On a chicken wing and a prayer

So our January thaw is over and winter is back with a vengeance. Tomorrow’s high will be -5 degrees. The low will be -20 overnight.  In my opinion that is simply ridiculous.  Of course it matters not what I think cause it is what it is.  And that is damn cold.

This cold snap triggers my paranoia about our laying hens. I have sleepless nights worrying about their welfare in this cold. For some reason, the following facts just don’t seem to sway me:

            They are the heartiest of breeds.

They are inside a coop that is partially insulated (the design does not allow for full insulation).

We have stacked hay bales strategically on the outside to act as external insulation, as well as tacked carpeting (backwards so carpet faces coop) on the large access door.

There is a heated water dish on a stone and wooden pedestal. The dish keeps the water from freezing, the pedestal helps prevent the hens from kicking in shavings to the water.

We stopped replacing the shavings in late fall and just keep adding. The shavings begin to compost and generate heat (it's called deep litter bedding).

Each hen produces roughly the equivalent of 10 watts of heat, and there are 7 of them.  

A heat lamp is strung on the ceiling pointing downwards ready to be turned on at any point. (The heat lamp poses fire danger though and just causes me more anxiety.)

The rear window is sealed on the outside with plastic.

The egg door hinge section (about five ft wide and ¼ inch gap to allow opening) has been partially duct taped to prevent a major draft.

They survived last winter in somewhat similar conditions. It is believed that these breeds can withstand -20 to -30 degree temps.

There is a wireless thermometer located in the coop and the base unit is in our mudroom so we know what the temp is at all times. (Pictured below at an outdoor temp of 5 degrees)Typically the inside temp is 19-20 degrees warmer than outside without the use of the heat lamp.

And despite all of this information, my wee little brain still frets. I guess I am guilty of projecting. After all I am a human. I would be dead pretty quickly if exposed to just the freezing mark let alone -20. It is incomprehensible to me that any living creature could endure. Yet the chickadees are still flitting about, the squirrels are still eating the bird suet, and our hens are still laying and complaining about the snow covering their bug festival. It is really pretty amazing when you think about it. But I am still gonna worry.

The increasingly humble human