Really dumb question....

[Blooie]

Mine will stay out all winter. In fact, they were only 5 1/2 weeks old when I put them out, and it snowed afterwards - many times. I didn't use heat in the coop, and don't plan to this winter either. The pop door to their run stays open all of the time and they can come and go, like BayBayPeepers' chickens do. Got good ventilation and a plan to cover our run in heavy clear plastic to keep the snow out as much as possible while keeping it open at the very bottom for ventilation. I may need to adjust that as we go, because we're pretty new to this as well. This is my setup:







The coop is 6'x8' and the run is 3 cattle panels bent over and attached to metal fence posts driven deep into the ground. We've covered the panels with chicken wire to deter overhead predators and to keep out wild birds, which might eat the chickens' food and may spread mites, etc. Then we have hardware cloth going up over a foot on the chicken wire and folded out into an apron that goes out about 2 feet all the way around both the run and the coop as protection against diggers. Also the hardware cloth goes up over the bottom of the coop. The lattice is just to make it look prettier because it's visible from the street and we live in town.

You'll change things a gazillion times before you settle on a total plan. I did - heck, I still do! Good luck!

 

[Wisconsin-Chick]

Blooie

I appreciate the pictures!! I honestly thought that once it got to be winter they had to be put away in our garage til spring! That is why hubby is building a 2nd larger coup(well larger because were getting more)for our garage.

 

[Wisconsin-Chick]

Blooie

How many chickens do you have?

 

[Blooie]

Nope, most of us keep them outside all year around. Folks have been raising chickens outside since before electricity and they do fine as long as they don't have strong drafts right on them and they have good ventilation to keep the humidity and the ammonia down.

I free feed mine but just because we're gone out of town overnights so often. When we're gone my grandkids, 8 year old Katie and 9 year old Evan (cousins, not brother and sister) take care of them. So it's easier for all of us if I fill the huge feeder and just let the chickens decide when they're hungry. I also have a 5 gallon waterer with horizontal nipples and all the kids have to do is top it off, check to see if the food needs to be topped off, and gather the eggs. I have a poop board with Sweet PDZ under the roost and it's really easy to go in in the morning and clean it like a cat's litter box...the little ones even know how to do that. I have a spare 2 gallon waterer in the coop just for peace of mind, but I'll take that out during the winter months so I don't end up with too much humidity in the coop. Food and the main waterer will remain in the run like it always is. I'll pop a stock tank heater in the water to keep it from freezing.

 

[mortie]

I also live in wi and mine will be staying outside.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I always leave my pop door open and let them decide if they want to go out or not. It was 4 degrees above zero Fahrenheit when I took this photo. You can see what these chickens decided. As long as a cold wind is not hitting them mine decide to go outside. If a cold wind is blowing and they can't get in a corner somewhere to get out of it, mine stay inside, snow or no snow.

Chickens generally don't like change. For them to wake up in the morning to find snow on the ground is a big change. Mine generally avoid it for two or three days, then some will venture out in it and find what forage they can. These happened to be outside that morning when it snowed so the change was gradual. They never bothered to go in.

I think it is a good idea to try to fix your run so at least part of it stays snow-free. I think it is a good idea to try to set up an area where the wind is blocked so they can go outside if the wind is blowing.

 

[Blooie]

Blooie

How many chickens do you have?

Sorry I missed your question earlier. We started out with 22, processed the 3 roosters for meat, then I gave away 8 pullets just starting to lay to a lady here in town who had lost her whole flock to dogs just before her girls started laying. So I was down to 11, which was where we originally wanted to be going into winter from the start of this adventure. We planned to cull 7 of those pullets - they had their tickets to freezer camp - but I figured they'd do her family more good in her coop than they would do me in my freezer. Her little girl fell in love with the Speckled Sussex I had ("Oh,mommy, look at the pretty one with polka dots!") so that one went home with her too. Then Pearl (my favorite EE) died, so I am now down to 10. That's plenty. I have variety in the chicken yard and in the egg basket, and I am comfortable that our coop/run will support that number comfortably and caring for that number through winter should be relatively easy.

 

[lazy gardener]

If you do put them in the garage... and they'd probably be happier outside... you might want to put heavy tarp/plastic on the floor b/c cement absorbs ammonia.

 

[Wisconsin-Chick]

What does sex-link mean?

 

[HighStreetCoop]

What does sex-link mean?

Certain cross breeds (or color crosses within a breed) are auto-sexing at hatch because the male and female chicks are different colors.