Hey.... Lets keep Chickens..!

Kimitatsu

tudorfan22 wrote: »

might seem like a silly question but will my chooks bve okin this cold weather? they are in a coop at the bottom of the garden at the mo but am worried the sub zero temps will freeze my little girls!

they huddle together for warmth and if you have ever checked the inside of the coop in the morning you will realise just how toasty they are! I put extra straw in for them to cuddle into and they get porridge for lunch and maize for tea which also keep them warm.

smileyt_2

I've just been out and put an old fleece blanket over my girls' coop. They still have 2 of the 4 roof spaces left for ventilation. Hopefully they will be warm enough. It's going to be -11 tonight so I'm hoping the blanket will provide just a little bit of insulation.

Just think - it's going to be 0C on Sunday, which will feel warm after the temperatures we've been having!!

pennypinchUK

Typically, chickens are very hardy. They have an amazing way of staying warm amongst themselves in their house - they take it in turns to be in the middle, then move to the outside so another can keep warm. And we think we're the only ones with brains. Just open their door in the morning and feel the warmth and you'll know they're okay in the cold weather, although it's a good idea to bung up any holes to stop an icy wind getting in. Plenty of bedding (wood shavings or straw) is a good idea too.

ljonski

i had a lightbulb moment today. If your free range chickens are having trouble finding grit, why not put down cat litter instead ?

angelavdavis

I have just received an urgent bulletin from BHWT which might be of interest to people on here:

Subject: Urgent Plea! Re-homing Devon, Bristol & Hampshire

Hello Everyone,

Sorry to send this eveyone but this is a bit of an urgent plea!

Scheduled for this Weekend is a collection of 700 hens and so far only 200 have been re-homed, 300 were supposed to be going to Kent but now cannot, so we have 500 girls looking for new homes in the South West area if you can help re-home a few or know someone who would who could, please contact Gaynor Davies on 01769 580310 or by email at [EMAIL="gaynor.davies@bhwt.org.uk"]gaynor.davies@bhwt.org.uk[/EMAIL].

More information on the bhwt's terms can be found on their website www.bhwt.org.uk.

Many Thanks in Advance

The Battery Hen Welfare Trust

redpete

ljonski wrote: »

i had a lightbulb moment today. If your free range chickens are having trouble finding grit, why not put down cat litter instead ?

I've just had a quick check on what cat litter might be made up of. Some is made of clay or paper/wood pellets, neither of these would stay solid enough to grind up food in the gizzard. Other litter contains silica which absorbs moisture and could be harmful to chickens.

It seems a very bad idea to encourage chickens to ingest cat litter. Why not give them grit instead, it's available from most pet stores.

Frugaldom

Mine have grit inside plastic milk cartons with holes cut in them. Haven't had any problems with them freezing and the cartons can easily be lifted at nights to stop them being covered with snow, if it's going to be a problem. I buy grit in 25kg paper sacks from the local animal feed store and have it delivered with my feeding & bedding. Works out much sheaper than buying by the kilo. Most pet shops will order you in a 25kg bag if asked.

PJ1

http://www.photobox.co.uk/album/285934674Hi Everyone,
Can anyone tell me how to put a picture into a post on here please. I want to put up a pic of my girls but can't get it work. Am I being especially thick?
PJ:o

PJ1

Hi Everyone,
I love this thread so much, am slowly reading every post from beginning to end, but couldn't resist posting a little pic of my two beloved girls stealing the bird food in the snow today! They are Barbara and Sophie. Originally we had Margot and Barbara but unfortunately Margot didn't survive their recuperation period (they were both battery rescues) so we aquired Sophie as a POL to keep Barbara company and she certainly helped in Barbara's return to chicken-dom as she taught her to scratch, perch, eat insects etc. I'm looking for a third girl to integrate into the "flock" and read yesterday's post about the ex-batterys looking for new homes in Hampshire, Devon and Dorset but being in Sussex it's quite a long way to go. Anyway, here are my girls after finally figuring out a way of doing this, although would prefer it if I could just attach piccies into post directly. (Any advice?)
Barbara is on the left and Sophie (obviously!) on the right.
http://www.photobox.co.uk/album/285934674
<iframe frameborder="0" style="width:150px;" src="http://www.photobox.co.uk/album/hosted/285934674"></iframe&gt;

http://www.photobox.co.uk/album/285934674

Miss_Bubbles

Hello peeps,
Great thread.
I've been thinking about keeping chickens for a while now and i'm getting lots of advice here.
Thanks!