What do you do with animals when temps get -30 to -40 below? We live in Massachusetts and we are in one of the most fridged air mases in decades. We have 7 chickens and 2 rabbits outside. DD does 4-H and we would hate to lose her animals.
The chickens are in a wire coop that has acrylic glass around it for the winter, to keep out some but not all wind. The floor is wrie also but we have put hay over that to keep some heat in. We run a red bulb 24/7 when it gets cold. It has been so cold we added an old heater in one of the nest boxes that blows outward. Chickens fdon;t mind losing the box and they seem to be thankful it;s there. They lay all there eggs in the nestbox next to heater lately LOL We can keep it roughly 10 degrees Farenheit higher than outside and we have no idea what the rela temp is in there due to windchill factor.
The rabbits are in hutches. These hutches are in an winterport (artic type plastic garage that do wind gets in just lotsa moisture in there,unless you leave the flap open. And right now we live on the down slope of a hill so it;s closed for the next week or more)garage. And it is zipped, no real wind. We have plastic draped over the front of the hutches, so one side is open only of hutch. ALso we have 150 watt reptile heat emitters on the outside of cage aiming inside at their water dishes. One rabbit will go inside the nesting box filled with 3 inches of hay (sometimes more if DD gets carried away, DD's 5) and one rabbit thinks the nestbox is the latrine. SO we just give him hay in the hutch run part about 2 inches thick and he has one of those plastic igloo type hut things in there.
Any suggestions as to if this is enough heat, etc for these animals not to freeze to death over the next 3 days?????
Any advise will be greatly apprecaited.
Thanks
Marsh
The chickens are in a wire coop that has acrylic glass around it for the winter, to keep out some but not all wind. The floor is wrie also but we have put hay over that to keep some heat in. We run a red bulb 24/7 when it gets cold. It has been so cold we added an old heater in one of the nest boxes that blows outward. Chickens fdon;t mind losing the box and they seem to be thankful it;s there. They lay all there eggs in the nestbox next to heater lately LOL We can keep it roughly 10 degrees Farenheit higher than outside and we have no idea what the rela temp is in there due to windchill factor.
The rabbits are in hutches. These hutches are in an winterport (artic type plastic garage that do wind gets in just lotsa moisture in there,unless you leave the flap open. And right now we live on the down slope of a hill so it;s closed for the next week or more)garage. And it is zipped, no real wind. We have plastic draped over the front of the hutches, so one side is open only of hutch. ALso we have 150 watt reptile heat emitters on the outside of cage aiming inside at their water dishes. One rabbit will go inside the nesting box filled with 3 inches of hay (sometimes more if DD gets carried away, DD's 5) and one rabbit thinks the nestbox is the latrine. SO we just give him hay in the hutch run part about 2 inches thick and he has one of those plastic igloo type hut things in there.
Any suggestions as to if this is enough heat, etc for these animals not to freeze to death over the next 3 days?????
Any advise will be greatly apprecaited.
Thanks
Marsh