Hello everyone, I'd like some help or suggestions on sometimes. Right now in New England, we've been having almost nonstop snow for a little over a month now, and my whole living area for the girls has turned into an absolute disaster. I have no way at all to shovel the 3' of snow in the run, so they have nowhere to go but the coop, and underneath it (since the snow didn't get under it. It's a coop that stands on large legs that are about 3 feet high). I can't get my wheelbarrel into the run so I haven't been able to get in and clean the coop since maybe mid-January.
At first I was trudging my way in with just a bag of shavings and putting some shaving in every once in a while so the hens wouldn't be sitting on their poop, but now our gate has literally be messed up so bad from the weather that the part where the bottom plank attatched to the hinges has detatched itself and now it can't close properly. We had to leave it like that, and now it's officially frozen and we tried more times than I can count to get it unstuck. We're currently using an old dog collar (Which was also saturated in water then the snow started melting, and then also froze too...
) to keep the gate closed. Since the gate is stuck like that, I can no longer get in to give the hens water or food. I've been throwing feed over the fence and just hope they go after it. Thankfully, they've figure out that: Eating snow=hydration.

This here is a picture of the way we're keeping the gate locked. Normally we use the metal lock, but we can't even close the gate entirely at the moment.

This is how they spend their time during the day, going in and out of the coop, and underneath the part that wasn't snowed in. Sometimes they are even brave enough to walk around in the snow, but they usually freak out when they start sinking in it and flap back to the coop.

This is as far as we could get the gate to close, and now we're just hoping the snow melts soon so we can fix it. I've tried kicking the door open myself, but it didn't work.
I need to know if what I'm doing is acceptable or not for now, because I'm feeling extremely helpless and out of options, and also feeling like a horrible person for now being able to clean the coop or properly take care of my hens because of this stupid snow! I also am unable to shovel or chip at the ice (I tried), so I just pray my hens can figure out how to keep themselves going until I can find out how to make things work.
At first I was trudging my way in with just a bag of shavings and putting some shaving in every once in a while so the hens wouldn't be sitting on their poop, but now our gate has literally be messed up so bad from the weather that the part where the bottom plank attatched to the hinges has detatched itself and now it can't close properly. We had to leave it like that, and now it's officially frozen and we tried more times than I can count to get it unstuck. We're currently using an old dog collar (Which was also saturated in water then the snow started melting, and then also froze too...

This here is a picture of the way we're keeping the gate locked. Normally we use the metal lock, but we can't even close the gate entirely at the moment.
This is how they spend their time during the day, going in and out of the coop, and underneath the part that wasn't snowed in. Sometimes they are even brave enough to walk around in the snow, but they usually freak out when they start sinking in it and flap back to the coop.
This is as far as we could get the gate to close, and now we're just hoping the snow melts soon so we can fix it. I've tried kicking the door open myself, but it didn't work.
I need to know if what I'm doing is acceptable or not for now, because I'm feeling extremely helpless and out of options, and also feeling like a horrible person for now being able to clean the coop or properly take care of my hens because of this stupid snow! I also am unable to shovel or chip at the ice (I tried), so I just pray my hens can figure out how to keep themselves going until I can find out how to make things work.