How to Prepare Your Flock For Winter 101 *Official Thread*

[Beekissed]

49 roos and one hen?????

I sure hope you will be butchering at a young age, for if not, that hen will lead a total life of misery.

IMO, the humidity is far worse than the wind. Combine the two and you may have a potential problem. Do you use deep litter?

 

[LiLRedCV]

We reside in the Pacific NW - where the average temps are in the mid-30's to low 40's during the winter months, but it rains a lot.

We just bought one coop (4x3) / run (4x12) combo off of Craigslist with the coop up off the ground by approx 2.5 feet and a floor entrance, a plexiglass window, and red heat lamp and regular lightbulb. Not the best built, but very functional! Part of the run (which is mostly chicken wire) has see-through corrugated roofing on top and is up on hinges so we can have access to put food bowls and water bowls there out of the elements. There are about 3/4" gaps along all of the lower roof line for venting and the roof is plywood with asphalt shingles.

We're also building another coop (4x4) / run (4x8) almost like a chicken tractor - with see-through corrugated roofing (for all the natural light) across the whole length of the coop and run. I know we'll lose more heat in the coop with just this type of roofing, but I don't want the coop all dark during what little daylight hours we have running electricity 24/7. If the winter proves to be too cold this year, we'll go ahead and add plywood with asphalt in it's place. Relatively easy switch... We have 1/2" wire mesh along the front half of the roof line for venting and about 1/4" gaps on the lower roof line to help circulate.

This coop will be up on hand-truck wheels so we can move it about our pasture for the girls to "graze". No regular chicken wire here! We're using 1/2" and 1/4" hardware cloth all around to keep predators at bay. We have 3/4" plywood for the walls and floor of the coop, deciding on a floor entrance as opposed to the side entrance with the floor ladder having the capability of slotting into place to seal it up when we need to, but most of the time it will remain open for them to have access to the run. We're just planning to set up a regular old lightbulb on a timer for a light source during the winter months and using a ceramic bulb to keep the coop warm when the lights off. All electrical will be up high under the roof line for protection from the elements...

Not sure what I'm going to do with the water bowls for either coop just yet. Will either take warm water down each morning or utilize a heated bowl. Definitely will keep a really thick layer of straw on the floors for added insulation.

 

[justbugged]

Quote:
I am in Western Washington. I just finished insulating the roof of the coop. I used 2" sheet insulation, and covered it with sheets of cardboard. I am wondering if it will hold up to the girls. i have enough hens that it stays fairly warm in the coop just from their body heat. We just don't have a lot of really cold weather here. Last year I think it was in the low 20s for about 2 weeks. We did shut off the auto waterer, and used a 2 gallon water in the coop for a week or two. I would fill the waterer with warm water. We also use a light on a timer to add light so that the girls keep laying. When it is under 25 or so I will run the heat bulbs over night just to make sure that the coop stayed above freezing. I think though that this year I am going to get a inferred bulb so that the girls will have some warmth, but also some darkness. We keep feed out for the girls pretty much 24/7, and feed leftovers and kitchen scraps. I have been know to cook them rice also. I can also pick up vegi trimmings fro one of my local grocery stores one day a week.

We even have a lamp that hangs under the hummingbird feeder when it gets below 30 degrees. The light bulb keeps the syrup from freezing completely. I had never realized that the little buzzards wintered over here in the Northwest. We have been feeding the hummingbirds for the past 3 or 4 years now.

I am sure that there is more info on the Washington state thread too.

 

[LiLRedCV]

Quote:
I'm in Pierce County..

 

[anniebygaslight]

Hi

Just read through this from a link in the latest newsletter.

Last winter (pretty grim by UK standards) i had some success in keeping the water relatively ice free by using ~Snugglesafe Heat pads~to keep the water ice free. I abandoned the drinkers, and bought 3 washing up bowls, which I filled with hot water, and added the heated Snugglesafes, in rotation. They stayed unfrozen for several hours. Not over night unfortunately - I had to sprint across the garden in my pyjamas first thing, with a watering can full of hot water and a ready heated pad to start them off for the day. An invigorating start for my day too.

I had to use a few bricks to wedge the bowls into a corner, and stop the hens tipping them over, but all in all, it worked quite well.

 

[heiko]

<<I am trying to decide how best to keep their water un-frozen.>>

I use:
http://www.focuspage.com/henspa/Bucket Waterer.htm
Pricing is here:
http://www.focuspage.com/henspa/pricinglist.htm
CU
Heiko

 

[superchemicalgirl]

Any ideas on keeping the water unfrozen when you're at work all day? I leave around 6 am (it'll still be dark here) and get home around 5 (it'll be dark). I don't have electricity in my 8x20 coop but I do have 33 chickens in there. Would that be enough to keep it thawed? It gets pretty cold here in Maine.

I want to avoid (if I can) running an extension cord.

Also, does anyone in the great north open their pop door daily no matter the conditions outside? The other morning when it was 37 the chickens didn't act like anything was different. Hopefully they'll like snow. And maybe eat it to get their water?

 

[Trevi70]

This is my 1st winter with my hens. I have 6 -2 SLW, 2 black cochins, 1 RI red, and a "red crested sumthin" (according to the guy who gave her to me) that looks like a long legged raptor. She runs like a roadrunner! Great disposition but I still can't find her in any forums. She kind of looks like a Thai chicken but I found a picture of a "Malay" (never heard of it) and she looked exactly like that too.

Anyway- we have a small coop- about 4 feet by 2 feet with a big door on the end for clean outs and a "gangplank" for the chickens to come in and out. The woman I got it from said she kept 10 chickens in hers but I'm so afraid of overcrowding. 6 seems like a good number to me especially with 3 little chickens and 3 bigger ones. The run is an old 10X20 dog kennel so they have plenty of room to run during the day.
We were thinking of putting an old water bed heating pad out there under the water. Would that work or will it be to hot? Also- do you tarp the whole pen area- sides and top or do you just throw a tarp over the top to keep snow accumulation down? We don't usually get a lot of snow on Cape Cod (now watch us get record snow because I said that!

) so I wasn't really worried about the pile up.
Is the feed supposed to change in the winter? More of it or something special? I know they love oatmeal (Already bought some for the 1st really cold day!) but do you have to feed them sunflower seeds or oyster shell or something like that? I know wild birds need those and some parrots.

Ok- questions done for now.

GREAT topic!


Check out pictures of my chickens (and other things) on our website:
www.harlowfarmhouse.com

 

[yardranger]

We have a small wood coop w/windows that have shutters, w/an attached pen on the back made of wood frame & hardware cloth. The feed & water are out in the pen, & our winter-hardy mixed flock ranges all but a handful of the worst days. For winter we tack in sheets of styrofoam in the rafters so it also seals drafts from the open eaves (good for ventilation all summer). We save the thick plastic and paper bags the aspen chips & feed come in, fold these up & place over the mesh on each window & close the shutter over that - no drafts! and, like other folks have said, a good base of 'deep litter' aspen chips inside. With the drafts sealed & the deep litter the temp inside the coop has never gone below freezing

 

[dmdhart]

The only time I don't let mine out of their houses is when we're having blizzard conditions. Once late last winter we had high winds and heavy heavy rains and I kept them in for that. But other than that, no matter what the temp, they get to go out, if they want to. Suprisingly, 99% of the time, they choose to go out.
I think that I will definately invest in some type of heated watering system. I get very tired of taking hot water out to them!