Winter is Coming! Checklists, tips, advice for a newbie

"We will get the inside finished, then take pictures and post them. "

I have only been saying that to myself for a month........

In a nutshell; our coop set-up, isn't.

Run is 10 x 20, top is half galvanized roofing half heavy duty netting. Wrapped the sides in plastic for the winter.

Coop is 4 x 8 insulated, with a skylight. (No power out there. Don't have to hold a flashlight this way.) Walls are just plywood. Have 2 closet rod hangers screwed to the wall as perch holders. Not finished at all.

The Saipan chickens are in 2 huge dog kennels, taking up almost all the floor space. To keep them "warm" each cage has a heat lamp. The lamps are literally nailed to the wall with the reflector/bulb wired into position.

I put the plastic pan from a very large rabbit cage on top of the dog kennels. Filled with pine shavings. My hens stated laying their eggs up there on the wire, so I put the pan in for them. They seem very happy with it.

That is how things stand now. Really don't know where to go next. Other than we have to get rid of 5-6 of the Saipans; all cockerls. Having the Saipans was not part of the chicken infrastructure planning. They were an impulsive addition by my husband.

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A few of the birds followed me into the run. The gate is open to the yard during the day.
 
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I have 3 coops 1 for winter and 2 for Summer and it works vary well.
The winter coop is in the garage so it stays warm and I have a heated water dish.(It does smell if you don't clean the coop.)
I just moved my hens into the winter coop it is snowing and the wind is blowing really hard. I do this because it gets REALLY cold here.
 
"We will get the inside finished, then take pictures and post them. "

I have only been saying that to myself for a month........

In a nutshell; our coop set-up, isn't.

Run is 10 x 20, top is half galvanized roofing half heavy duty netting. Wrapped the sides in plastic for the winter.

Coop is 4 x 8 insulated, with a skylight. (No power out there. Don't have to hold a flashlight this way.) Walls are just plywood. Have 2 closet rod hangers screwed to the wall as perch holders. Not finished at all.

The Saipan chickens are in 2 huge dog kennels, taking up almost all the floor space. To keep them "warm" each cage has a heat lamp. The lamps are literally nailed to the wall with the reflector/bulb wired into position.

I put the plastic pan from a very large rabbit cage on top of the dog kennels. Filled with pine shavings. My hens stated laying their eggs up there on the wire, so I put the pan in for them. They seem very happy with it.

That is how things stand now. Really don't know where to go next. Other than we have to get rid of 5-6 of the Saipans; all cockerls. Having the Saipans was not part of the chicken infrastructure planning. They were an impulsive addition by my husband.

View attachment 1596728
A few of the birds followed me into the run. The gate is open to the yard during the day.
You might want to consider getting a table to put inside the coop there as well. I slapped some 2x4's on a pallet to make a table, some furring strips to hold the legs steady. I have that in my coop and I keep my feeder, heated waterer, and a flock block up on that to keep it off the ground so that my girls can't kick bedding into the water or feeder. Plus I think it frees up some floor space and gives the low end of the pecking order girls something to get behind in case they're getting picked on. I also wrapped chicken wire around it last year to make an impromptu isolation cage for a hen who got tagged by a hawk and was pretty tore up. allowed her to be in with the flock but gave her a chance to heal up some.
 
"We will get the inside finished, then take pictures and post them. "

I have only been saying that to myself for a month........

In a nutshell; our coop set-up, isn't.

Run is 10 x 20, top is half galvanized roofing half heavy duty netting. Wrapped the sides in plastic for the winter.

Coop is 4 x 8 insulated, with a skylight. (No power out there. Don't have to hold a flashlight this way.) Walls are just plywood. Have 2 closet rod hangers screwed to the wall as perch holders. Not finished at all.

The Saipan chickens are in 2 huge dog kennels, taking up almost all the floor space. To keep them "warm" each cage has a heat lamp. The lamps are literally nailed to the wall with the reflector/bulb wired into position.

I put the plastic pan from a very large rabbit cage on top of the dog kennels. Filled with pine shavings. My hens stated laying their eggs up there on the wire, so I put the pan in for them. They seem very happy with it.

That is how things stand now. Really don't know where to go next. Other than we have to get rid of 5-6 of the Saipans; all cockerls. Having the Saipans was not part of the chicken infrastructure planning. They were an impulsive addition by my husband.

View attachment 1596728
A few of the birds followed me into the run. The gate is open to the yard during the day.
So hi how are you! I needed to figure things out a few months ago myself when winter was coming, a gentleman posted that he uses a great deal of salt in water bottles to keep the chicken water from freezing. I did try it and it did work but i also needed to keep my chickens warm enough thru the winter even though there core temp is 160° but their feet has no feathers so like you I also wrapped my coop with plastic but I put in like 6 to 8 bails of hay/straw and that definitely made a difference. Look at other post ti help out with some of your other questions or thoughts, you don't want winter to set in and your chickens get there feet outside, that could be really painful for them all. Good luck
 

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