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I want to thank everyone who took the time to respond and offer reassurance, suggestions, links, and photos. I feel much better about the measures I have already taken to winterize and have more specific guidance on how to improve some things. I'll be insulating my water bucket today and...

I'm not sure what the cost of the plastic is but I got a roll of weedblock fabric and a roll of burlap on Amazon for about $20 each. By sandwiching the two materials around the fence, I think I made a pretty good barrier that I will reuse in the garden in the spring. I think the more rigid...

Ha! I responded to your earlier post before I saw this! I like the "Temperature Monster" map where they show how much temps are going to drop in 24 hours.

According to Channel 3, more to come Sunday into Monday and possibly Tuesday! The school where I teach is in Waterbury so we're likely to have delays at the slightest snow which gives me more time to clear out the run a little.

Thanks for the link! We have a carport we use for a party tent in the summer but one year we left it up about a week into autumn storm season and a wind gust actually picked it up and over our house! I like the shed idea. I was looking at some of those online.

The visuals really help! When you mentioned the plywood I was thinking way over the top of the run. This makes it much clearer! (Also I can't stand when they sit on top of the bucket.)

Smacking my head right now ... I just let my husband throw away the plastic from the old flimsy greenhouse we used to have. The frame was broken but the plastic was still good. :he

If I can figure this chicken thing out, goats are my next project. I love your set-up!

Good call! New England can be unpredictable and if I prepare for the worst, we'll have another rainy warm winter but if I don't prepare, I'll be up to my eyeballs in snow damage. I do have a few 8 foot landscape boards in the garage that can be used as mid supports. When I was designing the...

Thanks so much for taking the time to offer advice! I will DEFINITELY waterseal in the spring if it isn't too late. Before we had chickens, I spent a lot of time watching the wildlife in our yard and loved checking the trail cam to see what was visiting when we were sleeping (or the dogs...

Thanks so much for taking the time to give me great feedback! I'm a teacher at a charter school so my day is longer than most teachers. Usually I'm gone from 6:30 in the morning and don't get home until 7-7:30 so I foresee frozen water as my biggest challenge too. We heat our home with...

Grabbing the wire and "boinging" the snow off was probably not a good idea either! :th Thanks for suggesting the leaf blower! I never thought to use it for snow before but on mornings like today where the snow is dry and fluffy, it seems like a no-brainer!

That's so simple! I think I've been overcomplicating things. Shower curtains would fit perfect in this spot and it will keep snow from piling up on the water bucket. Thanks for taking the time to share your advice!

I should have thought of bubble wrap! :) I just finished an engineering challenge with 3rd graders where they were testing thermal insulators and bubble wrap is one of the materials I provide. I'll pick up the HNs next week. This morning I poured hot water in the cups to thaw but it only got...

I thought of insulating the bucket or just making a new one out of a water cooler. Can I put the horizontal nipples on the HD bucket or should I just start with a new one?

:popI spent the night here instead of working on lesson plans!

Thanks so much! :D I've been contemplating covering the spot over the coop with some heavy duty plastic but that might have to wait until we have a little more budget freedom...and I caught my husband browsing bigger coops on-line!:lol:

It was really cold this morning! I boiled water to thaw out the bird bath in my garden. The heated water bucket in the run just had an ice crust on the cups. :thumbsup Tonight it's supposed to be much colder so we'll see what the morning brings! Were your gates or doors frozen shut this morning?

Thanks for the feedback! A lot of the learning curve for this seems to be "read the advice and find out what works for your flock". It's really helpful to hear what other people in our climate zone are doing... I think I read one too many winterizing advice posts from Michigan! I was...

Thanks for the feedback! I read a couple of posts about using 2x4s on the flat side to make wider roosts. The roosting bars that come with the coop look like they'd be great for bantams but Sven (my roo) has massive feet - at least I think he does ... I don't have much experience to...