[Ag-eq] Chickens in the cold

[Jewel]

    If birds can survive out in the wild through a north American winter, and a good percentage of
them do, I wouldn't be too concerned about chooks which, usually, have a shed of sorts in which to
take shelter.  Insulate the shed as much as you can, feed them extra adding a  warm mash, and keep 
their drinking water from freezing by packing  a mixture of straw, sawdust  and chook droppings
around the water container.  You know how warm the inside of a compost heap gets!

      Jewel --------------------------------------------------
From: "Susan Roe" <dogwoodfarm at verizon.net>
Sent: Saturday, January 18, 2014 8:46 AM
To: "Tracy Carcione" <carcione at access.net>; "Agricultural and Equestrean Division List"
<ag-eq at nfbnet.org>
Subject: Re: [Ag-eq] Chickens in the cold

Hi Tracy,

No, coops don't have heaters, but there are cold hardy chickens.  In the
chick catalogs, they are marked with a snowflake.  I just make sure their
water doesn't stay frozen, dumping ice and putting warm water back in so it
takes a little while before it freezes again.  I keep their windows shut in
winter and open with screens in the summer.  If it is really wet, then we
have a long board that can be either put in their coop or just out in their
yard for their scratch.  My husband likes to use the board out in their run
area when there is snow and ice on the ground.  As long as they have good
shelter out of the wind, wet and snow, they do alright.

Watch their feeding and their multing because they will need a bit more
protein during that time.  Our chickens always seemed to mult in November
and December.  Unfortunately, we now have no more chickens thanks to the
farel cats and a pair of foxes.  We are going to take this down time to
totally strip the coops and reinforce problem areas.  I am even thinking
about getting some turkeys.

Susan
dogwoodfarm at verizon.net
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Tracy Carcione" <carcione at access.net>
To: "Agricultural and Equestrean Division List" <ag-eq at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Friday, January 17, 2014 6:16 AM
Subject: [Ag-eq] Chickens in the cold


> I've been wondering, how does one keep chickens alive and healthy when
> it's really cold?  Does their coop have a heater?
> Tracy
>
>
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