Hi everyone, I am not sure what everyone does to prepare for winter and winterizing you flock, but here is what I do. Here is an excerpt from my blog on the subject of preparing my girls for a long winter.
Fall greetings every one! It’s amazing how fast the summer just flew by. I am not sure if everyone else has the same opinion, but for me if felt like one of the fastest summers on record. I know that the girls enjoyed the summer, they dutifully patrolled my gardens for bugs and made sure that they helped themselves to some of the spoil on the veggie plants they were maintaining for me. Although I enjoy summer and all of the pleasure it brings, I find myself ready for the seasons to change.
As summer turns into fall and my gardens produce the last fruits, it’s time to prepare for the season ahead. As a chicken owner this means several things, giving all the coops a good end of year cleaning and preparing them for winter.
For me this means putting up the wind barrier that will protect the girls form the cold winter winds along with the winter precipitation. During the summer and warmer months I allow the coops to be as air friendly as possible. Allowing air to flow through the mesh fencing on the coops helps keep the girls cool during the months of late spring and early summer. But as the bite of fall and winter approaches I need to assist my girls in surviving the winter outdoors.
After a thorough coop cleaning I begin to put up wind barrier plastic on all my coops. The plastic I use is found at Tractor Supply along with other stores such as Lowes or Home Depot. It is a construction grade plastic designed to be used as protection when building home and other building during inclement weather periods. It runs at about $15 per box, normally for all my coops I need to purchase two boxes. The process of putting up the plastic is relatively simplistic. I simply screw the thick plastic sheeting into the wood on all the coops. It is very durable so it goes up without much trouble.
I typically put the plastic sheeting up around Halloween after we get our first frost. The girls surprisingly don’t seem to mind the process of preparing thier coops for winter. They are great assistances is trial testing the plastic to make sure that is passes chicken industry standards. They have learned over the years that the plastic is an alley in their survival of the winter months.
Encasing the coops in heavy construction plastic does several things.
Additionally, I supply all the coops with Christmas light to give them a little extra light in the colder months. This also provides us with light to take care of our chores when the sun sets earlier and earlier. On cold winter night the Christmas lights give a soft glow of warmth and comporting coming from the coops.
I hope you have enjoyed this post on winterizing a chicken coop and how to keep a flock of backyard chickens happy and healthy during the harsh winter months.
~ The Kuntry Klucker Crew ~
Fall greetings every one! It’s amazing how fast the summer just flew by. I am not sure if everyone else has the same opinion, but for me if felt like one of the fastest summers on record. I know that the girls enjoyed the summer, they dutifully patrolled my gardens for bugs and made sure that they helped themselves to some of the spoil on the veggie plants they were maintaining for me. Although I enjoy summer and all of the pleasure it brings, I find myself ready for the seasons to change.
As summer turns into fall and my gardens produce the last fruits, it’s time to prepare for the season ahead. As a chicken owner this means several things, giving all the coops a good end of year cleaning and preparing them for winter.
For me this means putting up the wind barrier that will protect the girls form the cold winter winds along with the winter precipitation. During the summer and warmer months I allow the coops to be as air friendly as possible. Allowing air to flow through the mesh fencing on the coops helps keep the girls cool during the months of late spring and early summer. But as the bite of fall and winter approaches I need to assist my girls in surviving the winter outdoors.
After a thorough coop cleaning I begin to put up wind barrier plastic on all my coops. The plastic I use is found at Tractor Supply along with other stores such as Lowes or Home Depot. It is a construction grade plastic designed to be used as protection when building home and other building during inclement weather periods. It runs at about $15 per box, normally for all my coops I need to purchase two boxes. The process of putting up the plastic is relatively simplistic. I simply screw the thick plastic sheeting into the wood on all the coops. It is very durable so it goes up without much trouble.
I typically put the plastic sheeting up around Halloween after we get our first frost. The girls surprisingly don’t seem to mind the process of preparing thier coops for winter. They are great assistances is trial testing the plastic to make sure that is passes chicken industry standards. They have learned over the years that the plastic is an alley in their survival of the winter months.
Encasing the coops in heavy construction plastic does several things.
- In serves as a wind buffer. As the cold winds of winter blow the plastic sheeting protects the girls from the wind thereby making their coops and pens much more comfortable. Simply blocking the cold winter winds greatly assist the girls in keeping warm during the colder months.
- It keeps the pens dry by keeping the rain, snow, sleet, and ice out of the pens. This keeps the sand in the pens dry so that the girls will have a dry comfortable space to call home during the colder months.
- Is keeps the girls living quarters warmer naturally. As the afternoon sun radiates on the plastic it traps the warmth of radiation in the coop and pens. On fringed sunny days the pens will be a good 10 degrees warmer than the air outside. It acts as an isulater allowing the girls to stay warmer during the winter months
Additionally, I supply all the coops with Christmas light to give them a little extra light in the colder months. This also provides us with light to take care of our chores when the sun sets earlier and earlier. On cold winter night the Christmas lights give a soft glow of warmth and comporting coming from the coops.
I hope you have enjoyed this post on winterizing a chicken coop and how to keep a flock of backyard chickens happy and healthy during the harsh winter months.
~ The Kuntry Klucker Crew ~
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(leave mine up year round so I can work in the run after dark if need be) and the crystal holiday lights inside give it a very whimsical feel.... until the stench of a fresh poo hits your nose anyway.
it makes it so much easier to come in after work when its dark to take care of evening chores. I don't have to shine a bright light in the girls eyes, the christmas lights give me all that I need. Its the perfect solution.
