How do YOU winterize your coop?

[Amer]

I don't have electricity in my duck house.

Ok

 

[OlympicChick]

I don't do anything different to winterize compared to any other time of the yr. We can get down to subzero and -20 degrees F wind chill for months. I keep my coops open all yr, well ventilated .
I guess I do one thing just because it's that time of yr to get them in the fall, I put a heavy layer of dry tree leaves in the coop, add to the deep litter.

Do you mulch the leaves before putting into the coop, or just use them as is?

 

[Melky]

I just put leaves in my run and let the chicks mulch it.

 

[Beer can]

Do you mulch the leaves before putting into the coop, or just use them as is?

Like 'Melky' said the birds do the work.
I just put the layer of leaves in, doesn't take long even two foot deep the birds will have them stirred up and packed down fine into a few inches pretty quick. Best bedding I've ever used and free.

 

[rcoleman56]

I have a question, totally off this topic, but I don't know where to put it. I'm new to this and not real tech savvy, lol.
Can you feed chickens RAW chicken hearts/gizzards and other pieces? or any kinds of raw meat?
Also, this is my first winter with my 5 laying hens and 1 rooster. What is the best foods to feed them while they are molting and not laying? I am their Gourmet Chef, lol! I'm assuming what I'm feeding them is enough. I just want to make sure they're getting all the vitamins and minerals they need. I make up their feed everyday, most days 2 x's. I have lots of fresh raw and cooked veggies & fruits, dried and fresh herbs/spices, meat, boiled eggs and extra egg shells, minced nuts, cooked grits, cooked oatmeal, and pasta's, and Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup, etc. I was giving them a laying feed til it ran out and I couldn't afford it anymore. Is there anything missing? Thanks, Faye

 

[Coop de Grass]

How awful for it to happen to so many! Glad you were able to save the 3. I wonder what the long green stuff was -- I usually hear that about people putting grass clippings in for their chickens but straw is typically super dry, golden or almost white, has zero nutritional value, and is much harder and coarser than hay so I can't imagine a chicken choking it down (although I've known tons of ponies to do so, so what do I know). I wonder if you had hay, which is usually tastier, and maybe they ate too much of that. Hay would look more like grass, though not always green.

It was definitely straw. By the time this started to happen, it had been soaking up the water for a few weeks, and had become pretty soft. I do give my girls grass clippings, and they probably got some long green stalks through the wire fencing. It was more that I noticed the odd appearance of their droppings. I was throwing scratch grain down on the ground for them, so that is probably what made it worse.

 

[Coop de Grass]

Like 'Melky' said the birds do the work.
I just put the layer of leaves in, doesn't take long even two foot deep the birds will have them stirred up and packed down fine into a few inches pretty quick. Best bedding I've ever used and free.

That is what I've been doing. This year when I was trimming the bushes and trees, I lugged the branches into the run and just threw them down. The girls had lots of fun climbing and jumping around on the branches and the leaves fell as they dried. Now that there are leaves on the ground, I will be putting them into the runs as deeply as I can!

 

[INchiclady]

I have a heater you can put into the water for that.

Do you mind sharing which heater you use? I think the drop in type is what I’m going to use also (first winter with my girls).

 

[Amer]

Do you mind sharing which heater you use? I think the drop in type is what I’m going to use also (first winter with my girls).

Drop in.

 

[HuffleClaw]

It’s been bouncing temperatures up and down ALL day, 29*F being the lowest and 58*F being the highest. For the bantams I managed to find a cardboard cutout/box the shape of the side of their coop (pics coming soon!) It has been a HUGE help and I also have tarps and things like that. I’ll grab some pictures soon!