Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat
Poultry and Pets => The Hen House => Topic started by: Toosje on February 27, 2018, 19:43
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I hope some one will read this soon!
All of a sudden I realize: isn't it to cold outside now for the chickens to be in the coop outside?
The three big ones have a very good insulated coop (also for noise) but I worry about the small ones. They are three really small silkies and the coop they are in is new but I find a little open along side the doors.
Maybe the temperature difference will be to big when I take them in?
Here it is -8 C which will be 17,6 F?
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Last night they stayed in their coop. Tonight it will be even colder and the wind has a -10 feel to it. A thick layer of snow has formed over night. Tonight I will put a big thick blanket over the coop for extra insulation.
For the day I put vaseline on their feet and soft parts on their heads but have my doubts wether it is enough. They will be padding around in the snow, so I am thinking to get the broom in the run and the day before yesterday I dropped all the cuttings from working with the chainsaw in a part of the run. Maybe mix that up a bit? I hope the wood has a less cold feel to it..
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Don't worry about the cold they will take those temperatures. Don't put any artificial heating anywhere as that can kill them through shock of going from warm to cold. The extra insulation will be ok but the main object will be to keep draughts and wet from going in the coop.
Stick a big upturned box of some sort in the run which they will huddle under if necessary or if you have space a big piece of wood or even an old door propped up some how and clear the snow from underneath.
Vaseline is fine and watch that any snow doesn't freeze their feet feathers.
Chickens have a big thick coat and will survive at surprisingly low temperatures.
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Thank you Mr R Design.
They now have a 'coop extension'. I've put a table against it and under it a big box with hay (the rabbits food) for insulation. While I was fixing this, they took a runner and are enjoying them selves under my car now ;)
I will guide them back to the run when the weather gets worse, especially the wind, but they will probably go for the spruce trees.
The big ones fed, looked around and decided to stay in; they went back inside their coop. They have a big spruce tree in the run and some extra roofing.
It is good to know they don't take well to temperature differences. My little white one gets broody every six weeks. She doesn't stop on own initiative, so I then take her in at night and during the day the coop is closed off. The same in wintertime. She doesn't seem bothered by the temperatures but I will put her in a room a little cooler than the living room next time.
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Chickens are very hardy and will decide what they want. Some of mine decide to sit in the coop if we have a lot of snow, but they are all out and about today.
A very cool room inside is needed if you want to bring them inside. They can overheat easily.
As well as a dry coop, they need access to water which isn't icy and lots of good food. Given that, they will be fine :)
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If they are out and about pottering around outside the run leave them to it they will come back if they decide that is the best place to be.
If they stay by the spruce trees or under the car they have decided (and they will be correct) that that is the best place to currently be.
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A very cool room inside is needed if you want to bring them inside. They can overheat easily.
My little black silky does overheat easily: as soon as it gets a little warm she walks around with her beak open and drinks a lot. She is always so hyper active... I am lucky she doesn't get broody as often. The white one seems more 'easy' in all aspects, as the brown one.
The coop is nice and dry. The only thing is: I am afraid it is a bit doughty, so I will shelter it with a blanket tonight. The wind will be picking up. When all is dry I will close off the doors better then they are now: they have a gap around them.
They probably do Mr R Design :dry: They are under and around the spruce trees now.
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I've just put an extra heap of bedding inside the coop for mine. They can snuggle into that if they feel cold, but they'll more likely than not roost on the roof of the coop as they always do.
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Nooo Jaydig they would freeze to death!!
My parents always had chickens and they would sleep in the chestnut tree. When it was really cold, we would try and send them to the barn but they wouldn't. We would loose a few chickens every year due to frost!
My father kept being convinced the chickens would know best.. I always found it so sad..
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2010 was the last time we had very cold weather here. We had two days in North Yorkshire of -18 degrees centigrade and they were all fine. I did put old carpet over their coop to help with the cold but it is really important that their space is well ventilated but not draughty. I'm sure they will be fine and it sounds as though you are doing your best for them. When you get very involved with your birds you are in the best place to notice any changes and act accordingly. :D
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Nooo Jaydig they would freeze to death!!
My parents always had chickens and they would sleep in the chestnut tree. When it was really cold, we would try and send them to the barn but they wouldn't. We would loose a few chickens every year due to frost!
My father kept being convinced the chickens would know best.. I always found it so sad..
I could probably get three of the girls inside the coop, but the fourth one, Jasmine, otherwise known as Attila the Hen, would be an impossible task. If I put the three friendly girls inside, then Attila would probably freeze to death on her own, so I leave them to huddle together, hoping that if it gets very cold they will follow each other into the chicken house. We also have a stray cat that we have taken pity on and have been feeding, that clears off for the evening so we can't get it into the house, but then comes screaming and crying at the bedroom window at four o'clock in the morning wanting to come in. We can't win!
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:lol:
O why do our hearts go so soft with animals. The nonsense we take from them and still love them to the end. This alone makes them so lovable.
I really hope they will choose the warm bedding tonight!
How cold is it going to be? Here they say -10 with wind force 5.. Brr.
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The girls went into the coop last night - it must have been freezing cold for them to do that. Hubby took pity on the stray cat, and we took him/her in at about four thirty in the afternoon to make sure he didn't wander off in the cold in the early evening. Needless to say, a bed was made for him out of some old sheets, he had breakfast in bed (almost) this morning, and then went out of the door without a backward glance. There's gratitude for you! I think this means he will be sleeping at ours until the weather improves and he finds somewhere he likes better.
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Ow they must have been so cold! I am glad they where sensible!
Cats have strange ways of showing affection. He probably will stay with you till the end of days and bother you with everything he can think of :)
I missed your post Sassy: that is so cold! Didn't the girls have problems with their feet? I had a neighbor once and his 2 ladies both had frozen toes..
I went and checked last night before going to sleep at about 11.30 . They were fine, not even huddled together, the air in coop felt warmish when I put my hand in, so all worries over board.
Today they are having a bit of a hard time with the wind, but I guess, they just have to get through it, as we do really ;)
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I went to add a new water bowl as the present one is a bloke of ice (washing up bowls) and did a head count. Down 1, but heard a noise outside the run. No marks in the snow, so checked under the fig bush, nothing, walked up and she was under the coffee table. Had to pick her and put her back with the others.
Darwin then decides to stroll over the garden, then realised it was cold and walked back.
They will come out when grass shows.
I rotated the house as it is on castors out of the wind
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I have often wondered how people with a job away from home keep up the water supply. I change it about 5 times a day with warm bowls for the chickens and the rabbits (they have their own drinking system).
Here also, every time there is a thick layer of ice on it.
Do people put it on a rechaud?
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We are just changing the water as often as we can depending on who is home and when. We are also using hot water to fill the drinkers, so they stay defrosted for longer. Bringing the drinkers in overnight helps as well, as they are not freezing when you fill them in the morning.
Mine are all in the coops and were yesterday as well. I've just tempted them out with corn and mixed seeds. After a good feeding session they have gone back into the coops. Predictably (for those on here who know my chickens) Alphie is making the most fuss ::) He was trying to fly and not get his feet on the snow to feed. He is only very small, but the hummingbird impression didn't work and he had to admit defeat and land :lol: The withering looks from his 2 girls Naomi and Eva were priceless.
He is a massive eater for his size, so has now wolfed down so much food he can hardly see over his crop and is in the coop nodding off ::)
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Hot water freezes quicker than cold, so I only use cold. I use washing up bowls as I found water drinkers could not cope with water freezing
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I laid a trail of tomatoes into the coop yesterday, and when my girls followed them I closed the outer door to keep them in. They have an enclosed house and a small outer run to use while the weather is so cold. They don't like it much, but if they don't have the sense to go inside at night, then they'll have to put up with it for a few days. I'm not their favourite person at the moment, but at least they're safe.
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Hot water freezes quicker than cold, so I only use cold.
Hot water just seems to work for me. A lot of my working days are spilt into 2 sections between 2 jobs, so me and OH are in and out of the house at different times. If he puts hot drinking water out first thing, it doesn't freeze by lunchtime, then I do the same for the afternoon. Cold water put out around 7am has been frozen by lunchtime this week, but hot lasts.
I'm not their favourite person at the moment, but at least they're safe.
Well safe is the priority, so they will have to grumble and get on with it ;) :)
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I have read about people using a tealight under the water to prevent freezing, not sure about the safety aspects of this but could work in the right environment. I used small buckets such as the ones horse supplements come in. It is easy to get the ice out and refill. In fact I started to use them all the time as they didn't get knocked over or filled with dirt. :)
An alternative is to use a plastic milk carton sliced diagonally opposite the handle. The handle can then be used to tie to the coop. No cost, recycled, throwaway and replace as necessary. :D
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I have been using hot water as well. Especially the rabbits seem to enjoy it. They start drinking from it right away, even when the cold bottle is still 'going' but cold.
The milk cartons you mention Sassy are not as common here as in the UK. We don't drink milk anyway, but most of them come in rectangle cardboard packs.
I am still looking for a good feeding system though. I used to just put bowls under the coop: I had tiles put there so marters couldn't dig their way in. Since my ladies tend to eat the cream of the pie and not the pie, I feed them every other day: they have to finish their meal ;) There fore a feeding system with a supply? doesn't work.
Especially the big ones tend to knock over the bowls I am using now.
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I have been using hot water as well. Especially the rabbits seem to enjoy it. They start drinking from it right away, even when the cold bottle is still 'going' but cold.
The milk cartons you mention Sassy are not as common here as in the UK. We don't drink milk anyway, but most of them come in rectangle cardboard packs.
I am still looking for a good feeding system though. I used to just put bowls under the coop: I had tiles put there so marters couldn't dig their way in. Since my ladies tend to eat the cream of the pie and not the pie, I feed them every other day: they have to finish their meal ;) There fore a feeding system with a supply? doesn't work.
Especially the big ones tend to knock over the bowls I am using now.
My daughter made a feeder from some waste pipe that she fills from the outside (it has a top on it to stop it getting wet, as they eat more drops down into a hopper
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have you tried pellets instead of mash?
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Snowdrops, I had a feeder that worked like that but what they do is, they throw out the grains (and corn) they are not to fond of and only eat what they like. So there is a heap of grains around the feeder, the feeder is empty and they start screaming their heads of because they are hungry.
This started after I went from 'baby chicken food' to grains and pellets.
Now I ferment the grains two days and thus feed them every other day. In the mean time, they have to finish what is there. The fermentation takes care of to big differences in taste so they are less fussy now.
Grinling, I can't find where I wrote that I am using mash.. What is it? :)
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Make a feeder out of some drain pipe I have done so and it works. The objective is that they can easily see the food but because they have to stick their heads into it they can't flick the food out. The stuff that is currently ending up on the floor will actually then end up getting eat.
I have even set mine up so that you can top the feeder up from outside the run with your slippers on. Look at the pictures in the below link there are lots of different ways to do it.
https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=chicken+drainpipe+feeder&client=firefox-b-ab&dcr=0&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi286680N7ZAhVjFMAKHZDMAkUQ7AkIVQ&biw=1366&bih=654 (https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=chicken+drainpipe+feeder&client=firefox-b-ab&dcr=0&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi286680N7ZAhVjFMAKHZDMAkUQ7AkIVQ&biw=1366&bih=654)
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mash is a mixture of the grains, whereas pellets is the same but squeezed together so they eat all the grains as the pellets are identical.
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There are some handy feeders Mr R Design! I will definitely try one of theses when I am setting up a new feeding system. I saw you can make one with openings on 2 sides! This will be the most handy because we want both runs beside each other. That way we only need one feeding spot.
At this moment they get both Grinling. What I can find about the composition: the pellets are a little enriched with calcium and proteine. That's why I added it to their diet. I can see when it is finished: the egg shells get a little less strong. Little white and brown (Toosje and Teuntje) hardly touch it, nor the grit but it seems to be enough for them. The black one (Katrijn) eats it regular. Sometimes I think that is why she is so much heavier and more compact then Toos and Teun.
The big ones are very fond of it, even Otto the cockerel. They start scooping it up first thing in the morning and then go to the fermented grains or greens.
Do you suggest I skip the grains?
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I only give pellets and if they are good a couple of handfuls of mixed corn.
I provide crushed oyster shell in a pot, they also have grit in a separate pot.