couple of coop questions???

[irol04915]

This is my newly painted and decorated coop....i figured i spend a alot of time with my chickens so i should make it look pretty on the outside....
anyhow here are my questions, i live in Maine where it gets below zero for days at a time in the winter, should i insulated my coop, i plan on closing up the opening for the winter, but im wondering if it needs more??...
should i not let my chickens out of the coop in the winter or keep them in??
currently i have a dirt floor and i rake it out regularly and put in new sawdust....should i do anthing differently??? my chickens like scratching in there.....
i have many perches for them to sleep on and then i have a bunch of boxes for nesting.....anything else needed??
I have 16 chickens in this one coop, how many should be kept in a coop this size together ??
I love my new chicken hobby and cant wait to get my first egg, my oldest chicken a white rock is 5 months old, no egg yet but im waiting, just like an exoecting momma....lol.....my 8yo son loves the chicks as much as i do he hand feeds them berries he picks out back......these chicks are spoiled

 

[snooptwomey]

I was in WV last winter with my chickens, and it gets pretty cold in the winter(nothing like what you get in Maine though). And after doing alot a research wondering the same thing it pretty much just says to just make the coop draft free, and depending on the breed you have(I only had 2 red sex links and an Ameracauna rooster) if its a breed with a pretty big comb and waddles, you should put Vaseline on the comb and waddles frequently to prevent frost bite. My red sex links didn't really have a large comb or waddles and my rooster had no waddles and a very low profile comb but I still put some Vaseline on all 3 of them every other day or so just to be safe. Your egg production will drop significantly while the hens use there internal motor to stay warm rather than make eggs. I have also heard that feeding them cayenne or red pepper in their food will keep egg production up(not sure if it works or not), I did put black pepper and/or red pepper in my chickens food throughout the winter and between the 2 hens, they may have each missed 4 or 5 days laying the entire winter. Another tip was feeding them warm oatmeal, warms them up inside and the insulation of their feathers keeps the heat in for several hours. Other trick I did was coil up a string of xmas lights into one of the plastic folgers coffee cans and plug the lights in and set the coffee can up on the legde where my 3 chickens slept( the lights got warm, but not hot enough to melt the plastic at all, and the plastic can stayed around 80-85 degrees). It gave them something warm to huddle up next to while they slept. But other than that, I have heard that chickens are VERY hardy in winter as long as you have breeds that are made for that weather.
What breeds do you have?

 

[irol04915]

thanks for the great tips.....i have one white rock, 6 silverlaced wyondetts, 4 guineas, and 3 red bantams, and an easter egger.....the oldest is 5 months with the rest @ 4 months....i cant wait for my first egg

 

[snooptwomey]

Ok, they are all cold weather hardy birds. Now for the guinea fowl. . . they will need a higher protein diet in the winter, the game bird feed they sell at the feed stores will work for the chickens as well, something thats 20-24% protein compared to the layer crumbles which are probably 16-18%. stale bread with peanut butter laid thick on it then sprinkled in wild bird seed(you can get this in walmart/target/kmart/feed store) works great especially since the guineas typically forage for seeds when the weather is warm out, so even feeding them a serving of just the wild bird seed is good for them. And what I see online is they recommend a heat lamp for the guineas, hopefully someone with guinea knowledge will post on this.

 

[acemario]

In respect to the cold weather, the larger birds should be ok. As the weather cools down, much like dogs, their feathers thicken up to insulate their bodies. However, if you are still uncomfortable, you could buy a heat lamp with a timer or temperature control. The whole set-up is pretty economic! The main thing you should worry about is that the water remains liquid, rather than a giant ice cube!

I would recommend letting the chickens make the choice if they want to be out or in!

And it sounds like you have all the necessities inside your coop! Perches, check. Nesting boxes, check!