Questions on winterizing coop

[21hens-incharge]

I am in the Northern part of texas. Here’s a few pictures of my coop. The run is about 12 ft long and 5 feet wide. I have already insulated the inside part but the run is what i’m trying to figure out at the moment. What’s the best bedding for the run?

Cute coop!

We get similar (and often colder) temps where I am and I have family in Amarillo so I am familiar with the weather there.

The ground will be cold. There's no avoiding that unfortunately.

Many use coarse wood chips. Think of the pieces as like mulch but not dyed and bigger pieces.
Keeping things dry will go a long way in keeping them comfortable. If it's on the south side of the house it will get a lot of sunshine which is good and bad. It helps dry things but if clear plastic is added it gets really hot like a greenhouse.

Personally I would add wood chips and try to keep things dry.

 

[Sally PB]

What’s the best bedding for the run?

Personally I would add wood chips and try to keep things dry.

People who have wood chips really like them. They're soft (nice for the chickens to walk on), absorbant, and the carbon works well with the nitrogen in the poop, so it makes some of the best compost you will ever see for a garden.

If you can hook up with an arborist, you might get them for free. They need to get rid of chips, and they would rather give them away than pay to dump them in a landfill. There are sites online (I think Chipdrop is what it's called?) that you can go to and ask to have chips dumped on your property.

This may mean you get a few or several cubic yards of chips! Great if you have the space to put them, not so great if it's in your driveway. So ask questions.

If you buy bags of chips, they will probably be expensive. The word is getting around that they make great mulch. They may also be dyed, so they "look nice," and if they are, you don't want them. Some people have said they've gotten chopped up bits of plastic and metal in bags of chips/compost/potting soil. You really don't want that in your chicken run!

If you can't get chips, do you have leaves you can rake up? If not, a couple bales of pine shavings from TSC would be good

 

[Folly's place]

Your coop is adorable! However, it looks underventilated, hope there's more ventilation on the sides we can't see.
Wood shavings, wood chips, dry leaves, all good in the run, and vinyl sheeting over the lower windward sides of the run will be good for the winter.
A wider roof overhang on the run would be good too, for shade and storm protection.
Again, beautiful coop!
Mary

 

[fridao]

Your coop is adorable! However, it looks underventilated, hope there's more ventilation on the sides we can't see.
Wood shavings, wood chips, dry leaves, all good in the run, and vinyl sheeting over the lower windward sides of the run will be good for the winter.
A wider roof overhang on the run would be good too, for shade and storm protection.
Again, beautiful coop!
Mary

Thankyou!! And yes there are several windows on the opposite side. Appreciate the tips!!

 

[My Very First 6 Chickens]

I am in the Northern part of texas. Here’s a few pictures of my coop. The run is about 12 ft long and 5 feet wide. I have already insulated the inside part but the run is what i’m trying to figure out at the moment. What’s the best bedding for the run?

Your home window opens right to the run! If that were me, i may or may not open those windows and entice a chicken to 'come come up here and see'!

 

[Tahai]

Do you intend to take your run back to sand in the summer? If so, I would make sure to use larger items on the ground this winter (large wood chips, unchopped straw...) Smaller things like pine shavings and chopped straw will work into the sand to such a degree that you will never get them fully out again.