Topic of the Week - Chicken Keeping in Weather Extremes

[chicknmania]

Have you all seen this? Thought it was a great idea evacuating many chickens...

I heard about this on Facebook. I think that might be a bit stressful for the chickens as well. Really, if you are going to transport them, put as many as you can in dog crates with some straw, and proceed with your evacuation. Chickens will go into a sort of comatose state in the moving car anyway. They don't need to be wrapped.

 

[The Farmers' Daughter]

This will be my first winter with chickens. We're just finishing up our coop right now. Here's some of our ideas that I've gleaned from various sources to help them through our cold winters here in Alberta:

Square straw bales. We're going to stack them around the exterior of the coop. Although we've insulated the walls this will provide an even greater r value and a wind break for those nasty northern winds. We will of course leave the ventilation and Windows uncovered.

Rocks. We don't have power in our coop so we're going to heat rocks and place them in their water. As they stay warm a long time hopefully the water won't freeze solid overnight.

The last idea may not be done this year but it's an idea nonetheless. Our windows will be facing east (fairly high up on the wall so that it won't get too hot inside during the summer). Along the western wall we're going to line it with rocks. The sun coming in through the window will hopefully heat the rocks somewhat which will slowly release heat. There's a possibility that we may place shelves with bottles of water in front of the rocks. I'm not too sure about that one. Yes the water will magnify the sun and heat up the rocks more, but they also get cold faster than the rocks. Two things could happen. 1 the cold water could cool off the rocks faster and 2 the water bottles could prevent/block the heat from the rocks getting to the rest of the coop. Any ideas?

 

[N F C]

@sumi thanks for starting this topic. This will be my first winter in WY with a flock and I'm open to all suggestions for keeping them safe from our winds/snow.

 

[shawthorne44]

We have 19 chickens. We don't have enough crates for that many chickens.
the newpaper/tape strikes me as similar to swaddling babies.

 

[Katherine Robertson]

I am in pinellas county Fl where irma is crossing right over. I am bringing my girls in and they will ride out the storm in dog crates with hay. We are looking at winds up to 110 and I don't think they are safe in the coop during that. I have read it will be stressful on them not to be in their coop but it's better than being killed or hurt outside.

Amen, whenever you have any outdoor pet you gotta consider that no matter what you do, there's always a risk. We got bears in central VA and there is no stopping a bear save a shotgun blast to the chest. No amount of wire or wood can stop one from plowing through a coop for some VFC (rather than KFC lol).

 

[wyoDreamer]

I heard about this on Facebook. I think that might be a bit stressful for the chickens as well. Really, if you are going to transport them, put as many as you can in dog crates with some straw, and proceed with your evacuation. Chickens will go into a sort of comatose state in the moving car anyway. They don't need to be wrapped.

Maybe hens wouldn't need to be wrapped, but I believed the person was transporting a number of roosters. Notice the birds are laid on the seat/floor head to tail. This person seems to have a feeling that the roosters will fight.
My guess is if you put 5 roosters in a dog crate for evacuation, then you would have a very bloody dog crate/backseat when you got where you were headed. And maybe no longer have 5 roosters.

I just picked up a bunch of chicks and drove them home, they peeped the entire way and never went "into a sort of comatose state in the moving car". Maybe if you were going more than 20 miles with them they would calm down, but I was going 70 - umm, 65 miles per hour on the drive home.

I don't have any severe weather advice. For cold, we have a heater for the water dish and a thick layer of wood chips on the floor. If we lost power, I would probably have to haul water to the birds. I do have minor ventilation issues in my coop, not severe but my first year the roosters did get a bit of frostbite on their combs. I also keep enough wood flake on hand to completely change out the coop, incase what is in there gets too wet from blowing/meltung snow. We cover the window in winter to keep out the worst of the snow. The window is mash for the summer for ventilation.

 

[black_dove2]

Maybe hens wouldn't need to be wrapped, but I believed the person was transporting a number of roosters. Notice the birds are laid on the seat/floor head to tail. This person seems to have a feeling that the roosters will fight.
My guess is if you put 5 roosters in a dog crate for evacuation, then you would have a very bloody dog crate/backseat when you got where you were headed. And maybe no longer have 5 roosters.

I just picked up a bunch of chicks and drove them home, they peeped the entire way and never went "into a sort of comatose state in the moving car". Maybe if you were going more than 20 miles with them they would calm down, but I was going 70 - umm, 65 miles per hour on the drive home.

I don't have any severe weather advice. For cold, we have a heater for the water dish and a thick layer of wood chips on the floor. If we lost power, I would probably have to haul water to the birds. I do have minor ventilation issues in my coop, not severe but my first year the roosters did get a bit of frostbite on their combs. I also keep enough wood flake on hand to completely change out the coop, incase what is in there gets too wet from blowing/meltung snow. We cover the window in winter to keep out the worst of the snow. The window is mash for the summer for ventilation.

Thanks for sharing! I don't get snow on desert floor but it does get really cold. I can see how I incorporate some what has worked for you in past. I do read alot and you also mentioned heaters for the water. Is there a brand name so I can look up?

 

[chicknmania]

Maybe hens wouldn't need to be wrapped, but I believed the person was transporting a number of roosters. Notice the birds are laid on the seat/floor head to tail. This person seems to have a feeling that the roosters will fight.
My guess is if you put 5 roosters in a dog crate for evacuation, then you would have a very bloody dog crate/backseat when you got where you were headed. And maybe no longer have 5 roosters.

I just picked up a bunch of chicks and drove them home, they peeped the entire way and never went "into a sort of comatose state in the moving car". Maybe if you were going more than 20 miles with them they would calm down, but I was going 70 - umm, 65 miles per hour on the drive home.

I don't have any severe weather advice. For cold, we have a heater for the water dish and a thick layer of wood chips on the floor. If we lost power, I would probably have to haul water to the birds. I do have minor ventilation issues in my coop, not severe but my first year the roosters did get a bit of frostbite on their combs. I also keep enough wood flake on hand to completely change out the coop, incase what is in there gets too wet from blowing/meltung snow. We cover the window in winter to keep out the worst of the snow. The window is mash for the summer for ventilation.

Well, in the first place, roosters would most likely NOT fight in close quarters like that. At least, ours would not. They have a pecking order and they honor it, they are not constantly fighting. And we've never had roosters "fight to the death". And we've had LOTS of roosters over the years. I've also transported lots of chicks and older chickens in vehicles and always thought it was weird that they were so quiet...but they always are. Maybe they feel safe in our vehicles, I don't know.

I still think it is unsafe, and pretty much not very humane, the way the roosters were packed. Yeah, I saw they were roosters. If I had to guess, I'd say they weren't necessarily being transported to keep them safe from a storm......

 

[ChickNanny13]

Think those wrapped are Fighting Cocks

 

[centrarchid]

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Pic by @chickenmomma16
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With some US states being hit by hurricanes at the moment, chicken keeping and protecting the flock from weather extremes is much on many of our members' minds right now.

Therefor, this week I would like to hear you all's thoughts and advice on getting your birds safe through weather extremes. How can you prepare for and protect your flock against storms, high winds, torrential rain and more?

ETA: To clarify, this is not just for hurricane and other severe storms, but in general

I would specify the type of weather event. it makes a huge difference such that weather protection approaches cannot be generalized. Wind, temperature, precipitation and standing water interact causing a lot more problems than any one alone.