Does this sound like a good idea?

[momof5sons]

I am wondering if poultry people with more experience that I have can give me some feedback for my winter plans for my girls. I currently have 6 hens, 3 production reds and 3 black sex links. They are about 7 months old. I am new to this whole venture. We live in Western Maine and temps in the winter can often go below 0 (-20 to -30 is not uncommon in the winter). I have the girls in a small chicken house with a moveable chicken run that we move every couple of days (too many coyotes and foxes to let them run free). I just had a 6X10 shed built for them. It is not insulated but I am thinking that I will just move the smaller chicken house into the shed for the winter. Since they are used to roosting in the smaller house anyway at night and laying in the nesting boxes in the house, I think they could just continue to roost in the smaller house at night and stay warm at night that way. They just sleep in a big pig-pile together anyway. Does this make sense to anyone else? I want to put a light in there to keep egg production up, and I have a heated water bowl for them. Does this sound like a good idea??

 

[JodyJo]

sounds like a good idea to me....safe and warm...!

 

[yinzerchick]

sounds like a good idea to me....safe and warm...!

x2

 

[WhiteMountainsRanch]

Quote:
x2

X3!

 

[momof5sons]

Thank you! I thought it seemed like a good idea, but was wondering if I was perhaps not considering something important that would make it a bad idea.

 

[AZBootsie]

Sounds like a plan to me!!

I do wonder why they cuddle in the nesting boxes instead of roosting though?? That seems a bit odd for 7 month old pullets. They might decide to roost on top of the little house once you put it into the coop.

 

[sunnyvera]

Sounds good to me. Here in Ohio it can be below zero many nites. There is a heated waterer base and that is it for any type of warmth. They do just fine - just keep the direct wind down. Ventilation is good, no matter how cold.

 

[Rosaleen]

Looks like you have all the bases covered. I plan to put clear plastic all around my run to keep the draft down and the snow out.