Wind chill doesn’t count, right?

[Appalachickens]

Are you talking about horse bedding pellets? I use a mix of those and pine shavings and the pellets break down on their own over time. I guess it depends on your set up - I have about 10” depth of bedding right now, working up to 12” as I add through the winter.

 

[Collieoftheborder]

I'm freaking out about the cold too. I have a well ventilated coop. All of the ventilation is up high. I also do the deep litter method with large pine flakes. My coop is not insulated at all but is solid. I have a thermometer against the wall in there and I also put one on the floor last night and I have a little screen inside my house that tells me the temps. The temp at roost hight is 16F, the temp on the floor is 19F. The temp outside according to the weather app is 12F and wind chill is -3F.

Yesterday I put an oil filled radiant heater in there, I made a sort of stand for it and it has a little fence around it so that they cannot get to it to knock it over or roost on it. I haven't turned it on yet but I think I will turn it on for a couple of hours here and there, to give them some relief over the next few days. I am also considering putting their food and water in there if it is quite windy that way I can shut the pop door. Everyone seems to be quite firm on not putting water in the coop though.

We'll see. Also, I do have 36 chickens in there, and they are all 14 weeks old. I do recommend the deep litter method with the large pine flakes. The chickies love it.

 

[Shadrach]

The problem with hay, is it's likely to harbour more parasites than straw.
A lot depends on how it has been stored for both hay and straw and for straw, which cut one gets and how much dust there is in the straw.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/straw-itch-mite.75561/

 

[SheaLoner]

I'm freaking out about the cold too. I have a well ventilated coop. All of the ventilation is up high. I also do the deep litter method with large pine flakes. My coop is not insulated at all but is solid. I have a thermometer against the wall in there and I also put one on the floor last night and I have a little screen inside my house that tells me the temps. The temp at roost hight is 16F, the temp on the floor is 19F. The temp outside according to the weather app is 12F and wind chill is -3F.

Yesterday I put an oil filled radiant heater in there, I made a sort of stand for it and it has a little fence around it so that they cannot get to it to knock it over or roost on it. I haven't turned it on yet but I think I will turn it on for a couple of hours here and there, to give them some relief over the next few days. I am also considering putting their food and water in there if it is quite windy that way I can shut the pop door. Everyone seems to be quite firm on not putting water in the coop though.

We'll see. Also, I do have 36 chickens in there, and they are all 14 weeks old. I do recommend the deep litter method with the large pine flakes. The chickies love it.

I would recommend NOT turning on the heater. Theproblem being that it will cause melting Inside the coop, increasing the humidity and putting everyone at risk for frostbite.

 

[Collieoftheborder]

I would recommend NOT turning on the heater. Theproblem being that it will cause melting Inside the coop, increasing the humidity and putting everyone at risk for frostbite.

Tomorrow the high is 6F. If I turn the heater on it will only be 5-10 degrees warmer in the couple of square feet surrounding the heater so it'll still be well below 32F.

 

[Lulu-vt]

The wind doesn't count for temps if the coop is not drafty. If it is, some of our northern folks say they use filter material over the vents to reduce drafts without trapping moisture and ammonia.
Last week we had a cold spell (it actually felt like winter in FL) down to about 20f. It was horrible, I had to wear socks. Anyway, it was a terrible wind that blew all that free AC down from the frozen tundra. We put tarps on the open sides of our 3 walled coops. As the wind was coming from that direction I sealed it up as tight as I could. But on the other walls, left the upper ventilation untouched. The direction wind is coming from matters a lot, if you can pinpoint it.

Socks? Noooooo. Ha ha!!

Can you use shaving instead this time?

I just hate shavings so much. They get so gross and you can’t sift it at all. You just have to remove the lot. With softened pellets you use a sifter to keep it clean. I have a poop shelf that I clean every two days or so. Then replace the poop shelf with clean bedding from the floor.

 

[NetherLeeFarm]

Tomorrow the high is 6F. If I turn the heater on it will only be 5-10 degrees warmer in the couple of square feet surrounding the heater so it'll still be well below 32F.

You can use the heater if it will make you feel better, but these temps are fine for most breeds. The high number of birds that you have (body heat) and the deep litter method help also.

I don't have an insulated coop or heat and mine frequently sail right through sub-0F temps, even my little ones as long as they're fully feathered.

 

[NetherLeeFarm]

Socks? Noooooo. Ha ha!!

I found this quite funny also.

 

[NetherLeeFarm]

It’s going to be -20 to -40 where I live this weekend. But that’s with windchill. If the chickens are in a coop, that doesn’t count, right?

Not a silly question at all! Boy that's cold, but the wind doesn't really make a lot of difference if they're protected from it. You sound like you've done this a long time so I assume that you have cold hardy breeds, so a good shelter with adequate ventilation should be okay.

The feet on your bird that you lost years ago may have been exposed to damp or drafts. Sorry about that. I'm sure that was hard. Glad all has been well since then!

 

[Lulu-vt]

Are you talking about horse bedding pellets? I use a mix of those and pine shavings and the pellets break down on their own over time. I guess it depends on your set up - I have about 10” depth of bedding right now, working up to 12” as I add through the winter.

Yes. Horse pellet. They are very big and hard. I just can’t see it breaking down naturally without added moisture. Am I wrong? I only use these because I can sift through it every few days to get it clean. I use a poop shelf under the roost so the floor never gets messy. I just have to pick up occasional poop and random bird feathers. I’ve tried the deep litter method and I’m just not a fan.