FrostBite in Our Feathered Friends

[Stewarts]

Personally, I don't let my birds out in the snow, Period. Its too cold for them. The closest they get to being outside is their enclosed Hutch. On a good day I will open the flap so they get some sun but that's it.

My hutch during the summer, in front is the coup.



Hutch is tarped and sealed in for the winter, a recent blizzard did that. This is the side with the flap I can open halfway. Below the flap is open.


Inside the insulated coup is a low roost one of the co-op's is on, a higher roost for the turkeys that the chickens also use and the nest boxes they pile up on. They even have a feeder just above the boxes and the coup is well strawed to retain the warmth. There is a little door under the boxes that is opened from inside the hutch that leads out from the coup to the hutch.

Amber is demonstrating the higher roost and you can clearly see the little door under the boxes.

Pile up on the boxes!

Help for frostbite: I'll be getting some of this on Thursday!!! I'm careful to keep my birds protected and warm, the alternative is too horrible to contemplate.

 

[PolkaDot77]

Cool set up! It's always interesting to see how everyone does it. Thanks for sharing!

 

[Stewarts]

Originally we built the hutch for the adult turkeys and the coup was built after the chickens were ready to go outside. Over the summer we combined the two when the turkeys and chickens were in their separate runs. Once it got too cold for them to be outdoors at all, everyone went into the coup and all share both coup and hutch. Its kinda like a main living area {coup} and an outdoor room {hutch}. During Autumn the birds absolutely adored being able to go from the closed in coup to the sun-filled, outdoor hutch. It was quite the HIT with them. Still is.