First time chicken owner getting ready for winter

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Hiya, and welcome to BYC! :frow

What is that on the floor in your last picture as it looks like some type of pellets. I was going to suggest horse bedding pellets as we too had a huge humidity problem and turned to using those. The nipple waterer helps so no open water in the coop, but the pellets absorb the poop, thus the odors, so it's odor free. We only change ours in the spring.
 
Debbie292d said:
Hiya, and welcome to BYC! :frow

What is that on the floor in your last picture as it looks like some type of pellets. I was going to suggest horse bedding pellets as we too had a huge humidity problem and turned to using those. The nipple waterer helps so no open water in the coop, but the pellets absorb the poop, thus the odors, so it's odor free. We only change ours in the spring.
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Thank you for welcoming me 🙂

It is horse bedding pellets and I really like it so far. I’ve been told to deep clean the coop once a month, but it seems to me that the pellets can go longer than that.
 
Welcome to BYC. You already have lots of good advice on the ventilation.
I probably overdid it in ventilation but the only issue I have is when there is a blizzard and snow blows in.
I created some baffles to prevent that which I only close when it is snowing and very windy. Even hanging a bit of cardboard in front of the ventilation stops the snow flying around inside.
So, I suggest you follow the advice and put in lots more ventilation and just be ready to hang something in front when there is a blizzard.
For what it is worth I do the deep bedding method inside the coop. I just keep adding bedding. I use horse stall pellets under roosts where it is very poopy and leaves and some shavings elsewhere.
I certainly don’t clean every month (or even every year!) and it is fine. If the level of bedding gets too high I push some of it out into the run where it rots down very fast.
Enjoy your chickens and settle in and enjoy out BYC community.
 
Northerncreature said:
Thank you for welcoming me 🙂

It is horse bedding pellets and I really like it so far. I’ve been told to deep clean the coop once a month, but it seems to me that the pellets can go longer than that.
Click to expand...
As I mentioned, only once a year on the pellets, but that's because the silkies scratch them around. If I didn't have enough chickens to do that, I'd use a metal rake to moved them around. A good rule of thumb is when you're seeing more sawdust than pellets, but the sawdust still will absorb, just not as good.

For on top of the nest boxes where the silkies prefer to sleep, I put stall freshener up there. That sort of helps in the same manner, just way pricier.
 

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