Single hen

[mad.hen1]

Hi all,

Well its finally getting colder - frost this morning, icy house, car iced up etc. I am still leaving the glu door open but wonder if I'm doing the wrong thing. Not yet had hens through the winter! Do they feel the cold? Is there anything you folk do to make them more comfortable and snug? Do they need extra or different food at all (I was wondering about making them porridge in the afternoon to stoke them up for the cold night!) Or do they just take it all in their stride?

Thanks for any info.

[Snowy]

I think it depends how much you want to pamper them!

I've closed the cube door tonight for the first time in ages. I routinely give mine some afternoon tea, but again it's not really necessary. Some don't close the door all year either.

[maizey]

Hi,

 

You mentioned snugglesafe heat pads in your post. What are these exactly and if i was interested where would i be able to buy them.

I've asked about this before on this forum. I can't bear the thought of the girls being out on a sub-zero night with no heat source so I have ordered two Snugglesafe heat pads which are due to arrive today. At the end of the day my girls are pets and if I can do something to make them more comfortable I will.

 

It might be a comfort to you to know that Edge Man put a thermometer in the Eglu and compared the temperature with the reading he gets from his weather station. The temp in the Eglu was six degrees higher than the outdoor temperature.

 

I always close the door on the Eglu at night so that I know they are safe and this also gives them a bit of extra protection from the cold on nights like these.

[raffik]

I always close the door at night too.

I let them out at 07:30 each morning, and they are waiting to get out and get to their food, it's so sweet!

 

I wouldn't leave the door open at night because I'd worry about them getting wet and cold or worse, if a fox did manage to get inside the run...

 

However, I guess it gives them more freedom to get at their food when they want.

[feemcg]

Chickens can roost up trees all year round with no ill-effects. I love my chooks but wouldn't want to pamper them too much in case it made them less hardy and more prone to illness.

[Edge Wife]

Each to their own.

[puffball]

I have had the girls for a year and last winter just treated them normally. They were fine until it snowed. That day they just sat in the coop until I came along with my shovel and cleared a path for them to get to their food. I also made a ring around their run which they cautiously explored. Well at least the brave ones did

 

I have read in a book that it is good to put Vaseline on their combs to act like lip balm on our lips (does that make sense? ). That way the combs keep in more heat and moisture which basically helps the chicken.

[Ain't Nobody Here]

so I have ordered two Snugglesafe heat pads which are due to arrive today.

 

They'd be too Hot Vicki, even 'up there'.

 

I was all set to buy a Snugglesafe (without OH's knowledge, as he thinks I'm crazy ) but Claret brought me back down to earth. (I might still sneak out and get one if we get a really bad winter with lots of snow!)

[Snowy]

The lady that used the snugglesafes was The herd123 for her new ex batts - they were featherless in November. She also made a woolly pully for the least feathered one I wouldn't do it for mine, I'd be more worried about overheating, it gets quite toasty inside the eglu when they are all cuddled up together.

[The Dogmother]

If they're fully feathered, they only need the door closed in sub zero temperatures.

[Madchook]

You know, it sounds like the perfect excuse for me to get more chickens....that big spacious cube with only the three of them... . if I got more then I wouldn't have to go through the trauma of fitting them all with mittens and socks every night , they don't seem to appreciate it

[chelsea]

im a worrier. my chooks get shut in every night. In the depths of cold cold winter..i have been known to tip toe out to the eglu to place a DUVET over the top of the eglu at night!

[magamamma]

my chooks are fine bar one. my sussex hybrid, lily, has lost a lot of feathers this season and is just skin underneath on her breast. worry has set in as they are sneezing again and i do give then a piece of toast with marmite on every week to perk them up. wolly jumper??? I cant knit but i find myself wanting too now.

[Richard]

..i have been known to tip toe out to the eglu to place a DUVET over the top of the eglu at night!

 

Hey, these guys are wearing a double duvet all the time! I get more worried about my girls in the summer when they have a problem keeping cool - I certainly don't worry at all about them getting cold.

 

Just think about running around in a coat of several layers of feathers - you'd soon be sweltering. And they can't take the coat off!

[Edgeman]

As Edgewife has prevously mentioned I have monitored the temperature in the egglo with and without the snugglesafe. I have found that the snuggles safe if placed in the tray under the roosting bars causes a 4 to 5 degree C increase in temperature.

 

I dont believe that by using these heated pads when the ambient temperature drops to near freezing has any effect on the hens hardiness.

 

When you place your hand over the roosting bars with a snuggle safe inplace you cannot fee vast currents of warm air rising that might cause the Eggloo to feel like a sauna. They only make the Egglo slighly warmer.

 

I believe if people want to make there hens more comfortable by using snuggle safe it is entirely a matter for them and they should not feel as though they are compromising their hens hardiness or health.

 

Lets also remember that where you are in the country and if you live in a town makes a differnce to the temperature at all times of the day. So a blanket suggestion saying that additional heat is not needed would not be suitable for someone living in say Northen Scotland in mid winter.

 

There hens are pets to most poeple after all. I would'nt keep a dog in a kennel over night with the temperatures in my garden the last few nights so why would I leave my girls in the same situation ?

[feemcg]

Each to their own

[jomaxsmith]

It was -3 when I let the chooks out this am - when I opened the eggport steam came out so I guess it stayed pretty warm in there!

 

Jo

[Laura & CTB]

Chicken sauna

[Olly]

Does anyone have a foolproof way of stopping the eggport door from freezing over?

 

I had to pour warm water on it ... it was worth it though, as I got four eggs in total today , after none yesterday.

[feemcg]

Chicken sauna - that's certainly what it feels like if you stick you're hand in amongst them while they're sleeping .

I've read that chickens are more likely to succumb to illness through overheating - keeping them cooler reduces parasite infestation too. Also, apparently they don't feel too cold unless the temp drops below -7 - hopefully we won't get too many nights that cold this winter.

[Richard]

winter.

 

There hens are pets to most poeple after all. I would'nt keep a dog in a kennel over night with the temperatures in my garden the last few nights so why would I leave my girls in the same situation ?

 

I certainly don't want to upset anyone and didn't intend to insinuate that people couldn't treat their animals in any way they wish (so long as it isn't unkind!) but ...

 

I do think we need to be really careful not to anthropomorphize (yes I have checked the spelling!) our hens. They are animals and as such don't necessarily need the same environment as us.

 

I, for instance, would keep a dog in a kennel in winter temperatures. Especially if it was a Husky - which would be extremely comfortable in freezing snow.

 

Most birds live outside, whatever the weather. They suffer in extremes of cold and hot, but for the vast majority of the time we are nowhere near extremes of cold in this country.

 

So, I do think it is over the top to heat an Eglu, just as I think it would be daft to put little woolly jackets on my girls (yes, I have got a pattern, no I haven't knitted one).

 

I actually think that in a misguided attempt to be kind, we are sometimes very unkind to animals by putting them in an environment that we think they would like, when it is not what is right for them.

 

OK, this is far too serious for me - I don't do serious that often, so I think I need to regroup and get back to frivolous whinging!

[chickencam]

Richard you say that they can't take their coats off , well mine have well each others any way

 

Mine had a sleeping bag slung over the eglu last night and it was stiff with ice this morning

[The Dogmother]

(yes, I have got a pattern, no I haven't knitted one).

 

Yet!!

 

OK, this is far too serious for me - I don't do serious that often, so I think I need to regroup and get back to frivolous whinging!

 

Phew, I was getting worried there Richard, I thought you'd gone off the rails for a moment.

 

I think that we're each to our own; I was brought up with animals and have a very pragmatic view towards them; I will happily nurse an animal if needed (and yes, I have had a chicken tucked up in a basket by the bed), but I mostly let them get on with it in as natural way as possible. Some may call it harsh, but all my lot are hale and hearty.

[Edge Wife]

I think I'd just like to point out that there have been a lot of questions from people new to chicken keeping about how chooks fare in the cold weather. I appreciate that they are hardy enough to roost in trees and some people are happy for their chooks to get on with it. However, when I asked about Snugglesafes no one actually came forward to tell me that they had one, had tried one, or what kind of temperature difference they make (either vast or slight). Well we have experience of that now. With chickens in-situ the Eglu is at a temperature of about six to eight degrees. I don't intend to use the heat pad every night, just when the ambient temperature falls to freezing or below, to take the edge of it for the chooks. It is my choice. If someone wants to explore a means of warming the Eglu hopefully our experience, and reporting it here, will let them know the results the Snugglesafe will give and then they can make their own choice (rather than being told 'it would be too warm' with nothing shared to back that up). I'm not recommending it for anyone else, merely letting you know the effect it has on the temperature.

 

I withdrew my earlier posts because I felt I was indirectly referred to as not having my feet on the ground. I know I am sentimental about my animals, I always have been. But I feel what I have done has a moderate effect for the girls rather then the extreme one that other people seem to be suggesting. At least this way it is tried and tested and in the same way that other people express their views on how chickens fare if you let them get on with it you can have some facts from the other side of the fence too.

[The Dogmother]

Emma (The Herd) used a snugglesafe in her eglu when she first got her ex-battery hens and found it very useful - there was a long thread about their arrival etc.

 

She got them in the depths of winter, it was very cold and they had virtually no feathers, so needed it. I'm sure she'd be happy to give you plenty of information about using one, I'll PM her to point this way.

Edited November 16, 2007 by Guest