News Photo by Kayla Wikaryasz On Sunday, hens are seen walking around and roosting in their coop at 57 Feathers Pheasant Farm. According to Joe “Chicken Joe” Dziamski, his chickens fared well despite the power outages and severe weather.

ALPENA — The recent ice storm left thousands without power, but local chicken farmers were prepared to withstand the severe weather to ensure their flocks were taken care of.

Joe “Chicken Joe” Dziamski, owner of 57 Feathers Pheasant Farm, located in Alpena, went four days without power. Dziamski currently has 200 chickens and 150 pheasants.

When the power went out, Dziamski kept his chicks warm with generators that powered heat lamps. He explained that the older hens kept themselves warm. However, Dziamski explained that hens rely on light to lay eggs, and when the power went out, so did the lights in the coop.

Without the lights in the coop, Dziamski’s hens’ biological clocks were affected. However, he explained that it only took his hens a few days to recoup.

Dziamski hauled out water from his house to the chicken coops, though most of his hens preferred runoff from eaves. His pheasants preferred eating the snow.

The bulk of the damage that Dziamski’s farm sustained was two-by-fours that snapped due to the ice, which held up netting in the pheasant enclosure. When the two-by-fours snapped, the netting got pulled down and about 20 pheasants escaped.

The pheasant enclosure also flooded, but according to Dziamskis, the pheasants enjoyed swimming in the water.

Lindsey and Adam Szumila, owners of Little Hill Farm in the Posen area, also made it through the ice storm relatively unaffected.

Adam Szumila explained that they lost power on March 29 in the morning, but it was restored about midday. Then they lost power again that evening and have been without power since.

Lindsey Szumila explained that they have 175 hens and are expected to receive a batch of replacement chicks at the end of April. Lindsey Szumila said that they were fortunate not to have had chicks during this time, or else they would have been facing more challenges than they did.

“We are scheduled to receive 400 chicks here within the next month and a half,” Lindsey Szumila said. “So if the power had been out when all those chicks were here, we would have been scrambling.”

Lindsey Szumila said the biggest challenge they’ve had thus far is being vigilant for predators. Because they have generators running for the house and freezers, they’ve had to be extra aware of their flock.

“We have a noisy generator, so for our chickens, it’s not being able to hear them,” Lindsey Szumila said. “It’s getting close to the time the foxes start moving around … a fox attack is pretty silent.”

Lindsey Szumila explained that beyond listening for predators, the chickens have been pretty self-sufficient.

“We basically just keep the chickens dry and out of the wind,” Adam Szumila said. “They just stay in the barn, and we open up the doors when the weather is nice … for chickens to go outside, to kill some of the boredom … it’s better for them.”

Unlike Dziamski, Lindsey and Adam Szumila don’t have a timed light system for their hens. Adam Szumila explained they’ve had better egg production without the timed light system. Lindsey Szumila said that the type of breed can be a factor, as well.

Fortunately, their farm didn’t sustain any major damage during the ice storm, though they did lose their egg fridge.

“Every time the generator would turn on, I would start sorting eggs,” Lindsey Szumila said. “And I opened the fridge and the light didn’t turn on.”

Fortunately, Adam and Lindsey Szumila were able to get a new fridge from Young’s Appliance & Furniture that same day.

Overall, Adam and Lindsey Szumila’s chickens fared well, and like Dziamski, their flocks were self-sustaining through the entire storm. Though both farms faced some challenges dealing with power outages and severe weather, both were well prepared to adapt.

Kayla Wikaryasz can be reached at 989-358-5688 or kwikaryasz@TheAlpenaNews.com.