I turn it on at -10C
It’s hung up over my water and yes my Birds enjoy the additional heat.
It’s hung up over my water and yes my Birds enjoy the additional heat.
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I'm beginning to think about winter, as here in Southern Alberta, Canada it is already beginning to get pretty chilly in the mornings. Though I'm guided by those who have already experimented with open air (Woods) coops in cold climates I can't help but worry that with only 4 chickens, they may not stay warm enough in my 6 x 10' coop.
They tend to roost all on one end of the 6' roost so are only taking up about 18" of the space, leaving an awful lot of cold air space around them. The coop is insulated but open. Ventilation should not be an issue, though yesterday morning we had an ambient humidity of 75% which extended into the coop. This is not normal, we are normally very arid. It sure felt cold to me...
Will they really stay warm? We are blessed to generally get somewhat mild winters - for Canada - but last year for example we got a solid 30 days of very cold (-22 F) weather. Yes, it sucked.
Should I be planning for emergency heat? Creating a roost divider to hold the heat? or just chilling the heck out and waiting to see how it goes.
#nervousnewbie
@ThesweetbirdsflockI live in north Texas.
Lol, yeah, I keep it pretty clean! It’s easy to keep it looking and smelling nice with the sand everywhere. I have two long-handled wok spiders (mesh scoops) that I use to scoop the poop, which then goes in the compost pile.Very nice pictures. Is your coop/run always that clean? I use wood chips in the coop and it looks, and smells, clean. I have not built a winter chicken run, but like the idea of enclosing it with plastic. I have my coop built on an old boat trailer frame, so it is elevated. I use a dry deep litter bedding, which is about 6 inches deep right now, so I don't know if I would need straw bales around the bottom of the raised coop. Do you think straw bales would be necessary for me? Also, if you think I could benefit from straw bales, do you repurpose the straw bales after winter? I try to think ahead of how to reuse everything I get for the chickens. Straw bales are not cheap here, so I would have to make good use of them.
This may depend on your location and you have to choose the lesser of the evil's. I use hay and straw and don't have problems with mites... I deal with them if I do.I really don’t actually have advice for you other than do not use hay or straw because you will end up with some serious mite problems,
I really don’t actually have advice for you other than do not use hay or straw because you will end up with some serious mite problems
Ditto Dat^^^...(and corn info)This may depend on your location and you have to choose the lesser of the evil's. I use hay and straw and don't have problems with mites