Chicken picking at feet

[helenmb]

Just thought I'd report on my experiment with my cube last night. I have one of those wizzy weather stations with remote temperature sensors so I put one in the cube last night as I knew it was going to be very chilly. It was hanging over the back of the door into the nest area as I wanted it to be away from the girls to get an accurate reading. I then had a second sensor in their covered walk in run. Here is the result:-

 

Walk in run lowest temp -3.1°C

Cube lowest temp +3.6°C

 

Should also mention that I had the cube door closed and I have 7 girls inside the cube. Plus the cube is outside the run (which has a roof on) it so I would imagine if you have yours inside a run then it might be even warmer and of course the temp outside my run might have been colder as the roof must offer it some protection.

Edited January 7, 2009 by Guest

[dancing cloud]

Great experiment and good to know they really are warm and snuggly in there

 

My little monsters certainly weren't rushing to come out of their bed this morning!

[chelsea]

cool, nice to know thanks! my cube is inside the run with a picnic blanket over the top so my girls are really toasty!

[moochoo]

That's good to know. There are too many feathery bods in my cube to allow any drop in temperature. They're better than a 'leccie blanket.

[Jules.]

When its been frosty overnight & I let my girls out of the cube I have popped my hand into the cube & I can feel the air temperature difference in there compared to the frosty air outside

[SnowWhite]

I opened the egg port one frosty evening last week and a whiff of steam escaped

 

They certainly keep nice and warm in there, all cuddled up together!

 

Great experiment by the way!

[sandyhas3chucks]

just to say, last night outside the back door under the car port the therm read -5 inside the Eglu it dropped to 0.0 at 3am , at which point I brought my 2 girls in. It dropped to -2.8 by 6am.

It is not in an exposed position it is 9 ft from the house uner the carport on a wooden table in a walk in run It had a couple of vet beds & a candlewick bed spread over it and extra protection on side of run. had therer been 3 or 4 in there I am sure it would have been better, & if the one roosting wasn't slightly under weight & not fully feathered. Until it got this cold it had been holding well in there.

[Barbara Thatcher]

just to say, last night outside the back door under the car port the therm read -5 inside the Eglu it dropped to 0.0 at 3am , at which point I brought my 2 girls in. It dropped to -2.8 by 6am.

It is not in an exposed position it is 9 ft from the house uner the carport on a wooden table in a walk in run It had a couple of vet beds & a candlewick bed spread over it and extra protection on side of run. had therer been 3 or 4 in there I am sure it would have been better, & if the one roosting wasn't slightly under weight & not fully feathered. Until it got this cold it had been holding well in there.

 

 

You are very heroic - I'm not sure I would want to be checking on my girls at 3am and minus 5

 

I have three girls and they were okay last winter with minus 2 or 3, but I think I will start putting some rugs and a tarpaulin over the top of the Eglu tonight. The Eglu is on its wheeled stand so there will be plenty of ventilation underneath, but the draughts will be excluded and their body heat will do the rest, fingers crossed.

 

The temperature is forecast to plummet over the next couple of weeks. We live in the south-west, only metres from the sea, so we won't have the worst of it.

[chelsea]

I have a duvet and picnic blanket over the top of my eglu at the moment (not blocking the ventilation holes above the door) Also popped a hot water bottle in the poo tray as my eglu girls are only 15 weeks old.

[blackgold]

My eglu is in a wooden kennel. I have just been out to check them and it is really toasty in there. i have one of those minimum, maximum thermometers for the greenhouse. i will try it tonight..

[Barbara Thatcher]

The hottie is a good idea - I will try to find an old one.

[blackgold]

But are you going to get up in the middle of the night to refill it, when it gets cold?

[sandyhas3chucks]

My eglu is in a wooden kennel. I have just been out to check them and it is really toasty in there. i have one of those minimum, maximum thermometers for the greenhouse. i will try it tonight..

this sounds perfect any photos? glad I am not "the only one"

I think those microwavable ones hot bottles are meant to stay warm up to 12 hours which would be longer than a water one. not that they are spoilt . eh

[blackgold]

there was nowhere to hang the thermometer so i knda leant it on the side. One of the girls had knocked it over and must have led on it cos occurding to the silver things it was +15 in there all night......

[sandyhas3chucks]

nice & cosy under her then I put mine at the side & under the nesting material in a nest box, but could tell no one was in it by the lowering temperature. I also tried it between roosting bars, real cold there! brrrrrrr

[Guest]

I bought a couple of pvc backed picnic blankets from the garden centre today, on sale, should have been £8.99 each and were £4 each!

 

This is where they are now

 

 

[sandyhas3chucks]

hope you don't mind e sugessting that the silver bit goes ubderneath to keep heat in(that is if it is one of those reflective ones not just the light? but great!

[Guest]

the other side is blanket material and if we had that facing out, it would get wet, much better to have the waterproof side facing out I think

[frenchlayer]

We were thinking about putting a couple of bricks into the woodburner to heat up in the evening and then putting these into their house. Not an eglu. Or alternatively you can get those very expensive and trendy oat or rice heated bags that you chuck in the microwave, so I was thinking about putting a load of rice in the microwave and then putting this into a large biscuit tin so they can't eat it. So give off heat throughout the night.

[blackgold]

the water in their bowl in the kennel didnt freeze last night so they must be cosy in there.. The water in the glug in the dog run did

[Barbara Thatcher]

But are you going to get up in the middle of the night to refill it, when it gets cold?

 

 

Ah, you've got me there

 

Still I put a really hot one in the poo tray tonight wrapped in an old pillow case, then in a plastic carrier. I also put an extra pile of hay in the nesting box and there were two layers of old towels and blankets plus a tarpaulin over the top of the Eglu from last night.

 

It was really funny to see them come out of the Eglu this morning as it was extra dark in there and we had a light dusting of snow which they had never seen before, as we didn't have any last winter. Thelma, leading way down the ladder, stopped on the bottom rung and cocked her head to one side, obviously perplexed, while the other two waited patiently behind her. I had to break the ice on their water but after that they took it all in their stride.

 

I've also been putting old towels on the cold frame and a tea light inside, which will hopefully protect the lettuces and autumn sown sweet peas. They are quite hardy as I've had the lights propped open most of the winter, but this is the coldest spell I can remember in recent years, so fingers crossed.

[blackgold]

I have got a heat lamp I could put on inthe kennel but dont know if it is safe for chiooks, puppies cant jump up to the ceiling..... hens can

[Egluntyne]

Take care not to block any of the ventilation holes when hunkering the hens down for the night.

[blackgold]

I havent even shut the hatch so they have access to the kennel if they want too. They prefer to sleep in the eglu though. It is really warm in there, chickens seem to give off a lot of heat

[sandyhas3chucks]

warm Surrey didn't freeze outside last night! the bird bath still liquid.

Poet, must just have looked like the reflective stuff they use on heat/sun sheilds!

I still think mine would be warm enough if more than 2 girls in their Eglu.

My 2 ouside girls decided it nicer in the crate in the bathroom, & took themselves in there both nights, and as there may have been world war 3 at midnight, I thought that the best plan! in the event it wasn't too bad, just 3 stressed dogs for less than 1 hour! wish Bnfire night was the same, I could cope with that! .