Already Planning for Winter

[rjshelp]

Hi everyone! Long time lurker, first time poster...hoping you all have lots of wisdom to share with this newbie. I've had chickens for almost a year and am going into my second winter with them (located in northern Vermont). Last winter was rough, we had weeks of negative temps including a week at -30. Surprisingly all the girls managed to survive in our barn/coop setup, but 10 (out of 15) met their demise because of a weasel. I ended up moving them to a garden shed that is extremely secure, but not designed with chickens in mind.

Now that it's summer and I can think about making improvements, I could use some guidance on ventilation. I've seen quite a few other threads, but I am still unsure. Attached are several pictures to give context. The summer isn't that much of a concern because we put them in their chicken tractor during the day (we lost two more to a fox so free ranging is limited to when we are outside with them). Yes, the shed gets hot in the summer and I'd imagine it gets pretty cold in the winter.

Ultimately I plan to add screen doors with hardware cloth on both the double doors and single doors so I can leave it open securely during the day...I also want to separate the roosting area in the back from the rest of the shed with a screen door and hardware cloth as well. That way the space is sectioned off for new comers or just me trying to get chores done. Anyway, I'd appreciate the input! Thanks

 

[Tiana's chickens]

I love the barn/coop set up you have there!
Sounds like you had an extremely cold winter, I'd consider running some electricity to the barn if you haven't already so you can plug in a little heater for them

 

[jthornton]

Add your location to your profile so it's always there.

The general minimum for ventilation is 1 sq ft per bird. Be nice if you had more overhang to protect the vents from rain/snow.

JT

 

[snow5164]

Having such a nice size building is good , but you need to plan . We divided our building into 4 coops . Made a drop ceiling covered in foam sheets and walls covered in foam , floor in one has foam other side we didn’t , we can’t tell the difference. The wall between is hardware cloth, we use one milk heater to keep winters above freezing (0’).One 100 watt bulb on each side .

Our man doors are covered in wire ( screen door)with an insulated second door for winter time.

An 8x8 coop is plenty big for our 15 hens and a rooster, we have a few shed windows that we cover with foam and plastic for winter.

Lots to think about ,
Good luck