I want to plan ahead

[rolffamily]

Last winter was horrible for my chickens. They totally freaked out when I opened the doors for them to step into snow. Well, now I added a couple more hens to the group and want more winter space for them.

This year I would like to build some sort of shelter inside my enclosed run for them to go outside. It is going to have to be rounded, I would think, so that the snow doesn't pile on top and butt up to the pop door.

I want to get this planned out now instead of this fall. Can you show or tell me what you do? I'm kind of imagining an igloo type of shelter, but what about ventilation?

 

[Judy]

I think in snow areas, runs usually have a roof and fenced sides, with maybe one or two sides blocked off so the snow doesn't blow in, and of course there is pelnty of ventilation that way. You should be able to find a lot of pics in the coop section.

 

[teach1rusl]

Last winter I just put a 4 x 8 sheet of 1 inch plywood across two wooden horses out in my run (covered with a tarp to create a flat topped tent). It looked SO tacky...lol...but it gave the girls a place to go when we had snow. But you get a lot more snow, so maybe you could teepee two sheets of plywood to give them an area to get out to???? We're working now on roofing a 12x15 section of our run - I'm SO excited about them having a snow-free place to hang out (and saving my back, because I'm always shoveling it out).

 

[dianaross77]

Try doing a search for hoop houses. You could build a small one inside your run and cover it with a tarp. You could also look into used billboard tarps too.

 

[rolffamily]

Well, Dianaross77, you certainly have me interested in hoop houses and billboard tarps, so I'll have to look into that. We live in the country and I'll be rigging something up in the run, so I guess it doesn't have to be very beautiful, just efficient.

 

[dianaross77]

That's what I'm here for!