Big storm coming, Help me to see if I'm missing any Winterization steps for the coop

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LOL we have a joke here (in NE CO) about why the wind blows so hard here... But it might be offensive to any Huskers, and I'm outnumbered already, so I'll keep the punchline to myself :D


Surprisingly, you guys must be keeping that wind all to yourselves today, because we have light snow and just a breeze; its nice for a change!

Silkies did fine for me, but their feet can get ice built up in them pretty easy. Mine didn't have any issues but they have a nice windbreak on the north side of their run, so they didn't have too many issues, except for this storm, last spring...

400


That one came from the south and caught me off guard :P

But they were out in it the next day, stomping it down. When their feet get cold, they go back inside for a bit or hang out under the trees. I even had 2 Buttercups iced up in the tree from that storm, and they just kinda fell out of the tree, thawed off a bit, and were running around within am hour.

Most heavy breeds can handle cold quite well. It's moisture build up in the coop that causes frostbite most times. Ventilation is crucial this time of year. That and clean water.
 
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Oh, I dunno about the winds.....here it isn't uncommon for us to have winds in excess of 40 mph with 60 mph gusts routinely, and it doesn't have to be storming, although sideways blowing snow hurts when it hits your cheeks. A little town near us, Clark, has recorded winds in excess of 117 mph, and that was during a snowstorm. In Clark, insurance companies won't write a policy on a house unless the roofs are anchored to the ground. My husband moved our brand spanking new truck across the street to our son's house, because we have huge trees on our property and he didn't want the truck being hit with a branch during one windy day. He figured it would be safe - no trees on my son's place. Yeah, not so much. He opened the truck door to walk back home and the wind ripped the truck door out of his hand and pulled him out! $3500 dollars damage to the truck door and frame, too! This wasn't a small truck - it was a Toyota Tundra. Even our icicles grow sideways here! We live in a basin between several mountain ranges. The winds hit the side of the mountains, funnel through the valleys and pick up speed as they are squeezed through. That's the reason ours are always so high.

We are in northern Wyoming, and it was 2 below zero this morning. Yeah. That's with no wind. I don't heat or insulate my coop. Instead I have maximum ventilation in the form of vents, windows left cracked on the lee side of the wind, and an exhaust fan with the cover left open even when the fan isn't running. Their pop door to the run is open 24/7. This year we got our first major snowfall on October 12. The first year I had chickens, our last snowfall was on June 4th. I partially cover my run with clear, mesh-reinforced clear greenhouse type plastic to keep them out of the bad winds and keep them dry. They thrive. In fact, chick season around here is early spring as it is most places. But springtime here means our temps are UP into the teens and twenties. Yet I am able to raise chicks out in the run in an open wire pen using nothing more than a straw covered heating pad cave. Never lost a chick or adult to cold yet.

But if your chickens are in a dry, draft free place, they will do fine. By draft free I mean that if it's drafty enough to ruffle their feathers, then the body heat trapped next to their bodies is able to escape. That makes for cold chickens and you don't want that. But if you've sealed your coop up tight, then moisture from their respiration, droppings, and their water will build up and so will ammonia. That moist, stale air has to have a way to exit the coop and be replaced with fresh air. Sealing your coop isn't the way to do that. And providing artificial heat in the coop will make them terribly uncomfortable, especially with a dangerous heat lamp where you can't control the heat. Letting them slowly acclimate as the temperatures drop is the kindest thing you can do for them. Remember that during storms or extreme cold, they're more likely to spend more time in the coop, and that compounds the problem.

I'd have to agree with others...open up some upper ventilation. Whatever you can do, even if you drill a few good sized holes up near the roof line and cover them with hardware cloth (that's just in case the winds will blow directly on them on the roosts - if it doesn't, then crack the windows on the downwind side.) A door on the floor of the coop won't do much of anything for ventilation! Good luck with the storm coming in.


Our coop and run in October 2016. The red building is their coop, the hoop is their run.




Because they are allowed to acclimate naturally with the falling temperatures, not much fazes them during cold winter days. The still want to be outside, so we just open the people door and let 'em go if they want. Some do, some don't.






Chicks in their outside brooder. I do this even with chicks we've hatched here. As soon as they are dry, fluffed, eating and drinking, out they go.



Sideways blown icicles!
 
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@Blooie, as always, bravo ;)

I can tell you don't do all that writing from a phone ha-ha; you always give such great, detailed advice.

Those are some awesome icicles :D
 
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shortgrass said:
@Blooie , as always, bravo
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I can tell you don't do all that writing from a phone ha-ha; you always give such great, detailed advice.

Those are some awesome icicles
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Um, I do tend to get a little long-winded (fingered?) sometimes. But I think of one thing, and that makes me think of another, and before you know It I've posted another novel. <sigh> Not on my phone, though - there it's more like "Yep", "Nope" and "Nice to meet ya"
lau.gif
!

It's just that I hate to see people worry so much. I did that my first year with chickens. Moved them out at 5.5 weeks on April 1st, with a heat lamp and a wireless thermometer transmitter out there. All night long I was watching the temp drop to below 20 degrees, and all night long I was jumping out of bed, pulling on my jeans, boots and coat over my jammies, and running out there to check on them. They were fine - and nowhere near the heat lamp - I was freezing. Second night, same thing, except I only got out of bed once. The third day I pulled the heat lamp - they weren't using it anyway. And that night it snowed and snowed! <sigh> All that worry and all I did was get myself upset. Oh, well, live and learn.
 
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Yes, they still like to be outside, no matter what the weather here. In the snow, they stand on one leg, then they alternate, to warm the other foot....
 
Blooie said:
:hide Um, I do tend to get a little long-winded (fingered?) sometimes. But I think of one thing, and that makes me think of another, and before you know It I've posted another novel. Not on my phone, though - there it's more like "Yep", "Nope" and "Nice to meet ya" :lau ! It's just that I hate to see people worry so much. I did that my first year with chickens. Moved them out at 5.5 weeks on April 1st, with a heat lamp and a wireless thermometer transmitter out there. All night long I was watching the temp drop to below 20 degrees, and all night long I was jumping out of bed, pulling on my jeans, boots and coat over my jammies, and running out there to check on them. They were fine - and nowhere near the heat lamp - I was freezing. Second night, same thing, except I only got out of bed once. The third day I pulled the heat lamp - they weren't using it anyway. And that night it snowed and snowed! All that worry and all I did was myself upset. Oh, well, live and learn.
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Ha-ha, me too :D Why do we do that? We have "warming rooms" for calves and heat lamps for lambs and heated coops for chickens nowadays. The girls and I were talking about the blizzard of what was it, 1881 or 1888 somewhere in there... People were living in no better than my chicken coop and their animals were trapped under feet of snow, etc... They were cold I betcha, but they survivrd... I think we pamper our animals because we're pampered too. Lol I couldn't bear going to an outhouse in -40 or taking a bath in melted snow! :P
 
shortgrass said:
Ha-ha, me too :D

Why do we do that? We have "warming rooms" for calves and heat lamps for lambs and heated coops for chickens nowadays. The girls and I were talking about the blizzard of what was it, 1881 or 1888 somewhere in there... People were living in no better than my chicken coop and their animals were trapped under feet of snow, etc... They were cold I betcha, but they survivrd...

I think we pamper our animals because we're pampered too. Lol I couldn't bear going to an outhouse in -40 or taking a bath in melted snow! :P
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My friend in ALaska says they have blue insulated foam on the toilet seats in outhouses so you don't freeze burn your bum. Many there live without running water because the are so remote.

The temps are to fall between -10 and -20 tonight. I'm trying to talk myself out of a heat lamp. But if they aren't needed in Wyoming, I can't justify it here. But....I'm struggling with this.
 
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