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

[Ema]

calling for -43F here in N. Ontario, a little worried about my girls tonight

 

[nuttyredhead]

Quote:
Yikes! That is cold! What is your coop like?

 

[Ema]

Quote:
Yikes! That is cold! What is your coop like?

there is a bunch of pics on my page of the coop and run. but dh just tarped the outside of the coop tonight to give them a bit of extra protection at least till this extreme weather calms down a bit. he left plenty of it open to allow humidity to rise ad escape. guess we will see how they are in the morning. they also got a bunch of extra straw for more warmth.

 

[True Grit]

At - 43 I wouldn't worry about humidity myself but it's my first winter so what do I know? It is -10 here now and the coop with heat lamp and all buttoned up is at about 19 F and 36% humidity. Good luck, hope to hear they're fine tomorrow, then I'll throw my heatlamp away.

 

[mommyofthreewithchicks]

I just tried to freeze my fingers off by attacking all the roosters with vasoline. And I am still attempting to get by tonight -11 when I went out predicting -20 by morning, without heat (although DH tried to convince me of a heat lamp). I wish everyone luck and am hoping for the best here in our barn as well!

 

[drdoolittle]

Oh, I HATE this cold weather---not sure of the temp, but supposed to be -6 w/windchill down to -15 w/windchill. I didn't let anyone out this morning-----not even the ducks and geese who usually don't mind the cold. I did open the main door of the barn just enough for the goats and barn cat to go out if they want, but I didn't even want to do that!! Brrrrrr......................

 

[maurerwerks]

Thank you so much for this thread. A few weeks back, when the weather forecast said it would be -10F, I read this thread and didn't add heat to the coop and my chickaboos did just fine. Now they're predicting -20F for this weekend and I read it again and decided that I'll add a little hay for them. I don't think that they'll hunker down in it, but I suspect they'll have a wonderful time flinging it all over the place. It'll make me feel better though.

 

[hannakat]

I'm so glad I saw this thread today! From what I read last year, I felt fairly confident that my birds would do well (and they have) without actual heat. Any time I've held one, they are so warm and even their legs are toasty but in the back of my mind I still worried, especially since it's gotten so cold here.

We put in a 20-watt little spot light last November to increase light and it gives off just a bit of heat (it's one of those flat, round lights fixtures that can go under the counter). Our coop is very small and we didn't want an actual bulb that one of the chickens could get burned on. We covered the run in plastic so they have a nice area outside the coop that is also dry. We give them the opportunity to go out when it's not too windy or snowing but they really don't like the snow much!

They are protected from severe wind, dry, and well fed. Not gonna worry any more!

Thanks!

 

[ParadiseFoundFarm]

I need some sympathy

You guys are the ones I feel will understand. Have some popcorn and listen to my story.

Last night they got extra fresh straw & bedding.
My day from 7 AM - 9:30AM. Coldest day of the winter so far.
This morning (-12*) I went out to "deal" with the chickens. Simple enough - I do it 2 xs a day Right?
The water, of course, was frozen. So I made new warm water , 2 gallons of it , but got my gloves wet in the process, and carried it to the coop.
I put it down wrong and when I tried to readjust it it exploded all over me & the clean, dry,(not any more) straw and their full feeder.

Well what have we neophites learned from MS AK BIRD BRAIN

is the cardinal rule on theis thread????KEEP THEM DRY!!!!!
So I am wet and the chickens' feet are wet. I hobble my lame self in to change into dry pants. In 10 minutes the spilled water was almost fully solid hay brick. Yuck! So was their food.
I racked, shoveled, hammered it out of there into the wheelbarrow to take it to my spoils area. The wheelbarrow has a flat tire. So I push it along the ice to empty it by handfuls.
Hobble to the bedding area - no straw left.

Shredded newspaper on top of mostly frozen straw will have to do. The bag breaks on the way into the coop.

Take out the food server and it's a block of ice. Had to empty it out by the dump area. That's going to encourage the mice and predators...Sheesh!
and...
NO EGGS TODAY

Thanks for listening

 

[janespromos]

Bless your heart. And I mean that in the nicest Southern way, not the dissing way. I just get jumped on by huge dogs with muddy feet when I trek up to the hens.