Chooks at -25 and colder...

[AlderCreekAK]

Happy Fall Everyone!

We are headed into our first winter with our flock of five... and it's going to be a cold one!
We are in search of any those of you that experience temps of -25 and colder (down to -60!), and hoping you could share some of your experiences, tips, etc.

So far...
both coop and run have sand...
the coop is insulated & has vents! We are thinking of making vent shields? to prevent the snow/wind from blowing into the coop, while allowing the vents to remain open.
We plan to add shavings to the coop, so it's nice & cozy! Should we also put shavings in the run area?
We plan to put a thermometer inside the coop so we can monitor the temps/humidity...
The run is predator proofed and covered with clear roofing, so we plan to tack up greenhouse plastic to prevent snow from blowing into the run- leaving an open strip across the top for you guessed it... ventilation!
We also plan to come up with something to keep the drinking water thawed, & it will be kept in the run!
We have christmas lights around the inside of the coop and across the front of the run (sunset is already around 7pm these days...)
Maybe we'll drape a fleece fabric cut into strips over the pop door so they can pass through a curtain that keeps some heat in?

Thanks in advance for your thoughts and tips!

 

[Xouie]

Christmas lights— that’s brilliant! You just solved the autumn lighting problem in my quail pen.

Sorry I don’t know anything about cold weather.

 

[black_cat]

Dry chickens are warm chickens. Make sure you have PLENTY of ventilation in the coop that's above the chickens' heads when they're roosting. Make sure that these are protected, either by vent covers or roof overhang. This will let moisture and ammonia out.

 

[Buckeye Amy]

Hi there! It sounds like you've got it under control there. I'm in NW Ohio and we usually don't get below -12, and never for longer than a few days. The main thing is to keep them dry and to keep them from getting hit by drafts. But I think you've got that covered.

 

[wamtazlady]

I live in NW Montana and it gets down into the -20s F during most winters. I have lots of vents. Water is outside and run has sides protected with clear vinyl. I also add pine shavings, leaves, and hay to the run. Whether due to the greenhouse effect or maybe the shavings composting, it always feels warmer in the run than it does outside.

For water I use a semi clear 11 gallon tote with lid, horizontal nipples, and stock tank dicer. It has kept my water thawed. This year I have had to replace the stock tank deicer. Old one died near the end of our winter. Your temperatures are a bit more extreme than what I have so not sure how cold it would be for my system to freeze up. I have thought of adding some insulation to the outside of my tote to help keep the water from freezing. I read where you can get extenders to use horizontal nipples in an insulated cooler with stock tank deicer. That might be worth researching.

 

[AlderCreekAK]

Christmas lights— that’s brilliant! You just solved the autumn lighting problem in my quail pen.

Sorry I don’t know anything about cold weather.

We got bulb style lights and the rope light style, and we got an outdoor smart outlet (feit electric). I have the lights scheduled to turn on half an hour before sunset and off 15 minutes after! So far it seems to work great!

We might decide to get a more full spectrum lighting option We’ll see what research we can turn up about that!!

Good luck with your quail

 

[Buckeye Amy]

I've got the "warm" rope lights inside my coop and it's very effective. It's so much nicer than any other lighting I've tried.

 

[AlderCreekAK]

Dry chickens are warm chickens. Make sure you have PLENTY of ventilation in the coop that's above the chickens' heads when they're roosting. Make sure that these are protected, either by vent covers or roof overhang. This will let moisture and ammonia out.

Thank you! We think you've written a perfect mantra there... "Dry chickens are warm chickens"! and we'll definitely need to do vent covers on the front and one side (which isn't attached to the run)... It might be interesting to try to use the leftovers from the clear plastic roofing over the run! Then what minimal natural light there is would still go through....

 

[Alaskan]

I don't get that cold, but I have tried to write down all of the "stuff" I have heard from the cold weather Alaska people and put it all into this article

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/cold-weather-poultry-housing-and-care.72010/

 

[Cinnamon Roll]

I’m in Wyoming and get a lot of cold weather and horizontal snowfall If you get wind, you should have flaps or covers on every vent. Vent shields don’t keep out blizzards very well in my experience and the more snow that comes in, the wetter and colder the coop will be.

In the fall I staple a rubber shelf liner across the vents that don’t have covers and make due with all the other windows. During the winter I check the forecast religiously for wind direction and close the windows on the windward side of the coop before any storm. If it’s a bad storm I close all of the windows. As long as the coop is dry to begin with (I scoop the poop everyday) a day of closed windows isn’t a big deal if you have a large air volume in your coop.

For the water, I like this Heated drinker base along with a metal double wall waterer. I think we got down to -20F last year and the water didn’t freeze.