Help ‘winter-up’ a manufactured coop

[lil_nyixx]

Hello everyone of BYC!

I recently moved into a area where there isn’t a lot of space for a built coop like I would like so my family help me buy a manufactured coop.

I’m trying my best to make it work for my girls and winter is coming. Im not sure what to do. I do have pallets to build onto the coop if need be, and I have insulation foam with woodships for warmth to stay.

I need help to come up ideas for ventilation, without cold air/wind coming through. Also covering their “chicken run”. At the bottom of the roosting/neating area they go down a ramp to a area that lets them roam just a little.

I will add my own chicken run to it if I can; I’d rather wait until spring to do that so I don’t get half of it done and theres a bad snowy day the next day or whatever.

My apologies for not the best of quality.

Front of Coop

Side(1)

Back/

Side(2) Nesting

My girls are not in this, I do have to make urgent issues to deal with like the wet woodships.

Any ideas and help would be appreciated a lot! I want my girls happy and I will try my best to make it happen.

Thank you!

 

[wamtazlady]

I have the very same coop. Fortunately my chickens never had to spend a winter in it. I use it now as a grow out coop for chicks.

First, that coop will only hold 2 chickens. Actually, there really isn't enough room for 2 but you can't keep a chicken by itself. To winterize it I would cover most of the run with clear plastic. leave the top 2 or 3 inches without the clear plastic to allow for ventilation. I would also drill several large holes, maybe in inch or more in diameter near the top of the coop on the side with the pop door. This would get some of the moisture out of that tiny coop at night. I would cover the coop in hardware cloth on top of that chicken wire. Also would make an apron around the sides of the run to prevent critters from digging into the coop. Keep your water and food in the run as there is no room inside that coop for water and food.

Next year build a new coop. Plan on 4 square feet of floor area, not counting the nesting boxes for each chicken. Have 1 square foot of ventilation area that is never closed for each chicken. Keep the vents up high so no breeze blows on the chickens when they are roosting. Plan on a run that has 10 square feet of area for each chicken. Always have an apron around the coop. You may live in an area with lots of houses and you may have never seen a raccoon or fox or coyote but I tell you those predators are there, just well hidden.

 

[aart]

I would suggest building a large secure run with solid roof,
plastic sheeting on windward walls....
....and a door large enough to get the tiny coop/run combo thru.
Maybe a hoop coop for a run would be fastest.

Where in this world are you located @lil_nyixx ?
Climate, and time of year, is almost always a factor.
Please add your general geographical location to your profile.
It's easy to do, and then it's always there!

 

[CinnaBun]

Can you remove one or two horizontal slats on the side of the coop? At the the top, on the side of the little chicken pop door/ramp?

How many chickens do you have?