photo courtesy of Fred Wittekind
Last night brought near-freezing temps to the Wittekind homestead, so we tried to prepare the chicks for a cold night in the coop.
When we moved the chicks to the coop on April 1, we put a 125-watt heat lamp out there because nighttime temps were only getting down into the 50s. Since low 30s were forecast for last night and tonight though, we decided to change out the 125-watt lamp for a 250-watt lamp. In preparing to do that, we had a little bit of a scare though.
See, yesterday was a cold and windy day, so we needed the heat lamp in order to maintain the coop’s temp at something respectable for the chicks. Last evening though, Fred had to turn the lamp off so it could cool enough to be handled.
Fred turned off the lamp near dusk, and all the chicks were down in the run. (Fred accidentally spilled some water in the hen house while getting them a fresh drink.) We should have planned a bit better (in hindsight) because when we came outside to put the 250-watt lamp into the coop, all ten birds were asleep in a chick pile on the cold ground. They had all huddled into a corner so the wind was blocked, but still, I doubt they would have made it through the night like that.
We had to go and get Abby because the chicks were piled in a part of the run that couldn’t be reached by a grown-up. She tried to herd them into their house, but they kept running back to their corner where they’d been trying to sleep. Finally, Fred had to climb into the run (a sight to see, I might add), and he took chicks from Abby and placed them in their house. Then, we gave them a bit of food because I knew they’d be starving as they tried to keep warm. Poor, silly girls!
I think it got down to 35 last night, but the coop stayed in the low 70s. In fact, we opened a vent at the top so it didn’t get too hot in there. It worked well, and we’ll be doing that again tonight (without the drama of the chick pile.)
I hope to post some updated pictures soon. These little birds won’t quit growing!
That is the cutest coop I’ve ever seen! Glad the girls made it thru the cold night.
Thanks. That coop is cute, and that’s what attracted us to it since we’ve never had chickens before, but Fred and I were just talking last night about all its shortcomings. Don’t get me wrong — I’m thrilled we have it — but now we know what to do “better” next year. :)
That darned coop CLAIMED that it was portable, but the structure never would have tolerated routine moving. At about 125lb, it was a beast and unweildy. We add the frame on the bottom and the wheels and not I’d call it “luggable”. :) It’ll get us eggs by fall though, so I can’t complain for a starting point.