# Frozen eggs



## Ckriztall (Oct 12, 2013)

Aahhhh boy. As much as I have researched and prepped for my ladies, I still feel like a know-nothing newbie. 
We are 1st time hen owners and have had our girls since April. (We live in Wichita, KS and it is already pretty cold here. Last night the high was 12°) We finished their coop by summer and moved them in WAY before it was ever time for them to start laying. We have 4 hens and 2 large nesting boxes. 1 roosting bar in the top and two venting windows in the top of the coop. They seem happy and always stay in the top at night. We let them out to free range everyday and treat them to a snack before bed. 
Our ladies JUST started laying about 3 weeks ago. We are getting two eggs per day and I do believe it is always from the same two ladies. (One egg is always darker, smaller) 
They started laying late because of winter, my hubby was determined to get eggs this year so we put up lights and have them on a timer. (We went with a CHEAP alternative with lighting.... colored christmas lights) 
That seemed to do the trick because the ladies began laying. 

This morning I went out to care for them and found two eggs, one of which was frozen and cracked. Should we be heating the coop?? I know you have to be pretty careful when doing that and many issues can arise from doing that. Our coop is not insulated but the girls seem comfy in there.
Also, we can't figure out a perfect watering system for the girls. We have tried all kinds of containers. We did a self watering bowl for awhile but the water quickly filled with hay and the ladies loved perching and pooing in it. This week we have been using a tall coffee can. It stays cleaner but the water freezes EVERY night. 
Are we completely doing everything wrong? I am trying my hardest to be a good hen momma.


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## minmin1258 (Nov 5, 2013)

I love that coop!!! If u r worried about your coop being too cold put up plastic around it on the outside. This will help to keep the stiff winds and chilled breezes out. Will also ensure the girls aren't walking in snow when in the run. As far as freezing eggs... U just need t collect them both morning and night. I don't know of you have read the thread that advised against adding lighting on timers or not but it said studies were done that proved hens lives were actually shortened by the use of lights. I chose not t use additional lighting for that reason. I don't need eggs bad enough to endanger th lives of my girls. As t the water issue each person has t choose what is easier for them. I use a plastic wash tub in the run. It freezes but I just dump out the ice and fill with fresh water morning and night. The wash tub started out as my idea of a chicken pond this last summer but they drank from it instead of wading in it or splashing t cool off. So it stayed a water tub. Lol. Good luck with your girls.


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## aacre (May 5, 2013)

I use a heat lamp to keep my coop warmer. It is nice because the red heat bulbs are dark enough that it doesn't seem to bother my hens at night and they are very active during the day time.


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## kessy09 (Jun 16, 2013)

You could put the dish up on a few pieces of 2x4s so it's shoulder height. As for the freezing, that's just something that goes along with winter. Of course it's going to freeze with temps that lie at night. The girls don't need water overnight so just bring the whole dish in the house. Our temps are at -26 Celsius now and so the water freezes every hour. I keep two gallon water founts in each run and two in the house. So when I go out (about every hour or so) I bring the two from the house out and bring the freezing ones in. Then they thaw while inside and I do the switcheroo again the next hour. It's a lot of work but water heaters are so expensive. I don't light or heat our coops as I'm trying to keep my chicken keeping as natural as possible.


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## TheLazyL (Jun 20, 2012)

I'm a old timer when it comes to chickens (May of 2012). 

8 BOs. They will be 2 years old in May 2014. N0 supplemental heat in the coop.

I collect eggs once a day, when I come home from work, 5 PM. I have never had a frozen egg until this weekend. Chickens have just finished their molting and I don't provide supplemental lighting, so egg production is down to 1 egg every other day. 

Friday 1 egg. Saturday morning topped of the feeder and water, I checked, no egg, so I didn't bother to check at 5 PM.

A hen laid a egg between Saturaday 9 AM and Sunday 5 PM resulting in my first frozen egg.


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## Liza44 (Nov 26, 2013)

Nice post. I like the way you start and then conclude your thoughts. Thanks for this information .I really appreciate your work, keep it up


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## Farmwife (Mar 23, 2014)

We live in NE South Dakota where the winters are cold and long. When the average overnight temps start dropping below freezing we use this heater to set the waterer on and it doesn't freeze. Our coop is insulated and when it gets below zero degrees F we add a heat lamp. When it drops to -20 degrees we plug in a 2nd heat lamp. Have never had frozen eggs and the girls seem to do just fine.


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