So we had -30degree temps last night. I've had my first death, ever. It was a 4 month old peachick. It's been raised by its mother. It's been roosting with its mother in the rafters of the barn and I've seen her sleeping with her wind around it. I don't know what happened. If it just got too cold or if there was something else but I found it dead, frozen into a perch position. I'd put a heat lamp in the barn just in case she did abandon it, but yeah. Sad! That's the last pea baby. I gave a few away and the rest died of cocci. So sad! I'll do things a lot differnetly with the next babies. Moms won't be permitted to raise them next time.
Weather related death
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I have some closely bread grays and they make terrible mothers. I have barrel brooders where I made brooders from 55 gal drums a light in each one I put the new hatch with mom in them and lock them up for three days I use them till they are feathered fully I put them on the ground in the barn if the momma wants to roost up high the chick will still go to the brooder with them thatâs how it works.
I had no idea peas were such bad mothers as these were my first ever babies. So crazy!!! I'd hoped this baby was old enough to make it. The good news it's the ones I have away are fine but they were all in brooders still.
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It is either you leave the coop totally unheated or you heat the whole coop. Chickens are likely to die of cold when only part of the coop is heated. The reason being that when they're in a cold environment, they keep warm by fluffing up their feathers to trap air that will form an insulative layer. This layer of air helps keep them warm and prevent death from cold. But if you heat part of the coop, any hen that abandon the heat later on will not have her feathers fluffed up, and so they'll be affected by cold. You can see more here: http://hencam.com/faq/cold-weather-care/
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