Winterizingt a small copp

I have 3 bantam hens in a small coop by Summerhawk. I have had chickens since May of this year. Everything has been going well. My question is how is the best way to manage keeping the coop clean during the winter. I currently am using pine shavings. Once a week I go out and pick thru the shavings to clean and add more shavings. Will this be sufficient thru the winter. The coop smells and looks clean. The shavings do not appear to be wet. Is there anything I'm missing. TIA

quiltinkaycee said:

I have 3 bantam hens in a small coop by Summerhawk. I have had chickens since May of this year. Everything has been going well. My question is how is the best way to manage keeping the coop clean during the winter. I currently am using pine shavings. Once a week I go out and pick thru the shavings to clean and add more shavings. Will this be sufficient thru the winter. The coop smells and looks clean. The shavings do not appear to be wet. Is there anything I'm missing. TIA

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Where is home? Your climate makes a big difference in winter preparations.

I assume that's your coop in the avatar?

I would suggest putting a shelf under the roost and using a layer of PTZ on it, that way you can quickly scoop the majority of poop without going through the shavings. The ptz never needs to be replaced. I have a poop shelf that I clean every day (takes less than a minute) and I only replace the hen house shavings every few months.

In winter the temp drops to freezing or below here at night and I don't want a poop buildup inside because I worry about frost bite and respiratory problems.

Depending on your weather you might also want to use plastic over parts of the run to keep it rain/snow free.

quiltinkaycee said:

I have 3 bantam hens in a small coop by Summerhawk. I have had chickens since May of this year. Everything has been going well. My question is how is the best way to manage keeping the coop clean during the winter. I just keep adding shavings and clean it out in the spring. It freezes harder than a brick in my coop. Every coop has different challenges. I currently am using pine shavings. Once a week I go out and pick thru the shavings to clean and add more shavings. Will this be sufficient thru the winter. The coop smells and looks clean. The shavings do not appear to be wet. Is there anything I'm missing. TIA

Click to expand...

I am subject to -40º weather l live in Canada think North Pole. I have been keeping chickens and birds for decades.

Your best practice I find is to not be too concerned about winterizing or heating your coop to help your birds combat the cold.

Predator proofing "ABSOLUTELY".

Your efforts should be spent in winterizing your birds and letting them acclimatize to their surroundings.
This is done by feeding them whole corn if available or cracked corn as an added supplement in a separate feeder.

The extra nourishment is more then adequate to bring them through the
"COLDEST" winter.

Do keep an eye open for birds that maybe not be adapting well to the new menu and may be at the lower end of the pecking order they can sometimes run into problems and may need extra TLC.

That being said in a perfect world the flock will flourish and do just fine .

I do not add any extra heat or lighting.
Egg production does slack off but I have more than enough eggs for the table all winter long (24 hens).

Some people may disagree with my method but it has worked well for me and I am not about to change.

I look at it in the same light as winterizing your car.

You really do

"NOT"


have to winterize your car if you can keep it in a controlled environment at all times otherwise you are in for

"MAJOR" problems.

When it comes to lighting if you find you are short on eggs it does apparently help. I personally do not bother in my operation eggs are sold only to neighbours when they are available (if the sign is out I have eggs). Eggs in my operation have a tendency to crack and freeze during the winter months (we do not discard them and are fine but use them in house not for sale) the more eggs you produce during these months the more eggs will fall into this category.

I have roughly 24 Golden Comet hens the longest I ever been out of eggs can be measured in hours >12<24. You will find that the egg supply in any hen is a finite resource the quicker you milk the eggs out of a hen the faster it will be spent and end up in your stew pot.

On average one hen produces somewhere between 600 to 700 eggs in its life time. Lighting only effect the speed of delivery of the eggs which at the end of the day would amount to less than a year in the hens life is my guess

If you do decide extra lighting is necessary have your light on a timer to lengthen the day "MAKE SURE IT IS SECURED BY 2 MEANS OF SUPPORT" one being a "SAFETY CHAIN" in case one fails especially if it is an incandescent bulb or heat lamp.

I personally raise hens as a hobby; and for their manure to enrich my vegetable garden any thing else the hens provide is merely a bonus.

Here is one BONUS NOW not many people can enjoy seeing in their back yard on a regular basis.



Nest boxes
In my nest boxes I fold a feed bag to fit (nest boxes are 1 ft³). When a bag gets soiled; fold a new one; pop out the soiled; pop in the new. Feed bags are a nylon mesh bag.
Frozen poop just peels off in below freezing temperatures and just flakes off in summer when left out in the sun to bake and dry.

I have 65 trips around the sun it is the best method I have stumbled upon.

Make sure the twine is removed from the open end of the bag it can get tangled around your birds.

If you have freezing winters and snow, a solid roof over the run (strong enough for your snow load!) and plastic sheeting to block the wind, will do fine. My Belgian d'Uccles do fine in the cold, but Seramas and Silkies will need more protection. You also need unfrozen water for them, either with a heater, or providing fresh three times every day. Mary