Coop Picture, Winter Advice Needed

[Abby11182]

So here's our coop, nearly complete. We have 3 SLWs. It is nice and airy during the summer, but I want to make sure it's going to be good for our usually cold Minnesota winters. The chicken door is a hardware cloth window for ventilation, and the large window was there before or I would have had it open out instead of in. The roosts are a few feet away from both windows, will they be ok in the winter? Should I replace the chicken door wire to make it solid for winter? Close the window more? Please help me out ) Thanks in advance!

 

[teach1rusl]

If your birds are healthy, they'll do okay with MN winters as long as the roost is set far enough back (which it appears to be) to keep any icy drafts off of them while roosting. Because warm, moist air rises, I'd opt for cracking the window just a bit, and covering the hw cloth pop door with a small piece of plexiglas or even cardboard...just for winter time. If you notice breezes blowing in the cracked window, you could always drape some heavy cloth (tacked of course) over the cracked area to divert the air...

From the angle of the pic, I can't tell for sure whether that's a dropping board or not. If it is, and you scrape it daily, then you can get by with less open ventilation...plus your space looks roomy for three birds, so less respiration per space going on...

 

[Abby11182]

Oops, typo - we have 4 chickens not 3. Thanks for the advice! Yes that's a poop board on the far end there.

Any other advice from other experienced chicken keepers?

 

[Abby11182]

bumpity bump

 

[Pharm Girl]

I live in a mild climate, so I'm really no help, but I did go to college in Minnesota (Mayo Clinic) and it is crazy cold in the winter! Chickens are quite cold hardy and I've heard of many threads where people leave the windows open and the chickens do just fine. I've also read threads of frozen combs falling off, chickens frozen on their perch, and the like. I'm somewhere in the middle. They need some ventilation for sure and you don't want to keep a coop 80 degrees in the winter and have them go into shock outside when it's 40 below. I attempt to keep my coop at freezing or above. I have a heat lamp in mine that I only turn on when the temps go below 32 degrees and it only keeps my coop at low 30's, but gives them a place to sneak under for a quick warm up. Find a balance of ventilation and comfort. My chickens are pets, not just chickens. Good luck!

 

[teach1rusl]

Pharm Girl has a good point. Those who consider their chickens pets similar to cats/dogs often try to make their birds as reasonably comfortable as possible by adding a bit of warmth to the coop. I do what she does, try to keep my coops above freezing (overnight at least).

But the fact is, as long as they're in a draft free area, they will do okay down to zero degrees and even lower. Will they be comfortable? Will they be "happy"? Not really...lol. You'll see that by their decreased activity levels and how they puff themselves up in a huddle. But they'll live through it (as long as they're healthy and grown).

The most important things are: draft free, liquid water available daily, and good feed.

 

[ScottM]

From the photo I can't tell what ventilation there is other than windows, what is te roof/ceiling like? Where does the warm air go? (it is that warm air, when trapped which will create frost)

 

[Abby11182]

The ceiling is solid with roof above that. Our coop is the old wood storage room of the workshop shed. Only openings are the window and the chicken door window. I guess I get confused about the difference between a coop being drafty and being ventilated. The window and the chicken door have worked together this summer to keep things pretty airy, it hasn't gotten stuffy in there at all... is that a good sign for winter?

 

[JackE]

I have a SLW, and 3 GLWs. They handle the cold weather fine. The front of my uninsulated and unheated coop is wide open year round. In the winter, we can get temps down into the single digits, (Not including wind chill). And most times, if the birds are not outside, they are up looking out the open front. Looking at the pics of your coop, you could probably leave the window open and leave the popdoor as it is. The wind will not blast through the coop enough to worry about. Looks like you have plenty of room in there for 4 birds, so you shouldn't have any excess moisture problems. You should be good to go.
Jack

 

[Abby11182]

I have a SLW, and 3 GLWs. They handle the cold weather fine. The front of my uninsulated and unheated coop is wide open year round. In the winter, we can get temps down into the single digits, (Not including wind chill). And most times, if the birds are not outside, they are up looking out the open front. Looking at the pics of your coop, you could probably leave the window open and leave the popdoor as it is. The wind will not blast through the coop enough to worry about. Looks like you have plenty of room in there for 4 birds, so you shouldn't have any excess moisture problems. You should be good to go.
Jack

Thank you!!!