[Patricia7455]

I have been wondering how chicken keepers have been managing with the very severe temperatures lately - it reached -10 at night in our area. Do you cover up your hen houses with something?

[Foxy]

Hi Patrica, personally I dont as chooks are very hardy. What you can do is wedge a few few straw bales around the house if really exposed and if the windchill brings the temp down.
You can pop extra woodshavings in and a layer of straw on top to create insulation. Be careful not to block ventilation holes of as this may create damp bedding from the chooks breathing caused by condensation. Saying that chooks are really quite hardy if in a healthy condition. A small handful each of mixed corn will also help warm them-bit like us eating a bowl of Ready Brek!

[poultrygeist]

Being a smart alec, I positioned our hen house in a corner, shielded by the shed and hedge. Plus it's beautifully constructed ( :roll: ) of course.

Some of the cheaper ones on ebay or similar look a bit on the thin and flimsy side so they may be struggling in the very cold.

One afternoon last week, while I was poo-picking, the poo was in frozen lumps but the door had been open all day below freezing  :shock:

Rob

[Patricia7455]

Being a smart alec, I positioned our hen house in a corner, shielded by the shed and hedge. Plus it's beautifully constructed ( :roll: ) of course.

Some of the cheaper ones on ebay or similar look a bit on the thin and flimsy side so they may be struggling in the very cold.

One afternoon last week, while I was poo-picking, the poo was in frozen lumps but the door had been open all day below freezing  :shock:

Rob

Some of the cheaper houses have walls only 12mm in thickness.  Is this thick enough? I thought that 19mm was the right thickness, having said that not all the more expensive houses specify how thick the walls are.

As always, thank you all for your replies. It's useful to have the feedback.

[Steevie]

Do you have any ideas for 240volt hen house lighting, just a small chicken coop with 4 chickens. I have read about the 12volt battery type lighting but they initial outlay is quite expensive, and I don't see the point of a 12volt system when I have mains electic anyway. I would just like details of bulb power and size etc, and timers.

[poultrygeist]

Hi stevie. Welcome to the forum. 

Bear in mind that any mains electrical work outdoors should be carried out by a suitably qualified person.

The beauty of 12v is that you can do all your own wiring and not risk any dangerous faults. Could you use a transformer/rectifier from your mains to bring down to 12vdc ?

What purpose is the lighting for ??

Rob

[poultrygeist]

err over to Poultrygeist on that one!

I missed this before. Sorry 

I shouldn't think there'd be a lot of temperature difference between 12mm and 19mm. As Foxy said, they're hardy and you can add some additional insulation if it's really cold.
I think the 12mm is more at risk of warping and cracking than anything.

Rob

[chech221]

hi all.now ive had 15 hens now since boxing day and over last 3 months ive used a tilly lamp parrifin left it burning over night and its kept my hens nice and warm ideal for me also as i work nights and go into the hen house  at half 5 and warm up as this morning its minus 5,the shed has vents to let the fumes out so no danger there but id reccomend it, also ive just made a log burner out of an old gas bottle hoping to get it fitted in at the weekend as i have to fit a 6inche pipe thru the roof for the chimney then burn it thru the day while the hens are out.and im getting 15 eggs a day with just a tilly lamp so they must be happy,but il try the vaseline on the combs,not sure my cockerel will let me as hes very protective over the hens goes for me quite a lot luckilly his claws are all short,hasnt manged to attack me yet but im sure he will eventually,so if anyone has any tips of stopping him attacking as ive 3 kids 12,11,10,any advice would be gratefull.

[poultrygeist]

Hi chech221.

That's one chilly shed you've got !  :blink:

Whereabouts in the arctic circle are you ?? 
I've not heard of anyone needing to heat their henhouse before. They have excellent insulation built in and should be able to survive all but the coldest of nights. Unless of course, you're in a particularly cold spot.

Can't offer advice on the cockerel I'm afriad, other than what I've read from others.
If you can, pin him down a few times and hold him for a minute or two, until he calms down. If you keep doing that, he's supposed to show some respect. But you'll get some better advice soon.

Rob

[chech221]

hi i live near bishop auckland an yes it does get cold, over summer we have had snow here in 28 degree temps,thats y i thought of fitting a log burner burn it thru the day and let in burn down overnight so keeping the water from freezing too also i can heat my grreenhouse with it too.but thanks for the tip il try it over the last few days hes been ok hasnt attacked me but hes only doing his job but i dnt want the kids getting attacked our lass would make me kill him and im trying to get him to mate so i can have ago at raising some chics. so i have about 25 hens as ive plenty of room for them.

[beulah59]

Putting some glycerine in the water should stop it freezing unless it gets really, really cold ...

[lightyears]

old post i know, just reading about keeping the water liquid. My other main hobbie is breading and selling rare breed tropical fish, obviously when i send them out i have to keep them at 25C or so in the packaging for up to 2 or 3 days, i use pads very similar to back ache pads which warm up when exposed to air, i wonder if this could be implemented in a poultry situation to keep the water feeder from frozen. they stay warm in a fish pack for 3 days, so one frosty nite would probably be all they are worth, but it must be worth a try for the none electrical folks like me.

[Foxy]

Around here the temp is dropping, they reckon on -3 tonight, so a good time to have another look at this sticky!

Please feel free to share any of your top tips or experiences this time of year

[joyfull]

well this morning at 05.30 we had a nice crisp frost so may start making my porridge up (with water) for the girls today.

[lightyears]

had a hard frost last night, weather thing i have at allotment recorded -3 as lowest last night. The chickens are fine, i put more hemicore in today to make a deeper roosting area, plus i have installed polystyrene in the coops roof(breathable of course). its pretty toasty in there now.