Coop and Run in winter time

[brwneggs]

Pat- Hi- I met a fake egg in a box. Thsoe silly little girls have picked a spot on the wood shavings to lay their eggs. Always in the same spot everyday.
The heater- is on a chair outside their coop. Its not near anything burnable.
Thank you to all your information. I am so glad to have found Back yard Chickens. Its wonderful to have info, and fun to raise chickens.
I am sure as winter goes on, I will have more questions!

 

[MommyToThree]

I only turn on the heat lamp if it gets to around 20-25 outside. The coop (uninslated) will stay about 30-35. One morning it was -10 and the coop was at 15 even with the heat lamp. The chickens seem just fine. They also don't like the snow. I stomped it down so it's not deep and when I did so it got the snow dirty brown. This must have looked like dirt because after that they would come out. I have a heated dog water bowl for the water. When it gets below 34 it comes on the keep the water from turning to ice. I just put down a piece of board and then two large bricks on top of that for it to sit on. Works great and only cost $30 at the store where I get their feed. Hope this helps.

 

[6chicks&aduck]

its been below 0 here at night and my coop is not insulated or heated, i close it up at night ,except for the one vent , and have no frost bite and all seem happy and content

I use shavings in the coop , and straw in the run

 

[shopchicks]

My girls were also laying outside of the box. I ended up putting a bucket or something in the spot they wanted to lay, and left a few eggs in the nest at all times, and they eventually figured it out. You might also try putting a crate or something in the place they are laying, and once they start using that, move it over by the nest boxes, then eventually remove it.

 

[patandchickens]

Chairs are generally flammable if things go wrong, as is dust. Also electrical wiring. At a *minimum*. It's really safest not to run heating appliances without a reason

Quote:
I know what a nest egg is, I'm just puzzled by what your "no can do" meant. You tried it and it didn't work? Leave it in there (in the nestbox) permanently. really. It is not necessarily a total fix all by itself but will definitely HELP.

As previous poster said, it can help to obstruct their preferred floor location (although they can be devious about squishing in there anyhow). Or, just accept that's what they wanna do and make a proper floor-level box so it's easier to keep clean.... milk crates or old plastic storage totes are useful, as are any number of other similar containers, even cat litter boxes.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat, going to be out of town til next Wednesday and thus off BYC for a while