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

[Mrs MIA]

This is my third winter here with birds... lots of birds. There's the 8x8' layer coop out back with about 50 birds... it's relatively cozy when they're all in it, but there is no heat. Everything is frozen solid, and it will take an industrial sized ice chipper to get anything out. So I just put more shavings on top. Poo freezes in about 10 minutes, so there is never any smell.

The breeder coop is 12x20', with 8 individual pens. The floor is covered with linoleum due to anticipated water issues in the summer, but again, it's 0F outside, and 14*F inside the coop. Even the water bottles are frozen solid clear through within hours. There is no chance for any of this to compost during the next 4-5 months as I do not expect any of it to get above freezing until March.

Last year I heated the breeder coop with a kerosene cabin heater, and kept it just above freezing... THEN I had problems with dampness, stink, and worst of all frostbite when the temps took a dive to -20F when I wasn't looking. Not going to let it happen this year. If by chance the pens thaw out before March, I will clean them out and start over, but we're preparing for a brutal winter (by our standards, here and in the Interior where you are) this year, and I don't want the birds to be acclimated to 35*F above. Deep litter for me does not include composting to generate heat... it merely means adding more shavings without removing the soiled shavings so they're not standing on frozen poo.

 

[gingerpeach22]

Ms AK,
Yes, dampness is good for only one thing - respiratory ailments. I seem to have struck a balance which works for me. I had not heard about a brutal winter, but ignorance is bliss, ha ha. I'm glad you have a great system for your birds. A group that large really puts off a lot of heat. I don't compost, but take the shavings and hay from nests down to the gravel pit and put it in the woods. I have a few pecking and/or feather jerking birds and am working up my nerve to put pinless peepers on the perps. They are really easy to spread with my hands if first submersed in just less than boiling water, so look out you bully girls. One gets her bottom picked because it is a light colored area when she bends over and they can't resist. So far no blood, but I tipped her up and put on rooster booster no more pick goo with pine tar in the concoction and that will stain the area brown & work for a couple of days. I want her to get some relief from being pecked. The biggest bird, a white bhrama (sp?), had a huge crop and it was suggested by a BYC person to give olive oil soaked bread. For three days, I've soaked a half dozen small cubes of bread and fed them to her. She took a huge poop, laid and egg, and her crop seems normal size (for a piggy bird which eats a lot). She acts normal, but her voice is off. Thanks for the suggestion, BYC member.

 

[Yay Chicks!]

Mrs AK, where I live it's a really big deal if we have snow for a week. Last year we did have a number of cold days, but I think the lowest one was 9 degrees F. Very unusual (I didn't have chickens then). Would love to hear updates from you this winter letting us know how you are doing through the worst of it.

 

[austradork]

Quote:
My thoughts exactly. We love our eco-heater! I have no doubt that our chickens would make it through the winter, no problem, without a heater. But I don't want them to just "rough out" the winter, I want them to enjoy the winter.

 

[CountryFried]

You guys are making me miss Alaska terribly

We just left Fairbanks in July, and the kids are all wondering where winter is, LOL.

We were actually SWEATING while working on the coop yesterday. Never thought I would say I miss -50, but...I DO!

 

[HHandbasket]

I think it's our instinct to think that because we're cold, so are our pets! We forget that they're chickens and naturally designed to stay outside. Sometimes I have to just leave them alone and let them be chickens because I tend to baby them when I shouldn't. I let them out to free range in the day, and they put themselves in the coop when the sun goes down. Hubby and/or I go out and close and lock the coop doors to keep everybody safe. We clean up the poop, refill the waterers and feeders, and just let them have run of the yard all day. We added a Little Tikes playhouse with roosts to the coop and run (our coop/run looks like a chicken habitrail that is starting to take up a LOT of yard space now LOL). The chickens stay pretty warm/comfy in the playhouse section. It is cold and rainy here today, and I went into the little playhouse myself just to see, and it was actually as warm in there as it is in the house with the central heat running, so I feel pretty good about our chicken set-up now. I had been really worried about winter, which is why we went and picked up the playhouse a few weeks ago and added it to our coop and run. I think it was a good idea & everybody is going to be safe and happy there.

 

[Mrs MIA]

That's great, HHB!

My chickens are SO densely feathered right now... they're like Malamutes.

I will say it again... this post was originally in response to a Facebook comment that I saw where someone in Florida already had two 250w heat bulbs on their chickens. They thought their chickens were cold! I highly doubt it. I'm sure my chickens would love it if I heated their coop to 50F. I would have to love it, too, because I'd be banished to the chicken coop by hubby.

I'm not saying that people shouldn't add supplemental heat. I just personally think that it's a waste if they happen to be Florida chickens.

 

[buckaroo's wife]

Mrs. AK-Bird-Brain :

That's great, HHB!

My chickens are SO densely feathered right now... they're like Malamutes.

I will say it again... this post was originally in response to a Facebook comment that I saw where someone in Florida already had two 250w heat bulbs on their chickens. They thought their chickens were cold! I highly doubt it. I'm sure my chickens would love it if I heated their coop to 50F. I would have to love it, too, because I'd be banished to the chicken coop by hubby.

I'm not saying that people shouldn't add supplemental heat. I just personally think that it's a waste if they happen to be Florida chickens.

There is a reason why people go to Florida FOR the winter

 

[Raen]

I was out draft-proofing my new coop yesterday, and thought about this thread. Then thought about all the horses that survive harsh winters all over the world with little or no shelter, and horses are not anywhere near as insulated as chickens, even with their winter coats. And then I felt better.

 

[TwistedSerpent]

I'm in Montana, the past few days have been below 0F, windy and snowing. I did loose a few birds, but I think it had much more to do with them being too crowded as they all squeezed to get under the heatlamp then the cold itself. I raised the heatlamp to the ceiling of the coop for our coldest night yet and all birds made it just fine. The coop is uninsulated with a ton on ventilation. Going to wean them off if the heatlap within the next few days. They are refusing to go out in the snow though, would it be good to start feeding them outside to force them out?

Also I have two Bantams that I saved just in time from ending up like the other dead chickens, they are inside now still recovering, but I want to get them back out to try again. Should I just throw them out into the cold or introduce them gradually? I'm worried about the shock to their system bringing them in and out, but I really would rather not just leave them out to freeze to death after all this.