I live in Connecticut, and being new to chickens, this is my first winter with with my small flock of 6 girls. I have a 4' x 6' coop, the roosting bars are old hand railings, which or oval shaped. The girls all roost on them at night with no apparent problem, so far. They have an outdoor fence enclosed run that measures 16' x 8' and the space under the coop. The run is covered in fencing as well.
They all love to be outside in their run (and free ranging when I am home to keep an eye on them for safety). They even stay out when there are torrential downpours. I've gone out there a number of times to physically put them in the coop because it was raining so hard.
you can check out my coop/run and roosting bars on my page at: https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=33806-coop-construction
scroll down and you will see the roosting bars. Hope this helps visually for the size.
Here are my questions:
Seeing they don't appear to be in the know as to when to go in from the rain, how are they suppose to know to get out of the snow?
If they are let out of the coop and into the run, will their feet get frostbitten just by them being on snow, cold ground, possibly some ice all day? Will they know enough to get into the coop if their feet are too cold?
I know at night they need to have their feet covered so they don't get frostbite on their toes/feet. Do you think the roost bars I have are ok? They are about 2 inches in thickness (top to bottom) and about 3.5" inches wide and all four corners have curved edges.
If I need to modify (replace the bars, I need to do it soon).
Also, The two RIR's I have have combs and waddles that are large. I've heard that vasaline is good to put on them to prevent frostbite. When temperature wise do I need to do this? and how often?
Thanks everyone for your feedback. I want to keep my girls healthy and happy over the long New England winter.
I'm sure once I get some replies, I'll have more questions.
They all love to be outside in their run (and free ranging when I am home to keep an eye on them for safety). They even stay out when there are torrential downpours. I've gone out there a number of times to physically put them in the coop because it was raining so hard.
you can check out my coop/run and roosting bars on my page at: https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=33806-coop-construction
scroll down and you will see the roosting bars. Hope this helps visually for the size.
Here are my questions:
Seeing they don't appear to be in the know as to when to go in from the rain, how are they suppose to know to get out of the snow?
If they are let out of the coop and into the run, will their feet get frostbitten just by them being on snow, cold ground, possibly some ice all day? Will they know enough to get into the coop if their feet are too cold?
I know at night they need to have their feet covered so they don't get frostbite on their toes/feet. Do you think the roost bars I have are ok? They are about 2 inches in thickness (top to bottom) and about 3.5" inches wide and all four corners have curved edges.
If I need to modify (replace the bars, I need to do it soon).
Also, The two RIR's I have have combs and waddles that are large. I've heard that vasaline is good to put on them to prevent frostbite. When temperature wise do I need to do this? and how often?
Thanks everyone for your feedback. I want to keep my girls healthy and happy over the long New England winter.
I'm sure once I get some replies, I'll have more questions.