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

[NHchicks]

Quote:
At -43 I wouldn't be as worried about my chickens holding out as me holding out. I thought I had it bad here in NH, but it's nothing like those numbers. How in the world do you keep your pipes from freezing, or even stick your nose out the door at all.

Anyway, we've had a LOT of snow this month. And my 10 chickens will not venture past the doorway of their coop. They don't like to walk on the snow. I shoveled out a playground spot for them, but they still won't come out. I have a feeling they are going stir crazy in there, because when I put the food down yesterday, one pecked my glove, and when I removed their eggs (so they wouldn't freeze first, which has been happening) that same bird tried to peck the eggs (probably trying to save them - sorry about that birdie). I keep the human door open all day, for fresh air, sunshine, and in the hopes they will want to play outside.

I secretly think maybe they have a cable hookup in there.

The chickens and I are all in our coops, staring out at the snow, and wondering when spring will ever get here.

 

[superchemicalgirl]

Quote:
At -43 I wouldn't be as worried about my chickens holding out as me holding out. I thought I had it bad here in NH, but it's nothing like those numbers. How in the world do you keep your pipes from freezing, or even stick your nose out the door at all.

Anyway, we've had a LOT of snow this month. And my 10 chickens will not venture past the doorway of their coop. They don't like to walk on the snow. I shoveled out a playground spot for them, but they still won't come out. I have a feeling they are going stir crazy in there, because when I put the food down yesterday, one pecked my glove, and when I removed their eggs (so they wouldn't freeze first, which has been happening) that same bird tried to peck the eggs (probably trying to save them - sorry about that birdie). I keep the human door open all day, for fresh air, sunshine, and in the hopes they will want to play outside.

I secretly think maybe they have a cable hookup in there.

The chickens and I are all in our coops, staring out at the snow, and wondering when spring will ever get here.

Try throwing some hay or pine shavings on the ground outside over the shoveled snow. Sprinkle some black oil sunflower seeds on it (as they watch). You'll have chickens outside, guaranteed.

 

[BrewedInNh]

It's interesting to see them learn from each other. The others learned not to get stranded in the deep snow after we had to rescue a few adventurous girls.

They were floundering and sinking in, unable to get enough lift by just flapping.

 

[True Grit]

Quote:
At -43 I wouldn't be as worried about my chickens holding out as me holding out. I thought I had it bad here in NH, but it's nothing like those numbers. How in the world do you keep your pipes from freezing, or even stick your nose out the door at all.

Anyway, we've had a LOT of snow this month. And my 10 chickens will not venture past the doorway of their coop. They don't like to walk on the snow. I shoveled out a playground spot for them, but they still won't come out. I have a feeling they are going stir crazy in there, because when I put the food down yesterday, one pecked my glove, and when I removed their eggs (so they wouldn't freeze first, which has been happening) that same bird tried to peck the eggs (probably trying to save them - sorry about that birdie). I keep the human door open all day, for fresh air, sunshine, and in the hopes they will want to play outside.

I secretly think maybe they have a cable hookup in there.

The chickens and I are all in our coops, staring out at the snow, and wondering when spring will ever get here.

Minus 30s is when you walk outside and realize that Mother Nature will kill you if you're not careful. Minus 40 is when you realize if you didn't blink, your eyeballs would freeze.

I'm amazed at how hardy chickens are if they have decent shelter. The heat lamp is for me.

 

[JLS]

Okay, So I have read the posts and I agree that it's best not to heat the coop. I have an uninsulated coop which I do not heat. It has a lot of ventilation and it's as draft free as I can get without insulating (which I will do this spring/summer). The temps are predicted to dip to -15F (maybe even colder) with daytime highs at 5F.

I have noticed that one of my older birds, who limps from time to time, has been frost bitten on her comb. No one else has. I have cleaned out the majority of shavings today and replaced them with clean ones. My coop has an automatic door which opens daily so they can go outside in a covered run.

I was thinking of placing a heat bulb out there just for the nights during this cold snap. It would be placed up on a roof rafter so I could be certain that it will not harm anyone or thing. Of course being that far up (6feet high) the wattage would have to be pretty high. It did get cold like this a cuple weeks ago and 1/2 of the eggs laid that day froze and cracked. I am torn. What should I do?

 

[ellieroo]

JLS considering the weather that has hit this winter and next week there weill be another hum dinger for the east I wouild really consider extra help of some kind.

In todays news there was a massive die off in Nam of cattle and buffalo 10,000 dead Because of unpresidented cold !

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/21/10000-cattle-dead-vietnam_n_812224.html

 

[jmc]

we eat thawed frozen eggs regularly here. no problem. never throw them out here, even if split open..................still alive.

gonna be -18 here tmrw. nite (Sun) and -13 Mon--so 'they' say.

 

[tigerkitten45]

I was concerned about the same thing, it's calling for temps here to go down into the -20 range, i already have 2 lights going in the coop, and use the deep litter method. So far i have seen just a few comb tips that may have gotten a nip of frost but no major damage, and nothing on their waddles at all. I have added more shavings and DE to their bedding, more shavings in the nesting boxes, they have 2 full feeders with the correct combination of crumbles, corn, grit, and calcium, and 2 large waters(3 gal ea) with fresh water and vitamins for a boost. I don't intend on taking any more measures, am pretty sure they will be fine.

 

[vtgirls]

I love my chickens and my turkeys - but its going to be tough these next few days - calling for -20 tonight, -30 tomorrow night - daytime "highs" of -5. I also am trying to hold off on the heat - only the new Mama banty and her chicks are getting supplemental heat in a tractor in the garage - with the 250watt red bulb its hoovering at 33 right now. I plan to add more shavings and a ton more hay for all of them. I've noticed the turkeys are forgoing the roost to sleep inside in the hay but the chickens are simply all squishing onto one roost bar rather than two.
I have a 60watt "daylight" lamp in the coop that currently turns on at 430am until the sun comes out - I am thinking of changing that up to a 100watt and leaving it on overnight until we regulate back
to 0 degrees - sound sensible? I am all about letting them be (seriously) but -30 sounds (and feels) sooooo harsh......

edited to update: Wow - did NOT change the bulb. My littlest boy helped put in a new thermometer right next to the top roost bar, where the front opens for a vent in the summertime (there is NO insulation and a bit of an air gap there too). We added some more shaving to our deep litter coop too, for extra heat retention. I was THRILLED when I checked then this morning - 10 below 0 outside and 10 above in the coop! Then again at noon - outside temp at 5, inside coop at 20!!!! Its not as if they are inside the coop upping the temp either, they are scratching about out in the run looking for snacks. I feel better - still ridiculously cold, just ridiculous - but I know the chickens are A-OK.
And a big "you go" to the turkeys who have loads of extra hay but no heat or light or insulation at all - and all are acting plump and perky = hooray!

 

[pipthepeep]

Never underestimate the power of body heat to keep your birds warm as well...as long as you have enough birds it does seem like they can be surprisingly hardy! I am down to one bird (a leghorn, none-the-less) and it seems that nothing is working to help retain heat...even just several birds huddling together makes a big huge difference! Temperatures here are not even that cold, but have been hovering around 0 at night and i finally resorted to putting him in a cat carrier in the garage as a temporary measure! With a few more birds I have no doubt he would be fine, but no chance of that right now...