Washingtonians

[Chicken Rustler]

Well after yesterday I said I ain't takin no chances. I put a second heat lamp in the pump house and also put one in the little enclosure where the pipe comes from the pump to the pump house. Plus I left 2 faucets dripping in the house. So far we still have water this am so I think good to go.
I don't really feel so bad though. We went to the Bee keepers potluck / meeting last night and the Grange had no water. As I got talking I found out that one of the members who is a plumber had also been dealing with frozen pipes at home! I think we are in a heat wave it is 5* this am.

 

[Illia]

It is 14 degrees outside!! That HAS to be a record low!! Ugh. . . it is soooo cold out. Good thing I'm not working out in this cold today like yesterday. . Talk about health risks.

Welcome all new members! It really does surprise me to see how many are in WA. For some reason I would think all the trees and rain would keep people from having a wonderful flock of chickens.

 

[Amethyste]

its 8:45 here and its finally warmed up to 14 degrees..... /sigh

my poor chicklets

They seem to be doing well tho! Me tho....I look like the michelin man atm with al the layers I have had on lately lol

The girls are getting spoiled tho... I keep going out to check on them and make sure the water isnt frozen...and of course that means a few mins of quality time with the girls! Oh, and my head hen FINALLY did pushups for me

I haven't seen that from her in forever!!! Maybe she might get back into laying...I figured she had stopped cos she is almost 5 years old.

 

[savingdogs]

Well I don't know the temperature here but it is DANG cold and I'm tired of it.

We have not had too much trouble keeping the water thawed in our coop like some, but I really hate carrying out the container of hot water from the house and having it spill on my shoe, etc.

I agree it is better than stepping in non frozen dog poo though which is indeed frozen at my house as well, thanks for pointing out the positives!

Our Russian Orloffs which are supposed to lay eggs during the cold weather have been indeed doing so, one even laid two yesterday. We were quite surprised. So far their production has been poor but this week they have made up for it when we needed the eggs. We had some to sell for the past few weeks but during November and December our consumption has kept up with production right here at home.

Anyone making eggnog? I tried a recipe that came out yucky, like egg flower nog because I cooked the eggs. I heard you need to use a non-cooked egg recipe for it to come out right. That would be a good way to warm up on a hot night!

 

[weaveagarden]

I have been drinking a lot of egg nog. I didn't even think about making my own until I was through the 2nd half gallon.

I will share a recipe that I have if I can lay my hands on it later in the week. It is very fattening and yummy! Don't you just love hot egg nog. My microwave has been doing double duty!

For the first night, I locked Pinky and the girls in. The crowing is significantly quieter.

I can't wait to get the door side of the coop insulated and check the noise then. The added bonus to closing them in is that the coop was actually warm enough that the water didn't freeze. I did put the light closer to the water, which has also helped I am sure.

I love frozen dog poop. My far back yard is a mine field of things to trip on. Francie, Red??? hen, insists on laying back there. So now when I fall I am only getting scratched and speared by blackberry bushes and old boat parts.

No smelly poop on my clothes these days unless Francie does it while I walk her back to the yard.

This morning my coop has blood in it splattered all over the place. And I can see droplets on Willow's back because she is the only white girl in the bunch. Anybody have anything like this before. I don't see any injuries, and the droplets are smallish, but all over the coop. I hope I don't have some sort of an illness happening.

 

[ReiMiraa]

its 8 out right now.

yesterday i was going to clean out the coop..... and discovered that everything is frozen... the layer beneath the top straw is frozen chunks.... the poo on the nesting boxes and the doghouse is frozn and had to swing the shovel at it to budge... so

plan B
add more straw and clean out the coop in the spring.
i did manage to wash the waterer.... and it still smells.... i am not going to use electrolyes for a while..... not even clr could get the buildup off........

i have given up on the oatmeal idea.... it freezes before they can eat much of it.....

just large piles of scratch for them2x a day....

i really miss my flock... i miss sitting and following them around.... the one drawback of winter... its too cold out for me to stand around... i need more snow to ski!
hhmmm... chickens on skis.......

yesterday my rooster acted weird. i think he was confused. he was acting more like a flamingo than a chicken.... standing on one leg with the other disappeared into his fluff... then he would switch.... weird... there is no ice on his footfeathers.....

 

[Tailfeathers]

Chicken Rustler, thought I'd send you a suggestion. You can buy one of those electric radiator type heaters at WalMart for about $35. They are filled with either oil or water. I think we got the oil but not sure. Anyways, I have one out in the pumphouse and one downstairs in the bedroom for when we sleep at night. My pumphouse is NOT that well insulated but I can run that radiator at 600w on about Level 2 and keep it plenty warm in there. It has two switches, one 600w and one 900w. I guess you can run either or both at same time. I've never had to do so.

I also built a fairly good sized brooder in the pumphouse and when I have chicks out there, I turn the heat up, during times like this, to about Level 5 and sometimes 8-10.

At 7 Bucks a pop for a heatlamp, it's a worthy investment I think. Also, if think really got bad, like -10 or something, I could put it out in the coop and not have to worry about starting a fire or anything.

The temp is hanging out at 20 right now and it's 1240. Midnight last night showed 10. Not sure if it got colder than that or not. The ducks are keeping one little area of the pond open where they swim but otherwise I'm pretty sure I could walk across it.

God Bless,

 

[RonB]

Weaveagarden
Hey do ya have any eggs I can borrow?

I only got FOUR today! slackers... maybe its the cold maybe its I have had the heat lamp pluged in and NOT the light that goes on at 5:00am.

Some of you have mentioned getting timers or plug -ins that go on and off at a certian TEMPERATURE. I got one at Home Depot tonight for $12.95 it has two outlets and goes on at 35 degrees and off at 45 degrees. its called A THERMOSTATICALLY controled outlet

 

[Imp]

I'm enjoying the warm weather.

Next week I'm in Great Falls, Montana. The high there was -17 a couple days ago.

My chickens are doing great. Light and heat in the coop. Getting 2 from 4. Still more than I can eat.

Russ

 

[HollyKMS]

Is this really page 441?!?!

Hello all! I'm in Felida WA which is the NW edge of Vancouver [also known as Vantucky or Vanpooper (re the lake) ha]. I've only been in the chicken craze for a little over half a year but I LOVE IT!

I'm ready for this BITING COLD phase to pass. It's ridiculous! FREEEEEEZING *burr*

Despite freezing temps forever now, 2 of my 3 young pullets JUST started laying this week, and I'm still getting eggs from them.

My Newb Suggestion (whatever it's worth): Get the $10 150W utility clamp lamp from Lowes or Home Depot (150, not 100!). Go to a pet store and get the 150W Halogen Reptile Heat Lamp. It's $15 but it lasts the whole year. It puts out more heat (plus UVA!) than other bulbs because it's for reptiles. It's seriously hot and bright! $15 is a lot, but it's shines for at least 5000 hrs. I know chickens don't need any special kinds of lights, but I had fluorescents up and they were going to roost at 4 despite those lights; when I put in some bright bulbs with UVA, they started staying up until the lights went out, even if it was pitch outside their run. No idea why or how, but that's what happened.

http://www.thatpetplace.com/pet/prod/204559/product.web <-just one example

I got a cheap lamp timer for mine, so it's on from 5 until 5 every day. I let them out when I wake up and make sure I've locked them back into their house/run before dusk (so they don't see the light go dim). They're still laying and don't seem to be suffering from the extreme cold.

Also, I had a left-over 4x5 under-take reptile heating pad which I put under the plastic chicken waterer (out in the run, exposed to the lowest temps, not in the house) and it works GREAT. It got down to the teens here and the water didn't freeze AT ALL, plus the pad's not nearly hot enough to melt plastic or cause overheating. The water was cool but not ice cold. I saw 2 of them drinking from it today, and I wondered if they'd been as willing to drink it had it been ice-cold, considering the high today didn't reach 40...

That smallest pad is about $15 at most stores. It might be worth $15 if you live in a place with freezing temps for many months of the year. As I said, I already had one on hand (we have reptiles). http://www.thatpetplace.com/pet/group/13143/product.web <-one example

I have my heat pad sitting on cheap bricks with the waterer on top, and it works great.

I have multiple bearded dragons and I'll tell you that many of the things useful for them are EXCELLENT for winter use on poultry, for comfort, safety, and continued egg-laying.

'Love reading this site! You guys are GREAT!!!

Holly