I really hope I can resist the urge to bring chickens inside during the winter - and that the chickens can withstand the winter outside/ in the coop.
Illinois...
- Thread starter mothergoose
- Start date
If you do decide to take them inside during extreme cold,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, do not bring them where it is quite warm. (like inside home). Hold them overnite inside garage, and back out into coop in the morning.
Main thing for chickens is DRY,,,,, AND WIND/DRAFT FREE.
Is it your yard that also has a greenhouse??? That may be a good place for them overnite.
My garage is attached and is heated because my son's room is located in the part of the house above the garage. His room is farthest from the HVAC/heater and gets cold if we don't keep the garage heated in the winter.
I do have the greenhouse, but it is under construction again since we moved it - don't get me started on that headache. I always have my sunroom which is an addition to the house. We'r may just have to use that for the hens this year of it gets too bad outside. I build a custom breakfast nook in thre with my own hands that I am rather protective of. I would need to keep the hens in a makeshift pen to keep them away from it.
I just really don't want them inside unless absolutely necessary. Going to start DLB, I already have the wind blocked fairly well, and ventilation is all set. Humidity in the coop is the only real scare, but time will have to tell.
Anybody out there winterize the run? My run is uncovered (must be per the local ordinance). I did hang a tarp anyway, but it is is the farthest part of the run from the coop. I don't mind shoveling out part of the run at heavy snows, but not after every light snow and my run is mostly dirt so shoveling all the snow will be impossible. Should I throw straw and/or sand over the snow? Do the chickens even get bored by the snow? My beads are all considered hardy to moderately hardy I believe - Wyandotte, Sussex, Orpington, Marans, and Brahma. Any other ideas?
We made vinyl storm windows & attach them over the hardware cloth. (Used them for several years) The runs are already covered, so we don't get a lot of snow inside the runs. (Small areas left open for vents may let some snow blow in. The chickens usually eat it.) In the 1st pic, we only had the vinyl windows on the tall run & simply stapled plastic to the short run. The next year, we invested in vinyl for the other run.
The plastic is cheap and turns your run into a cozy greenhouse.
We have to shovel areas for people to walk. My chickens are winter hardy but spoiled & tend to stay inside when there's snow. They come out and walk on the shoveled areas when I'm outside but go back in when I leave.
The big thing you need to plan for is how to handle the water. We bought a bucket heater 6 years ago. The 1st year we used it with vertical chicken nipples. They leaked a little when the chickens drank, so ice formed below. Although the water was always liquid, the nipples froze when temps went below zero. The 2nd year, we discovered horiz chicken nipples. (2nd pic) Perfect! They don't drip as much when the hens are drinking, so no skating pond in the run. They're inside the bucket, so the nipples don't freeze. If they do (from -40'F overnight), one peck from a hen is all it takes to flow again.
.
The plastic is cheap and turns your run into a cozy greenhouse.
We have to shovel areas for people to walk. My chickens are winter hardy but spoiled & tend to stay inside when there's snow. They come out and walk on the shoveled areas when I'm outside but go back in when I leave.
The big thing you need to plan for is how to handle the water. We bought a bucket heater 6 years ago. The 1st year we used it with vertical chicken nipples. They leaked a little when the chickens drank, so ice formed below. Although the water was always liquid, the nipples froze when temps went below zero. The 2nd year, we discovered horiz chicken nipples. (2nd pic) Perfect! They don't drip as much when the hens are drinking, so no skating pond in the run. They're inside the bucket, so the nipples don't freeze. If they do (from -40'F overnight), one peck from a hen is all it takes to flow again.
.
@BReeder!
I would tarp cover the run as best as possible. You do mention an ordinance saying differently. That may be specific to permanent type structure covers. I don't think the KGB will be out checking inside your yard if you have a Lite Tarp Stretched out to cover run from precipitation. BTW use rubber bungee cords on one end/side of tarp hold down. This way when snow load weighs tarp down, the tiedowns stretch to allow sag.
Use straw to cover run ground. Straw tends to let water thru and still stay dry. Hay tends to absorb water.
Your humidity will be fine inside coop as long as there is proper/sufficient ventilation.
You can spread a layer of Sweet PDZ on floor of coop. 1/4 to 1/2 inch is sufficient. It absorbs ammonia, a byproduct of chicken gumdrops. Protects your chickens lungs. When you clean out in spring,,,(or whenever needed) that PDZ is just fine in compost.
And final bit of GOOD NEWS,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, watching the weather report last nite , it was noted that it may be an El Ninio winter pattern. Translates to milder than average winter,,
I would tarp cover the run as best as possible. You do mention an ordinance saying differently. That may be specific to permanent type structure covers. I don't think the KGB will be out checking inside your yard if you have a Lite Tarp Stretched out to cover run from precipitation. BTW use rubber bungee cords on one end/side of tarp hold down. This way when snow load weighs tarp down, the tiedowns stretch to allow sag.
Use straw to cover run ground. Straw tends to let water thru and still stay dry. Hay tends to absorb water.
Your humidity will be fine inside coop as long as there is proper/sufficient ventilation.
You can spread a layer of Sweet PDZ on floor of coop. 1/4 to 1/2 inch is sufficient. It absorbs ammonia, a byproduct of chicken gumdrops. Protects your chickens lungs. When you clean out in spring,,,(or whenever needed) that PDZ is just fine in compost.
And final bit of GOOD NEWS,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, watching the weather report last nite , it was noted that it may be an El Ninio winter pattern. Translates to milder than average winter,,
Looking for some feedback/ideas for my winter housing...
I acquired a used pre-fab coop like this:
Over the summer, I used it as a broody hen & chicks home. Now I'm debating using it as a winter coop for my "useless bantams." I'm thinking about getting one of those small heaters like this:
https://www.amazon.com/Cozy-Product...F8&qid=1540002388&sr=8-3&keywords=coop+heater
Has anyone used these? Do you like it?
BTW- My "useless bantam group" now consists of
Females: 1 serama, 1 OEG, 2 silkies, & 1 regular sized Leghorn (who must be caged to prevent her from laying eggs in our screened porch)
and 1 silkied serama rooster.
The coop could go...
1. in our screened porch on a tarp/ feed bag (if we can get the outlet working)
2. in our detached garage on a tarp/ feed bag (already taken over by chicken feed & the roosters' sleeping cage, so what's one more big chicken related item?!)
Has anyone used this kind of set up with shavings /bedding spread out on a tarp? How long between sweeping out & replacing?
3. in my strawberry garden bed along the side of garage. (I could try the "deep litter method" & not worry about cleaning 'til spring..... but it would also wipe out 1/2 my berries. I'd also have to cover it with plastic because outside there's wind/snow.)
The simple idea of only bringing the 2 seramas into the house didn't work. Tried it only one night & no one liked Teddy's crowing. Now the seramas are back outside & DD insists on putting a silkie into their former cage to be our "house chicken." She completely missed the point that we were trying to find a way to keep her seramas safe. In her mind we were merely trying to create more cages to clean and towels to wash. She likes to hold her silkies daily, so she would not like...
.... 4. We could put a small cage in the garage with a brooder lamp (just for the 2 seramas who need the heat). I know they have those Ceramic Infrared Heat Emitter Bulbs. Are they much safer than a reg bulb? The initial cost of the bulb is much cheaper, but heat lamps have always made me nervous - especially if in the garage or our screened porch.
+ I forgot to add that I'm modifying the poop tray of the coop. The metal rusted through, so I stapled a piece of cage wire to the tray's wooden frame. Poop should fall through the 1/2"x1" mesh. Chickens can walk on the roost bars if they don't like walking on the mesh. If my idea fails & the poop doesn't slide through, I guess I can always use a cut piece of feed bag as a tray liner & continue cleaning as I have done all summer.
I acquired a used pre-fab coop like this:
Over the summer, I used it as a broody hen & chicks home. Now I'm debating using it as a winter coop for my "useless bantams." I'm thinking about getting one of those small heaters like this:
https://www.amazon.com/Cozy-Product...F8&qid=1540002388&sr=8-3&keywords=coop+heater
Has anyone used these? Do you like it?
BTW- My "useless bantam group" now consists of
Females: 1 serama, 1 OEG, 2 silkies, & 1 regular sized Leghorn (who must be caged to prevent her from laying eggs in our screened porch)
and 1 silkied serama rooster.
The coop could go...
1. in our screened porch on a tarp/ feed bag (if we can get the outlet working)
2. in our detached garage on a tarp/ feed bag (already taken over by chicken feed & the roosters' sleeping cage, so what's one more big chicken related item?!)
Has anyone used this kind of set up with shavings /bedding spread out on a tarp? How long between sweeping out & replacing?
3. in my strawberry garden bed along the side of garage. (I could try the "deep litter method" & not worry about cleaning 'til spring..... but it would also wipe out 1/2 my berries. I'd also have to cover it with plastic because outside there's wind/snow.)
The simple idea of only bringing the 2 seramas into the house didn't work. Tried it only one night & no one liked Teddy's crowing. Now the seramas are back outside & DD insists on putting a silkie into their former cage to be our "house chicken." She completely missed the point that we were trying to find a way to keep her seramas safe. In her mind we were merely trying to create more cages to clean and towels to wash. She likes to hold her silkies daily, so she would not like...
.... 4. We could put a small cage in the garage with a brooder lamp (just for the 2 seramas who need the heat). I know they have those Ceramic Infrared Heat Emitter Bulbs. Are they much safer than a reg bulb? The initial cost of the bulb is much cheaper, but heat lamps have always made me nervous - especially if in the garage or our screened porch.
+ I forgot to add that I'm modifying the poop tray of the coop. The metal rusted through, so I stapled a piece of cage wire to the tray's wooden frame. Poop should fall through the 1/2"x1" mesh. Chickens can walk on the roost bars if they don't like walking on the mesh. If my idea fails & the poop doesn't slide through, I guess I can always use a cut piece of feed bag as a tray liner & continue cleaning as I have done all summer.
TheLittleFarm18
Songster
Hi all! I'm from central Illinois, south of Champaign. Would love to join this thread
Welcome
Welcome!
Similar threads
New posts New threads Active threads
-
Latest posts
-
-
-
Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.- Latest: BlindLemonChicken
-
-
-
Latest threads
-
-
-
-
-
Rollaway nest box in winter
- Started by KetchupsOwner
- Replies: 1
-
-
Threads with more replies in the last 15 days
-
-
-
-
-
enrichment/enclosure for indoor setup (plants,toys, etc)- Started by bantam_crazy
- Replies: 42
-
