Texas Snow

Texans do not understand snow and ice. This applies to Texas chickens too.

Their pen was a winter wonderland of ice covered with snow. The ground was icy snow. The water bowl was icy snow. The coop, people step, and chicken ladder were covered with ice and snow. I liberated their water bowl with a shovel and a jug of hot water.

Then I opened the pop door. Oh the chickeny puzzlement!

Mr. Big stepped out the pop door and promptly descended the ladder in accordance with Newton's Law of Gravity. He hit the ground, picked himself up, looked around for chickeny witnesses, and finding none, strutted away as if to say "I meant to do that".

De and Vo were next to exit. They pushed out the door at the same time, like Two Stooges. After a "BAWK" duet they popped out and scooted down the ladder. Vo tipped over the side and covered her embarrassment by scratching in the ice.

Buffy sauntered to the pop door and in one graceful hop landed at the bottom of the ladder. Like a fluffy orange bowling ball, she crashed into De and the two of them fussed over the indignity of it all.

I think we are all ready for spring.

Texas Weather

Oh the lack of chickeny joy....

The miserable cold here has caused a crisis for the Texas electric grid. ERCOT has ordered rolling blackouts to accommodate power production disruptions. the increased demand for heaters.

Lucky me! I get to haul water to the chickens because the hose is frozen. Obviously, the waterers are frozen too, so I am hauling hot water.

Good thing my chickens do not depend on electric heat. The coop is protected from wind and rain. The chickens provide their own warmth.

Wish they would heat my house.

Oh No! Snow!!

My chickens live in Southeast Texas. The weather brings us hurricanes, tornadoes, horizontal rainstorms, blazing heat, occasional freezes, and the ever-so-rare threat of snow.

I remember doing a Pro/Con list before moving here. Top of the list for Con was Hurricanes. Top of the list for Pro was Snowless. I still think it is a good trade, but just barely.

Once, while visiting Austin, we got 1/8 of an inch of snow. There were 400 traffic accidents that morning.

Some fool ordered snow for Friday, so I am planning for a weather disaster. Here is my checklist:

• Block roost draft
• Secure plastic sheets
• Check overhead tarp
• Sufficient chicken feed
• Cache of water
• Grit, oyster shell, BOSS
• Wrap pipes and faucets
• Vehicle fuel
• Groceries

Did I miss anything?

Angry Chickens

My chickens were mad at me today. The rooster even fussed at me with his Martian voice -- "you are making me very angry".

What terrible thing did I do? I forgot to bring their morning oatmeal bowl. Oh chickeny distress! They were so flustered that for a minute I was worried they were going to explode like little feather bombs.

The followed me around the pen like they were expecting food to magically appear in my empty hands. The only one who was not upset about the missing treat was Robin.

Robin was on the nest when I went in the coop. I reached in for the eggs and she gave me the foulest look! She was absolutely furious. She gave me a peck and then huffed out of the nest box and stood there bawk-bawk-BAWKing at me. Then after one last application of the stink eye, she flounced out of the coop.

I came back later in the day and brought a hammer for self defense, but they graciously refrained from tearing me to bits. As I nailed more weather protection into place, my notorious helper came over to supervise. That touched off a flurry of rubberneckers, gawkers, and helpers -- all climbing on to the roll of wire I had laid down next to me. One moment a worksite, next a carnival.

When I went into the coop for evening egg collection, they all lined up inside the coop and stared at me expectantly. It was too early, but they were so sure I would make amends that they came inside anyway.

I took pity on them and tossed a bowl of Black Oil Sunflower Seed into the coop. Oh the chickeny joy! They were so happy they did not notice when I closed the pop door. They noticed as I tried to slip away though. So it was back to the stink eye for me.

Doctor Dolittle saved the day, sending a care package of oatmeal and scratch. I slipped the treats in through the pop door and stood back to watch. Oh the chickeny joy! They were so relieved to get their oatmeal that they forgave my terrible, terrible lapse in judgement.

Whew! Close call.

Chicken Products

Here are some products you may find helpful.

Handy books on building chicken coops and raising chickens:

Incubators for hatching eggs:

Winterize the water supply for chickens:

Poultry Nets to keep hens in and keep wild birds out:

Varmint traps to thin out the predator population near the flock:

Motion-activated scarecrow to spray intruders with water:

Home at Last, New Plans

OK, my Odyssey is complete. I am home. In the process, I experienced long distance driving, family fun, and loss.

My trusted friend, Doctor Dolittle, found my dead hen on Christmas morning and hastily improved the chicken coop. Doc tells me the chickens are agitating for some more coop improvements.

• The pen gets really soggy when it rains. 
• The roosts need a drop ceiling.
• The door catches on the bird net. (might be a human requirement)
• The nest boxes need external access. (um, ditto?)

*sigh* Back to the drawing board.

Re-winterizing the coop

While I was away, we had a cold snap hard on the heels of horizontal rain. This tragically exposed another design flaw and my friend Dr. Dolittle found one of the hens dead on Christmas morning.

Thankfully, Doc rounded up an assistant and the two of them blocked more of the vents with plastic. They inspected each chicken for dry feathers and feet. They even provided big towels to help the chickens think about sunny beaches.

It was a lifesaving improvement. The temps dropped close to 20F. In the morning Doc had to chip out all the water bowls and make arrangements to replace split pipes and hoses.

All the chickens made it. And fresh eggs too!

If this weather keeps up I may have to order a water heater:

The Weather Outside Is Frightful

Here in Texas we are having what is locally known as cold weather at 27F degrees. (I'm not from around here).

I had to take special precautions for my chickens. They already let me know they do not approve of exposed roosts during cool weather. I corrected that once I realized the entire flock had spent the night crammed into one nest box.

The coop is a masterpiece of opportunistic construction from salvaged materials. It is half plywood and half farm fence. This is great for the Texas summer, but it is as useless as something colorful on a bull when it is cold enough to freeze something colorful off a brass monkey.

To protect the birds from drafts I put 6 mil plastic sheets up with roofing nails. That, and a bit of clear duct tape, sealed things up on two sides. The narrow end with the pop door has no coverage. The long side with the people door has a three foot stretch of uncovered wire as well. All told, the coop has 35 square feet of ventilation. The rest is covered. Especially around the roost.

There is no insulation. The litter is not very deep. There is no water heater. There is no heat source.

The chickens are heated internally! They have a warm blooded metabolism. They have feathers. They have a roost that lets them keep their feet flat and settle their fluffy feathery bodies on them. And they get a double ration of insanely delicious Black Oil Sunflower Seeds at night.

Now there may be an issue with ice in the waterer by morning, but they really do not drink much water while they sleep. The big risk is that the moisture they emit while sleeping (and pooing) will build up in the coop and in their little chicken lungs.

So there is the strategy. Keep the chickens out of the wind. Keep them dry. Give them a little extra food.

Meanwhile, I am wearing a down jacket.


Update1:
I lost a chicken to the cold because I failed to follow my plan. I failed to cover part of the coop where a horizontal rain could soak the birds and bedding, foiling my "keep them dry" concept. I have since put more effort into making sure the coop is dry and non-drafty. The chickens have been fine through multiple colder rainier weather events with no problems.

Update2:
BackYardChickens.com member patandchickens has an excellent winter coop discussion posted there.