First winter with my girls! Please help!

[Blooie]

I don't for the chickens because they are in an old horse barn and I'm too scared to run power in it. I just dump it. I also have water out in the run in a black flat horse feed pan that sits in the sun during the day so most days it thaws. I could cover it with more black rubber and just leave a small opening for them to drink out of.

There seems to be quite a few "new" faces from Colorado. Might be time for a get together. Maybe a bird swap and breakfast?

Beekissed uses the black rubber waterers but she sets them in a big old tire. Says it keeps the water cool in summer, so I'm wondering if it would help them thaw faster in winter too, all that black rubber absorbing sunlight.

 

[azoh10]

I

I have no insulation in my coop.  I also have no heat source in there aside from what Mother Nature provided them with - amply!  Lots of down, lots of feathers.  What kind of coats do we love in winter?  Yep. 

I second the 2x4 laid flat for roosting so they can sit on their feet.  You're right, I'd be concerned about the amount of moisture from blowing rain and/or snow, so wrapping is a good idea - just don't make it airtight.  Humidity and drafts are harmful to our chickens, but cold isn't.  I'm in Northern Wyoming not far from Yellowstone, so we see waaayyy cold weather.  The day I picked my chicks up from the post office it was 19 below zero, and had been well below zero for a couple of weeks.  You have chosen some pretty winter hardy breeds, too.

I'm using the deep litter method in my coop - grass clippings, leaves, weeds from the garden and pine shavings - and on chilly days I have to laugh at all the holes dug into it....holes in the shapes of chicken bodies!  They dig down and then snuggle. I have 3 working windows, an exhaust fan, two vents near the ceiling in addition to a big gable vent, and a long skinny vent in the north wall, plus a floor vent on the west directly opposite the always open pop door. This ventilation is divided up between all four walls, which means that I can shut down the openings on whichever side the wind is howling from to prevent direct drafts.

In April I put my 5.5 week old chicks out in the coop before it was finished, and started with a heat lamp.  After the second night of them not even going over to that area but huddling together instead in front of the pop door, I took the lamp out.  That night it snowed, and it snowed many times after that as well.  In fact, we saw our last snowfall on June 6th.  They are fine, hale and hardy and now as the nights are getting colder again (we've already had snow in the area once) their feathers are getting denser.

One other critical thing to take into account is that if your chickens are used to a warm (relatively speaking) coop what will you do when the power goes out and they aren't used to the real temps out there?  It's far easier on them to gradually get used to the temperatures dropping than it is to have them living in a constant temperature and then suddenly and dramatically losing that heat.

There's a very smart man on BYC whose avatar is a photo of his coop...his totally OPEN in the front coop with no walls, just hardware cloth.....and you can see his chickens happily poking around in their coop.  Oh, and the snow is piled up in feet around and on his coop.  His birds thrive, and he's been keeping them in that type of housing for years.  He lives in New England where they don't have the dry cold we have.  So I'd say that if you can ventilate your coop adequately to keep humidity down while avoiding direct drafts on them and keep the bedding dry, you are way ahead of the game and your chickens should be fine.  They put out a  lot of humidity with breathing and pooping, and that needs to have a way to get out.

I plan to cover my outside run with heavy duty clear plastic (the kind designed for greenhouses) to trap heat in the daytime and yes, my chickens did go out into the run last winter even in the snow, and even before I decided to use plastic.  They weren't real crazy about that white stuff, but they love the sunshine so they forced themselves.    

Thank you for your post!

I have a few question I just wanted to ask if it's ok to leave the pop door open when it's below very cold or is that consider a draft? Second question I been reading that some people recommend putting straw or sand in the chicken run for warmth is that helpful?


Thank you.

 

[11mini]

Saw your post and several others wanting to know about heated waterers...here's what I've done.

I have 2-1/2 gallon white plastic water buckets with horizontal water nipples. I am using a 250-watt mini stock tank/birdbath heater in mine and they are working nicely, even though the extreme lows haven't hit yet.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Allied-Precision-Deluxe-Bird-Bath-Heater-and-De-icer/17365953

Granted, they are a 'spendy' up-front expense, but well worth it in the long run. They turn on when water hits 43 degrees, and turns off around 58-60 degrees automatically. They are safe for plastic buckets...they are completely USA-made, and the quality of workmanship shows. Hope this helps everyone!

Do you have any issues with the drips freezing the nipples? My current system has the nipples into a pvc pipe which is not working because the whole pipe is frozen. I was considering re-doing with the nipples straight into the bucket but it seems the metal nipples would still freeze up?

Edited - I see you are not using the same nipples I have the vertical ones.

 

[iwiw60]

I
Thank you for your post!

I have a few question I just wanted to ask if it's ok to leave the pop door open when it's below very cold or is that consider a draft?


Thank you.

Yes, leaving the pophole open when the temps are super low will cause somewhat of a draft into the coop. It should be closed each night and then reopened in the a.m.

 

[iwiw60]

Do you have any issues with the drips freezing the nipples? My current system has the nipples into a pvc pipe which is not working because the whole pipe is frozen. I was considering re-doing with the nipples straight into the bucket but it seems the metal nipples would still freeze up?

Edited - I see you are not using the same nipples I have the vertical ones.

I have had absolutely no issues with freezing up of the actual water nipples themselves. My mini stock tank heater keeps my water at around 40 degrees no matter what the temp is...in fact, just this morning it was 4 degrees above zero and my waterers were just fine....love them! Be aware, however, that you are using the vertical nipples AND a PVC pipe. I'd rework your watering system and use a white plastic bucket with horizontal water nipples and get yourself a heater such as I have shown above or something very similar....best of luck to you!

 

[azoh10]

Yes, leaving the pophole open when the temps are super low will cause somewhat of a draft into the coop. It should be closed each night and then reopened in the a.m.

THANK YOU!

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I
Thank you for your post!

I have a few question I just wanted to ask if it's ok to leave the pop door open when it's below very cold or is that consider a draft? Second question I been reading that some people recommend putting straw or sand in the chicken run for warmth is that helpful?


Thank you.

If you have big ventilation, which all coops should, I don't see how leaving a pop door open would create any appreciably additional draft.
I'm not a big adherent to the "no draft" philosophy for fully feathered birds. If a chicken can sleep in a tree (predators notwithstanding), how do you keep drafts out of a tree.
A local friend has a nice coop and covered predator proof run. Her chickens have opted to sleep in the run year round with the wind blowing right through.

 

[azoh10]

If you have big ventilation, which all coops should, I don't see how leaving a pop door open would create any appreciably additional draft.
I'm not a big adherent to the "no draft" philosophy for fully feathered birds. If a chicken can sleep in a tree (predators notwithstanding), how do you keep drafts out of a tree.
A local friend has a nice coop and covered predator proof run. Her chickens have opted to sleep in the run year round with the wind blowing right through.

Thank you so much for the feed back!


I leave in Ohio and today it went down to 7 degrees and I have silkies and sultans hens. I been reading so many different feed back that draft kills and it does get very very windy with snow drafts blowing where I live and where the chicken coops at, so I don't want to lose any of my hens. I am a first time chicken owner and this will be my first winter.

Thank you!

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Silkies and Sultans. That explains a lot. My advice probably doesn't apply to those ornamental breeds. Neither are very hardy nor predator proof so they're better off confined in a controlled environment.

I always advise that people select from the hundreds of excellent breeds, birds that are suitable for their climate and keeping them will be hassle free. If one is in a tough climate and keeps non-hardy breeds, expect much more work and more elaborate housing options.