Another newbie winterizing question. In Wisconsin.

[Pickle12]

First year with chickens hence another first winter post, hence pre fab coop just testing things out as we only have 3 girls. (I know, I know.. we’ve already had to fix parts that have fallen apart).
The roosting bars were on the ground but I moved them above the nesting boxes to get the girls out of sleeping in them.

My worry is now they are too close to the ventilation space above the nesting boxes under the roof and thinking I’ll have to move it back down for the winter.

Also, any tips on winterizing the coop? We put a metal roof on the run and covered the sides in plastic. Working on trying to attach a dog crate to that run for more space and figuring out how to winterize that.

Thanks in advance for any advice!

 

[rosemarythyme]

The problem is you really need more ventilation but I don't know where it can possibly be placed so it's above the birds without having roosts so low that the birds are just squatting in poop.

Same with the run, it's going to be difficult to "winterize" it without covering up all the walls as there's not much wall to work with.

 

[Pickle12]

The problem is you really need more ventilation but I don't know where it can possibly be placed so it's above the birds without having roosts so low that the birds are just squatting in poop.

Same with the run, it's going to be difficult to "winterize" it without covering up all the walls as there's not much wall to work

 

[Pickle12]

Right?! Funny thing is Menards sold out in our area pretty fast this spring so other people around here have the same thing. I wanted to build a coop but husband didn’t want to just yet so we compromised on this thing.
I’ve only got 3 and they never go in there but to sleep and lay eggs. I imagine that’ll change in the dead of winter. Right now, it’s easy to scoop out the 3 little piles of poop every morning when I let them out, but the whole back wall of the coop comes off to do that. How’s that supposed to work in winter

it was up on a hill in the yard but we moved it down so it’s tucked in a corner of the fence to try to protect it from the wind somewhat, at least. But It’s a pain down there, harder to get to, kind of crammed in between things, and now it gets less sun.
We put a metal roof on the run and my husband put leftover shingles we had stashed away on the roof and top of the nesting boxes to try to add protection. We covered 3/4 sides of the run with plastic so far.
I just don’t know what people do with these small coops in winter.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Right now, it’s easy to scoop out the 3 little piles of poop every morning when I let them out, but the whole back wall of the coop comes off to do that. How’s that supposed to work in winter

Hmm, that could be problematic in winter. I've had doors freeze shut in wet conditions.

We covered 3/4 sides of the run with plastic so far.
I just don’t know what people do with these small coops in winter.

Tough it out, mostly, and adjust adjust adjust. See how it holds up with the 3/4 wrap and make adjustments as needed - you may need to lower some of the plastic "walls" to let more moist air out higher up. Keep an eye out for condensation build up, that's an obvious indicator of moisture issues.

 

[Pickle12]

Hmm, that could be problematic in winter. I've had doors freeze shut in wet conditions.

Tough it out, mostly, and adjust adjust adjust. See how it holds up with the 3/4 wrap and make adjustments as needed - you may need to lower some of the plastic "walls" to let more moist air out higher up. Keep an eye out for condensation build up, that's an obvious indicator of moisture issues.

It’s so hard to know what to do or get. Last couple winters have been super mild so it feels like we’re due for a nasty one, but who knows. It never occurred to me the doors could freeze shut .
Yeah we’re just going to have to wing it and adjust accordingly. I’m tempted to just let them be indoor chickens for the winter lol. Just kidding. Kind of

 

[rosemarythyme]

It’s so hard to know what to do or get. Last couple winters have been super mild so it feels like we’re due for a nasty one, but who knows. It never occurred to me the doors could freeze shut .

I've resorted to taking out my blow dryer to melt the ice around the door before - that was when the coop door was frozen shut for over 2 days. Usually I would just put a paint scrapper in the gaps and chip it free but yeah that was a real doozy!

Had the gates to my run freeze shut too but I have 2 entry gates so usually at least one works haha.

 

[Debbie292d]

We're in WI too. The high humidity here year-round can be a killer to chickens. We use horse bedding pellets on the floors, nest boxes, and brooders. We also use DIY nipple buckets so no open water in any of the coops or growout pens. That keeps the moisture/humidity way down, thus less ammonia, so the lack of adequate ventilation isn't as critical.

The humidity can be 80%, but our coops will be in the low 60s.

 

[Debbie292d]

We're in WI too. The high humidity here year-round can be a killer to chickens. We use horse bedding pellets on the floors, nest boxes, and brooders. We also use DIY nipple buckets so no open water in any of the coops or growout pens. That keeps the moisture/humidity way down, thus less ammonia, so the lack of adequate ventilation isn't as critical.

The humidity can be 80%, but our coops will be in the low 60s.

I just checked: It's 89% humidity now, and the coop hygrometer says 68%. Oops! The pellets in the main coop need to be changed. We change them every spring but never got around to it as we had less chickens in that one most of the summer.