the insides of my eggs are blue. When put in the frying pan next to the other, non previously frozen eggs, it is indistiguishable. I ate the frozen egg. I did not get ill. . It's hard to throw away an egg since we all go to so much work for each one - especially at this time of year - but to risk harm to my family is never an option.
"When in doubt - throw it out."
There will, God willing, be more.
JMO

 

[Mrs MIA]

I do too. I found one frozen egg this morning that had hay stuck to it. It got tossed into the feed bucket to thaw for the birds. But if it's clean, I will use it. Just cook thoroughly, as you said.

If it hasn't yet frozen, but feels REALLY cold to the touch, try spinning it. The old trick of how to tell a fresh egg from a boiled egg works on frozen eggs too. You can't easily spin a fresh egg, because the insides are fluid and work against the inertia. A frozen or boiled egg will spin smoothly and rapidly.

I have noticed, though, that eggs that have been frozen but haven't reached the crack point never really completely "thaw" out. The yolk stays firm, and the whites are thicker. Ok for cooking, but I wouldn't sell to a customer.

 

[featherz]

We got to -11 last night. NO chicksickles this morning! My leghorns are still getting frostbite, even with the vaseline, and my straight combed RIR have a tad as well, but all other chickens are fine. They don't even seem to notice it's cold and just run out in the morning as usual and start dustbathing, etc. I was worried, but they surprised me!

 

[phasianidae]

My chickens are in a barn with nothing but 2 by 4s and half inch plywood and they are just fine, my barn is not insulated, I used to have heat lamps but now i just use them for chicks if it is really cold. For water I use snow! chicken abuse? no, they dont seem to mind eating snow since sometimes if they do have water they will walk outside and eat snow anyway. So why dont they all freeze to death when its 25 below? the trick is that its a 12 by 16 barn with 100 chickens

 

[jeannieo]

I love this thread!

o.k. here's my latest question: it's 11 degrees here in CT and it don't look like it's gonna warm up tonight! I want the girls to have a nice full crop so is it better to scatter the scratch in the new shavings (added two bales just now) or in a dish. will they over eat? should I make them look for it?

 

[jeannieo]

never mind! i just answered my own question! They need to work for that scratch!

 

[vmdanielsen]

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i live in Upstate NY. Like you said, it is not going to warm up. About an hour before the go in the coop, I give them all the seeds they want in a bowl. Sunflower, millet. corn, flax and safflower. I want them to have a nice full crop and I want all birds to have enough. If it goes very quickly I will give more so the bottom bird gets full too. It's going to be a long, cold night. No light and no heat for the poor birds...they seem fine in the AM and no frostbite....I hope it stays that way!! Stay warm......

 

[evhammond1200]

My coop is insulated it has gotten to -11 here and all my chickens are fine with it. I only have 10 chickens in an 8x8 coop 3 of them are even bantams. I do have a 150 watt heat lamp that is on a themostat comes on below freezing (thermostat was a great find found it at a yard sale it was for a greenhouse to power an alarm if it went below freezing!). Heat doesnt come on very often though they keep the coop warm enough with just thier own body heat. I set up heat for bantams just in case! None of mine have gotten frostbite (knock on wood!) but all mine have small or no combs.

 

[imthedude]

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sorry i should have typed uninsulated instead of insulated.