Winter is Coming! Checklists, tips, advice for a newbie

[aart]

I am thankful mine are okay..noticed some frost on their walls...INSULATION THIS SPRING.. lots of goodies being fed. I think thats the trick but a bit of froastbite on my Roo... they wont let me touch them so well see what happens come spring
40 below kast night..High about 7 below..TOMORROW 17 YIPPIE!!

Frost on inside of coop walls is from high humidity inside coop, thus a lack of ventilation - not a lack of insulation.
So say.....more ventilation this spring!!

 

[Rettarain2]

Actually, the coop/house is well ventilated..The little frost was where their door opens to yard. Not sealed tight. Humidity monitor reads between 50-60%...but then temps were 40 below last night and it was the first time I had seen that IN THE HOUSE...I don't know.... I was afraid they had too much ventilation...Across roof where it slopes ( covered with chicken wire..open on both sides of roof.. Much more and those winds would swoop through. Oh well,

 

[Rettarain2]

Actually, the coop/house is well ventilated..The little frost was where their door opens to yard. Not sealed tight. Humidity monitor reads between 50-60%...but then temps were 40 below last night and it was the first time I had seen that IN THE HOUSE...I don't know.... I was afraid they had too much ventilation...Across roof where it slopes ( covered with chicken wire..open on both sides of roof.. Much more and those winds would swoop through. Oh well,

Ps. Only frost was at that door opening ( although it is latched not "sealed" )

 

[Kaitie09]

Mine did well today too. Everyone was locked up for the day and I kept one heat lamp on. Their water only froze a tiny bit, so the temp was kept just below freezing in an 8x16' building. No frostbite on the old rooster too, which was a surprise. I'm going to keep them in there until about 11AM tomorrow when temps are supposed to get back into the 20's

 

[wantedman66]

First time having chickens AND being in a Polar Vortex!!!! MI HERE !!!

Just a suggestion to save some cash if your interested,I used news paper between the walls like they used to do in the old days with houses,mainly just to cut down any drafts that might come through ,plus I caulked the seams.But I do not use any heat and I haven't done anything special too seal around the door,just no gaps that's really all you have to worry about,and the top is open at the rafters so there's plenty of air circulation,so far so good no frost or frostbite.

 

[LadyCluck77]

An update on my frostbite issue; we've been getting a little bit worse on the combs.
The ventilation is good- I think it's the extreme low temps. So far the toes and feet are okay, which is the really bad place to get frostbite. I am terrified of frostbite on feet or toes.

The leghorns seem to be suffering the most. I regularly see them shiver and they both seem dirtier than they should be- and slightly skinny- I may weigh them to keep a record of any weight loss.

Temps are regularly dipping to around -20 at night. Some days it doesn't get much above that. We've had a couple -30 days. I have been keeping the birds in the coop during the day as it typically remains around 0 F with strong winds, but yesterday, they forced the pop door open and let themselves out, then it seems the wind blew the door shut and they locked themselves out of the coop until I got home from work. Three eggs laid on the ice and frozen/cracked, which I then cooked and fed back to them. (They were super-frozen! It was like peeling a hard boiled egg)
When I opened the door back up, all eight went right back inside the coop.
My EE went right into the nest box and layed an egg. She seems to handle the cold the best out of any of them.
She is the only pea-combed bird I have, and also the only without any frostbite at all. If I'm planning for another super-cold winter, I'm seriously considering getting only pea-combed birds in the future, even though I adore my leghorns.

 

[K Epp]

An update on my frostbite issue; we've been getting a little bit worse on the combs.
The ventilation is good- I think it's the extreme low temps. So far the toes and feet are okay, which is the really bad place to get frostbite. I am terrified of frostbite on feet or toes.

The leghorns seem to be suffering the most. I regularly see them shiver and they both seem dirtier than they should be- and slightly skinny- I may weigh them to keep a record of any weight loss.

Temps are regularly dipping to around -20 at night. Some days it doesn't get much above that. We've had a couple -30 days. I have been keeping the birds in the coop during the day as it typically remains around 0 F with strong winds, but yesterday, they forced the pop door open and let themselves out, then it seems the wind blew the door shut and they locked themselves out of the coop until I got home from work. Three eggs laid on the ice and frozen/cracked, which I then cooked and fed back to them. (They were super-frozen! It was like peeling a hard boiled egg)
When I opened the door back up, all eight went right back inside the coop.
My EE went right into the nest box and layed an egg. She seems to handle the cold the best out of any of them.
She is the only pea-combed bird I have, and also the only without any frostbite at all. If I'm planning for another super-cold winter, I'm seriously considering getting only pea-combed birds in the future, even though I adore my leghorns.

Are you putting anything on their combs? We don't have the extreme temps as bad here but this week it has been in the negatives for us. Big deal in Georgia. I have been giving mine cracked corn before they roost.

 

[Alaskan]

Lady cluck, i don't think that there is anything you can do for large single comb birds in those temps.

I am getting rose comb leghorns in the spring. They still have kinda big wattles though.

EEs or Ameraucanas are the way to go.

 

[LadyCluck77]

Thanks All,
I tried the Vaseline on the combs, but the girls hated it, and it didn't seem to help. I've got bag balm, I'll probably try that too.

It was dark when I got home, so I haven't weighed them yet. They do seem thin, so I'll get out extra scratch to them in the mornings before I leave. I use the purine layer crumbles, and BOSS for treats, sometimes kitchen scraps or mealworms for treats. The leghorns are at the top of the pecking order, and sleep on the highest spot, in the rafters of the coop. Luckily, that part is wide, so I think it protects the toes with the width.

People down the road have brahmas and Chanteclers, which seem to do really well. I see them out in the snow all the time.

 

[Bogtown Chick]

I'm sorry Lady Cluck, your birds got hammered by old man winter. It was the same for me my first winter with a Rooster. It's all learning and a humbling experience this chickening. You don't want them soft...so they can tolerate some cold or get sick from going from a warm coop to a cold run-back and forth..but I think as you said...cold is cold. And this winter has been especially cruel. Large comb breeds are just difficult to keep from getting frost bit. It's too bad because all that I've heard that have had Leghorns...just love them. I myself have been using the bag balm this year and it has been helping with a few of my single comb hens. When it gets colder it waxes up and seems to keep on the combs better than the Vaseline. I keep the tin in the house...as when it's cold its difficult to make it go on the comb. goop it up on the tips. Another fellow Minnesotan on our thread said there is some Menthol in the bag balm which seems to help also with circulation. I'm not sure if it's the end all-beat all but I think it's a nice way to help them out until we can get some nicer moderated temperatures.
20's maybe even 30's for us Friday and SAturday. Tropical Heat Wave!