Blocking drafts...

[heybarb]

We built our coop in the spring and used some fencing we found at a great price. Although the boards were really close when we built it, apparently as they have dried out over the summer, there are some pretty big gaps between the boards. Not big enough for predators, but I worry about drafts with winter coming. We are in NC where temps will definitely fall into the 20's or 30's and stay there for a few weeks at a time.

I was thinking of using corrugated plastic to line the inside walls of the coop. It would block the wind - and I can get a whole bunch free since most of these election signs are made of it and after Nov. they will be thrown away...

What do you think? Do I need to fix the gaps or will my girls be ok? Will the plastic work?

Here are a few pictures showing the gaps between the boards. I do have windows that swing shut to block the big holes.

 

[Eggcessive]

My old coop has wooden boards with pretty wide openings and is very drafty in winter. Last fall I took a bunch of my plastic feed bags (Purina) and opened them, used a staple gun to apply them to the walls, and kept it like that until spring when I ripped them all off. It worked very well, and I have a new stack of bags to start putting up next month. By the way, someone else posted pictures of doing this later, so I guess lots of people do it. You can use the pictured side for "art" for your chickens or like I did, the white side to lighten up my dreary old barn wood.

 

[heybarb]

I wish I had thought to save my bags...I hope the chickens don't mind a few political ads...it's that or cereal boxes...hmmmm.

 

[Jenny1]

Oh gosh... poor chickens. Political ads all winter! I can say I am sure sick of looking at them!

 

[DianaMallory]

Quote:
Well I hope you are going to use Obama's truth team ads! I would hate to see you feed your chickens Romney's lies all winter! LOL! So sorry couldn't resist!

 

[DianaMallory]

But that is a good idea to recycle those signs you see in every bodies yards!

 

[maidenwolfx80]

great ideas I was needing ideas for this too. Too bad I didnt save my feed bags.. I was gonna use sheet plastic from lowes.

 

[maidenwolfx80]

I have gotten lots of feed bags from friends and neighbors and now I only need 2 more bags to complete my draft free coop.. Thank you for the tips.

 

[heybarb]

I thought I'd give an update...I couldn't wait for the election since we've had some pretty chilly days lately. I ended up using a combination of signs and bags to block the drafts. The good news is that the signs are not political at all - so no Obama or Romney signs - just advertisements for a consignment sale and summer camp that sat by the road for a few weeks after the event! Everyone is happier now, including me since I don't have to worry about them getting cold at night!!

Thanks for all the suggestions!

 

[Egghead_Jr]

Will your coop still have ventilation? For NC weather I'd have left it the way it is or perhaps only blocked the cracks at roosting level and below. Make sure you've plenty of ventilation as unventilated moisture is what causes frost bite.