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

[RisingSun]

Thanks for the info Kenai! I used to live in Soldotna...years ago. I know very well how cold it can get there...which is why I now live in the mountains of Utah.
I've just gotten my 1st little flock of 6 this last spring. They are now fully grown and 5 out of 6 are laying. What's with my speckled sussex? Are they late starters???? I talked to her this evening about the chicken soup I like to make....we'll see if she responds accordingly.
Anywho...I JUST finished building a coop that my friends are calling a castle. It's fully insulated, has 2 windows, a feeder and has water with a heater under it. I've got a daylight bulb on a timer to give them longer days, but not really any heat. They ARE living in the lap of luxury!
I have considered adding a heat lamp, but after reading these posts I will not. If Kenai can go without heat, so can my Uintah chicks!
Yeah...

 

[toofarout]

I like it!

Yes it is. Just a couple of pallets leaned together with some scrap plywood attached.
Here is a view through it to the coop. Pretty rough, but it makes a noticeable difference.

 

[bruceha2000]

And to think that I was going to ask if it might get too chilly for my girls this winter...here in...wait for it...Phoenix, AZ. Guess I'll shut up now.

Good idea, and we don't want to hear you whining when you have to break out the big winter coat because it dropped to 55F either!

Bruce

 

[ewaugaman]

I love this web site I get so much information from it.
I gave my chickens in a covered 6x20 kennel and I have it all covered for the winter, I go out every morning to make sure they have water and feed, so I open one side of kennel for them to have light, I will have to say I did have a light on there for them all day and night long, but after reading some of the blogs this morning I did shut it off.
I live in Washington and it never gets real cold here, it has been in the 50's a little cooler in the night, but why pay extra on your electrical if you don't need to, and since I have left a light on in there day and night, I have noticed they lay eggs at night time as well, you know how noisey the hens get after laying, well they don't have to tell my neighbors how proud they are that they laid an egg.
So all the information I get from here is fun to read and I get so much good information from reading it.

I want to wish all my friends
a wonderful Thanksgiving Day, Enjoy every thing and everybody

Best wishes to all Edie

 

[frostbite]

Thanks for the info Kenai! I used to live in Soldotna...years ago. I know very well how cold it can get there...which is why I now live in the mountains of Utah.
I've just gotten my 1st little flock of 6 this last spring. They are now fully grown and 5 out of 6 are laying. What's with my speckled sussex? Are they late starters???? I talked to her this evening about the chicken soup I like to make....we'll see if she responds accordingly.
Anywho...I JUST finished building a coop that my friends are calling a castle. It's fully insulated, has 2 windows, a feeder and has water with a heater under it. I've got a daylight bulb on a timer to give them longer days, but not really any heat. They ARE living in the lap of luxury!
I have considered adding a heat lamp, but after reading these posts I will not. If Kenai can go without heat, so can my Uintah chicks!
Yeah...

Hey, Sun, give that Sussex a chance. My pullets varied by four weeks when they were ready to start laying. Don't remember where in that mix my Sussex was, but I think it varies by bird more than by breed. Anyway, that Sussex is the best bird in my flock, the most people oriented, the toughest, the bravest, the friendliest, all of the "ests" that I care about, and I've heard it's typical for the breed. That's why I got her, and I haven't been disappointed. "Inspector Sussex of the Yard" is her name, and she's my favorite.

On another note, we finally got brave enough, tough enough, resolved enough, to slaughter the rooster. "The Duke of Cornwall" was not a nice rooster. I expect him to be very good stew, however. Perhaps if I'd named him "Blossom" he would have been nicer? Nah....

I've never killed a warm blooded creature before, for food or anything else. I'm now convinced that although I can if I have to, I don't really want to. I'm okay with relying on the grocer for that, while I have a choice.

 

[mwhidden]

I live in Maine as well and our rule of thumb is below 10 degrees at night and the birds get a heat lamp. It is hung from the ceiling in the center of the coop. The coop is draft free for the most part but not insulated. We watch the weather and put the heat lamp on a timer so it will only come on during the coldest part of the night. We also have a thermometer at floor level to monitor temp during the cold days.

 

[CarrieNH]

I have a question for you all about humidity. It's getting down into the 20s every night, and I'm not TOO worried, but I do worry about frostbite. I read that humidity in the coop would cause frostbite. How can you test for humidity in the coop? We were first going for the deep litter method in the coop, and apparently the decomposing droppings would create a little heat but also read that it can create humidity. Suggestions? Stop deep litter method? I haven't starting using the light at night either. Thanks!

 

[GhostRider65]

It's never easy to butcher an animal you raised, but mean roosters must go, besides that they pass that trait onto there offspring, and who wants a buncha mean ones......though they are much easier to butcher than the nice friendly boys......
SS are a bit later than say a BO, or BR, they are great winter layers and foragers, and my 3 seem to go out no matter how cold it gets, though at -25 I did notice they stayed closer to the Barn out of the wind....... give that little lady a chance you will love her, they are the hardiest of breeds and I will testify to that because I have 1 SnowFlake the Miracle chicken and here is her story.

October 26th my girl is not in at roost time, she is missing, so I get the flash light and go looking, no sing of her, not even a feather, so I figure maybe she is lost in the corn field that isn't cut yet and pray she makes it through the night and I will look for her in the am.... at daybreak......... Next morning looked everywhere......... no sign of her no feathers no gut pile, nothing at all to tell me what happened to her, so I figure a hawk or eagle took her so quickly she never even had time to squawk. Well I still kept an eye out for a week thinking she would pop up because no sign of fowl...hehe play.
Now comes Tuesday November 6th, my Gf comes over with a movie War Horse, she asks me again what my missing chicken looks like..... I show her a year old picture that's all I have, and say come out to the barn I'll show ya how they molt out with more white....... she asked because she has a chicken she doesn't recognize as hers...........because they change quite a bit after the molt.
So anyway I want to show her peepers and sissy my only remaining SS, well sissy is missing now can't find her start calling and Sue see's a chicken stuck behind the wood pile, ok we found sissy or so we thought, we started tearing down the wood pile which consist of logs 10 or 12 inches in diameter and 13 feet long and as high as my chest, support poles for the new cordwood Chicken coop we will build come spring....... well we pull out my stuck chicken to find it isn't Sissy at all its Snowflake, and she has now been missing almost 3 weeks, stuck under the pile next to the garage with no food and no water all that time. and she is by some miracle alive........ 5 lbs lighter, dehydrated, half frozen its been getting in the 20's at night and she was on concrete and crippled from being stuck with her right leg under her, she spends the next 2 days with a sling holding her up because she can't walk, but she is still alive...

.. she is still recouping in my hospital cage inside my living room, but she is fine, her leg came back and she is gaining weight steadily. How she is even alive I have no idea, but she is the toughest little hen there ever was........ and I'm very grateful to have her back. she is also very sweet as are all my Hatchery SS girls......... I had 4 but 1 had to go she was eating eggs, but I have never seen a more resilient or friendly chicken,................. Kim

Matter of fact she will most likely go back out with the flock tomorrow because she is going stir crazy in the cage, knocking over her food and water every five minutes for the last 2 days.......... feisty girl she is..........as is Sissy who was hiding up on the hay pile laying her egg........

 

[chestypuller]

And to think that I was going to ask if it might get too chilly for my girls this winter...here in...wait for it...Phoenix, AZ. Guess I'll shut up now.

im suprized they let you have chickens there, when i lived in phoenix actually glendale if my car didnt run i had to tarp it!

 

[bruceha2000]

Matter of fact she will most likely go back out with the flock tomorrow because she is going stir crazy in the cage, knocking over her food and water every five minutes for the last 2 days.......... feisty girl she is

If that isn't a testament to hardiness, I don't know what is! The SS was already on my "next chickens" list.

Bruce