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

[cafrhe]

Thanks for the reassurances. Today is the 1st day they are not outside. They have a heated waterer outside, but today I put water in with them too. My coop is mobile and we moved it up to the house just before the 1st snow (didnt manage to think ahead about how to move the fence with the ground frozen tho.....lol). The pop door is facing west, so I guess it is catching some of the wind. I did put the little hoop house as close as I could...I will modify this all for next winter--maybe a hoop house type enclosure that covers the whole front of the coop. I would then have to make a door at the other end that I could access. But it would then block the wind.

I have a window at each end...I wonder if we park it with the one window facing south it would gather some heat in the winter.

Here is the set up:

 

[Alaskan]

I would worry a bit about the ventilation.

Even though you don't want wind rushing or blowing into the coop, it is very important to have lots of vents, to exchange air and keep the humidity low.

Next year, I agree that having one window face South might help warm up the coop a bit.

Here is one wall of my Chicken Shed. The perch is above that long wired over opening, so there is no wind on their perch. There is a lower perch that is on the other side of that plastic sheet. they don't like sleeping there since it is low down, but they like to sun bathe on that perch.

 

[cafrhe]

Wow, your coop is much more open than mine. And you're in Alaska! So you have a perch higher than the window? I am assuming there is no insulation in your barn? I guess it gets below freezing regularly there! We were down to 1 degree last night.

I think I have enough ventilation. I have the one cut out that you can see in my pic and 4 on the other side. I have stapled plastic to the roof 2x4s and feel a lot of air moving then I put my hand up there. No frostbite issues until this last cold spell and pretty minor considering how big my roo's comb is.

Thanks for the pic-I feel better seeing how more experienced chicken owners keep their chickens (and keep them alive and well lol!!!)

 

[Alaskan]

Wow, your coop is much more open than mine. And you're in Alaska! So you have a perch higher than the window?

Yep, above the window and the big vent, as far up against the rafters as I could get and still allow my chickens to have space for their heads.

I am assuming there is no insulation in your barn?

There is no insulation in that Chicken Shed, but it connects to my greenhouse, and the chickens get the greenhouse space all winter. The greenhouse generates some heat, which is very nice.

I do also have a Chicken Coop that is insulated, and my Marans and quail are in there... lots warmer and nicer with insulation, but the chickens in the Chicken Shed do fine.

I guess it gets below freezing regularly there! We were down to 1 degree last night.

I am in a warm part of Alaska (well, we are cool all summer, but at least we don't get too cold in the winter), so my worst lows are usually just about -15F

I think I have enough ventilation. I have the one cut out that you can see in my pic and 4 on the other side. I have stapled plastic to the roof 2x4s and feel a lot of air moving then I put my hand up there. No frostbite issues until this last cold spell and pretty minor considering how big my roo's comb is.

Thanks for the pic-I feel better seeing how more experienced chicken owners keep their chickens (and keep them alive and well lol!!!)

 

[LadyCluck77]

For my area, February 2015 is breaking all kinds of records for coldest, snowiest.

My hen with *something? that fell out of her vent, seems to be doing better, she actually layed an egg today

The snow is certainly mounding up high, we had a decent day today, so I went out and snapped a few photos

I did notice some frostbite on the comb of my Salmon Faverolles rooster, Calico Jack

The girls still think he's pretty though.

 

[EagleEyes]

Yeah well it's not all that great here in Wisconsin either. Gonna be -14F tonight and a cold week.
My hens are hanging in there.

 

[Alaskan]

For my area, February 2015 is breaking all kinds of records for coldest, snowiest.

My hen with *something? that fell out of her vent, seems to be doing better, she actually layed an egg today

The snow is certainly mounding up high, we had a decent day today, so I went out and snapped a few photos

I did notice some frostbite on the comb of my Salmon Faverolles rooster, Calico Jack

The girls still think he's pretty though.

I think that he still looks good!

those tiny little frostbit points will take care of themselves without any problem.

The only thing to look for is when the dead parts fall off, there might be a tiny bit of blood.... my hens haven't ever gone after it, but it is always a possibility, so I try to keep an eye out for possible piranha chickens.

 

[Sonya9]

If you feel you must supply heat to your chickens I suggest keeping your chickens in the house that way you can huddle with your birds when the hydro goes out.

Chickens will die from cold if not given the chance to acclimatize. Hydro is more apt to go out in an ice storm or blizzard when subject to below 0º temperatures in my opinion.

How would you supply heat then to your un-acclimatized birds ???

I was afraid to add a heat lamp to the coop but changed my mind the last week. Here in Georgia it has been down to 15 degrees (in the South we freak out over temps that low!).

I do worry about my OEG Bantam Rooster's comb and have been slathering it with vaseline, I do not consider bantams to be a cold hearty breed.

Anyway, the last couple of nights that it dropped below freezing I have had a 100 watt ceramic heat bulb running after the chickens are roosted and locked in for the night. Previously I was very afraid of coop fires but I don't think those ceramic bulbs really get hot enough to start a flying feather or tiny shaving on fire, it doesn't radiate an intense amount of heat ON the birds but likely does keep the ambient temp above 32 degrees when the outside temps are much lower.

Last year we did lose power/water/heat for 4 days. I don't want to raise the coop temp a lot, I just want to prevent below freezing temps. I have a small flock and if we lost power during very cold weather I could bring the bantams in or more likely put them in a small cat/dog crate together at night and cover the crate with a blanket to maximize their collective body heat.

 

[JackE]

. I have a small flock and if we lost power during very cold weather I could bring the bantams in or more likely put them in a small cat/dog crate together at night and cover the crate with a blanket to maximize their collective body heat.

That would be the worst thing you could do. You do that, and the humidity level, not to mention the CO2 levels, would go to the moon. That would be a good way to make them sick. And, if the box is exposed to below freezing temps, frostbite would be a likely result. 15 degrees is nothing, they can handle it. Get rid of the heatlamp.

 

[Alaskan]

my little bantams do well in the cold.

Even my streamlined little d'uccles do well, they just miraculously start looking like Cochins, they somehow manage to make their bodies so round and fluffy looking.

As long as you have WIDE perches for them to sit on, they are fine.

I do tend to loose the tiny little points on single combs... which is why I have been moving over to rose combs and pea combs.... but loosing just the tiny thin points isn't too bad.