what to do with frozen water

[ChickenGirl555]

If you put a golf ball in their water the chickens will usually peck at it and the golf ball stirring around the water will keep it from freezing, hope this helps!

I find this interesting, does it have to be a shiny golf ball?

 

[Mary's Backyard Chickens]

ok but what should I do about there feet because they seem really cold

They will probably be just fine. Chickens can handle cold very well. They usually don't need heat unless it's like -0 outside.

 

[(chicken pun)]

I don't know, but I feel like the shinier the golf ball the better.

 

[ChickenGirl555]

I don't know, but I feel like the shinier the golf ball the better.

Yes, my girls love shiny things

 

[Mrs. K]

I have never heard of the golf ball idea. I keep two black rubber bowls. One is dry or melting. It will freeze solid over night, but if you flip it upside down, and it is a bit of sunshine, it will melt enough that the ice block will fall out. Next day, flip the other frozen bowl, and fill this one. If it is not sunny enough, you can stomp them out.

I do not soak their layer pellets, or make wet oatmeal or cornmeal mush, it just will freeze solid, and they won't eat it. However, I have had good luck with soaking the scratch, it will absorb quite a bit of water, and then stirring it with the dry layer feed, drys it enough that while it will freeze, it won't freeze in a solid hunk. The birds will eat the grain, and the heat of their bodies will melt the moisture and make it available to them. I work from home, so mine get warm water once a day. They lay fine with it in January and February. We get very cold spells here, well below -20F.

As for their feet, don't worry at all about it, birds circulatory system is set up to keep the body warm, and the feet just above freezing. You will see ducks walking on frozen lakes. Little winter birds hopping around on snow. However, my run is heavily bedded in hay, and if I think it is going to snow, I make mini haystacks, then I flip this on top of the snow. It is not the cold, that they are afraid of, it is "the ground looks different." that will keep them inside the coop.

I think a box shelter out in the run helps too.

Mrs K

 

[chicken lover #1]

Another question
Will insulating the coop with cardboard help to

 

[Sparrowsong98]

Another question
Will insulating the coop with cardboard help to

I would just close the coop up tight. A good coop will not have a draft and your girls can usually stay pretty warm huddled up on the perches.

 

[Dawnclucks22]

Yes, my girls love shiny things

Sort of unrelated, but if I squat down and I happen to be wearing any reddish or pink color my BR and RIR come over and start pecking curiously! My EE also loves my earrings so I have to be careful

 

[BYC910]

Their roost need to be wide enough so they can sit on and cover their feet . They can warm their feet while they roost . They will not as a rule consume as much water in winter as they do in the heat of summer. Allow them to drink their fill a couple of times a day . Bring the water containers in at night and or between watering's just before they freeze . But water with as cold of water as you can it will take longer to freeze. They'll be fine they are tougher than we are when it comes to the cold . If we could just teach them to use the frost proof water facets

 

[chickens really]

I run heat in my Coop...Its insulated also..Vents are open on the east and south side of Coop. my Coop is not too warm though..Water does get a bit of ice on top. I use rubber livestock bowls for water set on bricks under the heat lamp..This morning it is -18C outside..
Chickens can suffer frost bite so it might be time to Coop them in...?