Braving the Polar Vortex: -65F Survival Check on My Chicken Flock!

[@purplethumb7887]

Holy 💩💩💩!!! -65 is just mind-boggling! Thank you for caring for your chickens and providing them with a heat lamp!

[@borealbloomhomestead]

It sure is! I wasn’t kidding when I said I got brain freeze from the outside 😂

[@americanpatriot7247]

I have 8 chickens and at 30 degrees, going down to around 18 degrees, brought them into my house and put them in dog crates with shavings, water, food! Waiting to put them back outside after the temps rise to 45 degrees or higher in a few days. LOL.... first time chicken owner. Guess it shows!! LOL!!!!

[@borealbloomhomestead]

Hah! Truly though, we all do our best with what we know! I have seen people use inexpensive tents to contain their birds and the mess when inclement weather strikes - might be an idea for next time. Last year we moved out all the breeds with big combs and switched them out for cold hardy breeds because this weather, while extreme, isn’t uncommon for our area. Its really hard if your chickens aren’t acclimated to the cold, like our weather was pretty mild until the cold snap so my poor birds didn’t have a chance to get used to it, we went from like between 5f and -4f to minus ridiculous within days. We made it! lol it’s finally warming up it was a high of 0F yesterday!

[@americanpatriot7247]

@borealbloomhomestead Thanks for the reply. I live in a warm weather state and it's important for them to be able to take the heat over cold for the most part. Have become fond of my girls and don't want any to die because I didn't do what I could. After that, it's up to God. Know I will lose some one day but am trying to put that off. They give me anywhere from 3 to 7 eggs every day. It's been amazing.... well to me at least. I don't know how many to expect. I handle and hug on my chickens. It's been fun so far.... will be a year .... end of April. Don't know if I could handle your cold weather, friend!!! LOL!!!!!! Kuddos to you and your animal management. Stay warm!!

[@borealbloomhomestead]

@@americanpatriot7247 chickens are the best. I have absolutely loved having them on the homestead, I think they are secretly addictive as a survival mechanism lol I think it might be easier to keep them in the cold months than keep them cool in the hot months. So kudos to you! Stay warm during your cold snap ❤️

[@TheCynthiacross]

A small greenhouse will help also

[@ariansiddiqi879]

😮😮😂😂 wow Great presentation, stay warm 👍👍

[@borealbloomhomestead]

It’s finally warming up here, thankfully 😅

[@tammywhite3670]

Oh my gosh, that’s cold!!!

[@borealbloomhomestead]

Almost unimaginably so! Honestly, it’s too cold to wear nylon based outerwear, it gets too stiff, that’s why I’m wearing only fabric 🫠

[@BleachDemon69]

its merely a 2 sweatshirt winter beanie and gloves. (my state) -60f ambient -80f active and random days of humidity. When its humid thats when its dangerous and calls for a thicker coat pretty much a carhartt with sherpa and shemagh instead of a beanie.

[@borealbloomhomestead]

Oh my gosh. I didn’t realize anyone got colder than Alberta HA! If I’ve learned anything living here is that’s it’s all about the layers, and in those temperatures, wearing standard outdoor gear is ill advised cause it gets stiff. Fabric gear is actually better in the deep cold but it isn’t great for playing outside.

[@evenevala3431]

I feel you from Northern Ontario its cold here not as bad as you got it though

[@borealbloomhomestead]

Is warmer weather finally on the way for you? we’re about to break this weekend. Hallelujah!

[@KS-kr4ok]

I put a few heated pet houses outside for strays. Why can't you do that in the chicken coupe

[@borealbloomhomestead]

I have too many birds 😂. Interesting idea though, in fairness this coop is fully insulated and built with double pane windows etc. at -50 it really doesn’t matter what safeguards you have in place it’s just overwhelmingly cold 🥶 😩

[@featheramericangoodeagle]

That is indeed overwhelmingly cold. You have all bases covered and it is okay to add the heat lamps because chickens can regulate and acclimate, but every animal has its limits. They seem quite content. I can't stand people who think animals are built like they can take anything because that is not true. There are people where I live that keep horses without a basic windbreak. As long as an animal is out of draft, they can regulate but -65 is extremely pushing them to their limit.@@borealbloomhomestead

[@2bRealist]

Greetings from Washington state. Our cold snap was -17F plus wind chill. (but we have had temps well below -30 before) We have an OPEN AIR COOP Which means it's only 3 sided with the front being just hardware cloth. This protects our chickens from the wind and moister but NOT THE COLD So what do we do about the cold? Heat lamps? Electric Heater? Wood burning stove? NOOOO... non of that!! You will NOT be doing your chickens any favors adding heat as it will mess up their own acclimatizing nature. Adding heat in a coop, especially a fully enclosed coop can lead to moister in the coop which can lead to sickness. Being in a "warm" coop at night and getting out in the cold in the day can also lead to sickness. Chickens who acclimate to having a heater can also die if that heater fails for a day Having lamps and heaters can and all to often lead to chicken coop FIRES! STOP HEATING YOUR CHICKENS!!

[@borealbloomhomestead]

I appreciate your passion on the topic, but I would argue that every situation is a little different. We have several systems in place to mitigate moisture issues, you can see them in our winterization video and also winter coop tour video. We live in a much drier continental climate than you. We run a bathroom exhaust fan in the coop that cycles the air every hour. We run deep litter bedding which allows up to fine tune the humidity levels. The heat lamps are powered via a thermostat which cuts the heat as soon as it gets within 2 degrees of freezing. Happy to hear that you’re able to skip heating the coop, but we’ve had better outcomes using the systems we set in place

[@americanpatriot7247]

2bRealist - 1st time chicken owner here since last April when I received my 8 2 day old chicks. I have a steel wire dog run that I put them in that I had already. I built 3 elevations for them because of fire ants here eating their food on the ground and biting the chickens. Dang things. That has worked as I put their scratch on the second level for them to eat off and I also have a large metal stand which I put a medium size dog Igloo on which is the same level as the "elevated floor" I built them and they sometimes congregate in that too. (I use big flake shavings for bedding.) Greenery and veges fed on the ground and they dirt bath there, too. The ants don't seem to be fond of the veges and the girls fully eat that. Two long perches across the width wired to the sides at the top area of the coop. It becomes a 3 level 'condo' of sorts. I have put tarps over the top and around it from it's 6' height down to about 30 inches open on two sides of the coop and down to the ground on the other 2 "wind sides" for winter. Summer, I leave the tarps overhead and down the "weather side" to about 12" from the ground, and a tarp down to just below the elevated feeding area to keep rain off of it. The other 2 sides are left open. It seems to work but this winter (their first) the chickens always seem so cold with their feet and combs and they hunker on their perches fluffed out and don't want to move from there, usually with their heads pointed down. Call me naive. When it got into the 30's to the teens I took them into my house into metal dog crates. I couldn't sleep well knowing they were in that cold. They have the bigger combs and wattles for the heat, which is more prevalent here. They are more warm weather breeds. I replied to you as I have never read someone that had an open concept coop, too. Mine came about by accident as I don't know that much about chicken raising, but the end result seemed to work so I left it alone. Glad to read about yours. Stay warm, friend.

[@2bRealist]

@@americanpatriot7247 Fire ants?? O_o OH boy, well, that is one thing we don't have to worry about in the north lol Congrats on your chickens. How are you liking them? We have had chickens for a while now. Live in town too. Kinda started the trend in our neighborhood. Lots of chicken owners arround us now =] Love the eggs they give us and they are fun to just watch and play with

[@americanpatriot7247]

@2bRealist Howdy. Love my chickens, actually. Glad I got them. Live on a half acre but can't let them out. Many of them would be gone if I let them free range. Predators. Glad your neighbors have all got the chicken bug. Very few of mine do, interestingly b enough, and everyone has acreage. Go figure. Have a good one.

[@2bRealist]

@@americanpatriot7247 I know it is not always feasible, but getting a guard dog for our chickens changed everything for them. They can now free range our fenced back yard, the whole yard. But so does the dog ;-) The much smaller side yard is dedicated for them as it has become a fenced in chicken run with excellent tree cover. Dog is allowed in here as well. Got him as a pup and socialized him with the chickens right away. The chickens did not like him at first and he did love chasing them, but as a pup, the chickens eventually applied the "picking order"l. A bit of positive reinforcement on our part and nature did the rest. He LOVES "his" chickens, and the chickens tolerate him lol Honestly, they see him as the "rooster-figure" in their lives. Being in the city, means we can not have actual roosters. We got him because we lost a couple to raccoons. We have plenty of tree cover, especially in their run,. We are also lucky to have crows which do a great job of keeping most air predators like hawks and owls away. Stray dogs are kept out by our fencing and they are easy to scare off as well. But.. Raccoons come in the middle of the night, silently, like ninjas O_o They even figured out the traps! So we got the pup, and by the time he was 8 months old, his urine markings alone were enough to keep them away. The back yard is for the kiddos and garden in the summer, but the chickens get to free range it starting late fall through early spring. They ABSOLUTELY LOVE THAT. So do we, as we get so much entertainment in just watching them. Especially when one finds some thing interesting and the rest chase after it. You can almost see ther T-Rex in them lol