Indispensable Features?

[zando]

Not much snow - a foot of snowfall is extreme, but we get some pretty cold days... we can have -30C (approx -25F) for a week or two, followed by a break and then - again of the same.
that's why I am a little nervous about the coming winter

 

[3riverschick]

Not much snow - a foot of snowfall is extreme, but we get some pretty cold days... we can have -30C (approx -25F) for a week or two, followed by a break and then - again of the same.
that's why I am a little nervous about the coming winter

I don't know how much hay is where you live, you can stack hay bales around the walls to insulate against cold.
Karen

 

[aoxa]

Not much snow - a foot of snowfall is extreme, but we get some pretty cold days... we can have -30C (approx -25F) for a week or two, followed by a break and then - again of the same. 
that's why I am a little nervous about the coming winter

How do you get that cold without snow? We have way too much snow here. Not last winter, but the winter before, we had record amounts of snow. We had to have the driveway paved because it was that much that we couldn't do it by hand. Each time we had over 30 cm of snow. It was ridiculous!

I like snow in December, but in January - April? Please go away..

 

[morsekathan]

The most important feature on my coop is the automatic door. I lost a lot of hens believing that I could remember to close the door every night. The door's on a timer now and I don't worry about the ladies getting to bed safely anymore. I do still check them every night just in case, but if I want to stay out late, I can.

The other indispensable feature is the sand floor. It takes exactly 3 minutes every morning to scoop out the poop. No smell what so ever.

I would also make sure your coop is rat proof. We had a lot of chewing going on and I had to put flashing all around the bottom. Solved the rat in the coop problem.

 

[bruceha2000]

How do you get that cold without snow?
Each time we had over 30 cm of snow. It was ridiculous!

I grew up in Southern California south of L.A.. The only way I saw snow was to go up to the mountains in winter. My mother lived her entire life in So. Cal. in or near Los Angeles. She saw hail TWICE, no snow ever except away from home.

I moved to Vermont over 30 years ago and learned a thing or two about snow.
1) It doesn't snow all the time. Actually, the roads are clear at least 90% of the winter. Still need good snow tires for the other 10%
2) A couple of inches twice a week is nice, keeps everything clean looking. No snow makes for a LONG, dreary, ugly winter. Big dumps are hard on the back.
3) At about 10F (-12C), snow starts to squeak when you walk on it.
4) It CAN be too cold to snow! The REAL cold usually comes without the cloud blanket that keeps heat (relative of course) in: No clouds, no snow.

My guess is that since you live so near the sea, there is always some moisture in the air to keep your snow shovel full

They get wicked amounts of snow in a belt east of Lake Erie, Jet stream blows the Alberta Clipper over the lake, picks up water and dumps "lake effect" snow.

30 cm? Not even a foot! Wimp

Just kidding of course. 11" is a lot of snow to move especially if it isn't the light and fluffy stuff that comes with cold temps. WELL below freezing cold, not just below freezing cold. Just below freezing is wet, heavy, nasty stuff. The kind the plows use to make ice walls at the end of your driveway. The only way to keep up if you don't have a blower or plow is to get out there often even though there is another 1/2" (1.25 cm) at the other end by the time you get to the bottom.

 

[aoxa]

I grew up in Southern California south of L.A.. The only way I saw snow was to go up to the mountains in winter. My mother lived her entire life in So. Cal. in or near Los Angeles. She saw hail TWICE, no snow ever except away from home.

I moved to Vermont over 30 years ago and learned a thing or two about snow.
1) It doesn't snow all the time. Actually, the roads are clear at least 90% of the winter. Still need good snow tires for the other 10%
2) A couple of inches twice a week is nice, keeps everything clean looking. No snow makes for a LONG, dreary, ugly winter. Big dumps are hard on the back.
3) At about 10F (-12C), snow starts to squeak when you walk on it.
4) It CAN be too cold to snow! The REAL cold usually comes without the cloud blanket that keeps heat (relative of course) in: No clouds, no snow.

My guess is that since you live so near the sea, there is always some moisture in the air to keep your snow shovel full   They get wicked amounts of snow in a belt east of Lake Erie, Jet stream blows the Alberta Clipper over the lake, picks up water and dumps "lake effect" snow.

30 cm? Not even a foot! Wimp  
Just kidding of course. 11" is a lot of snow to move especially if it isn't the light and fluffy stuff that comes with cold temps. WELL below freezing cold, not just below freezing cold. Just below freezing is wet, heavy, nasty stuff. The kind the plows use to make ice walls at the end of your driveway. The only way to keep up if you don't have a blower or plow is to get out there often even though there is another 1/2" (1.25 cm) at the other end by the time you get to the bottom.

We had a record of 65 cm one night. 30 cm was pretty much the cut off for my back and snow shovel. Our snow is very heavy. No light snow here

It snowed yesterday. Nothing serious, but it snowed. I was not impressed.

We had a snow storm a week in 2010-2011. It was awful.

From towering snow banks in parts of the Maritimes to frigid cold in western Canada, the winter of 2010/2011 is one that many Canadians won't soon forget. And while there is plenty of time for more snow to fall, meteorologists at The Weather Network have crunched the numbers on just how much snow has fallen to this point.
Starting in Atlantic Canada, the region has been blasted by storm after storm this winter and each one caused snow banks to grow a little higher. For the winter weary city of Moncton, New Brunswick around 349.4 cm has fallen so far.

The city had a record amount of snow on the ground for the month of February, leaving city crews with almost no place to safely clear it from sidewalks and roads. In March, the city council enacted emergency snow clearing rules. That meant if more snow continued falling, crews would stop clearing sidewalks because of the lack of room to put it.

 

[chickadee2]

The roof to our henhouse elevates on one side. It is hinged so I can allow the best ventilation possible.

 

[DiggstownChicks]

Wow Wow Wow!

I'm so glad we found this thread! We are in the transition stages of beginner coop very similar to this one with 3 chicks and one pullet.




To a revised playhouse coop (my daughter no longer utilizes)



We are thinking about adding a door to the back, screening in the porch (dutch door) and either making the run in the front of the back (undecided). We are adding (probably) staggered roosting bars and nesting boxes along the opposite side. A heating lamp and hopefully a nipple watering system (Thanks Bruce). It has two windows opposite of each other (screened).

Any other possibilities for this? Gutters --> rain storage/container is a great idea!

 

[Going Quackers]

This likely depends on your coop design but for ours having a hook on the outside by the door to hang the keys... we padlock our doors, and no way would i remember to bring the key in/out. I have a nice chicken shaped hook that holds it.

I don't have poop boards and only one roost(over 4ft, allowing the min 12in per bird requirement) my flock is very small, only 4 and they get on very well... so this works for me. My coop is also completely elevated off the ground, like i can open the door and stand there and clean it out, mind you the door is large enough where i can enter it if need be.

 

[bruceha2000]

we padlock our doors, and no way would i remember to bring the key in/out.

My coop is also completely elevated off the ground, like i can open the door and stand there and clean it out

Why locks? I have a carabiner on the people door and a clasp hook (because I got this first and the carabiners at that store were WAY expensive) on the chicken door. I tied strings to them so they hang when not is use so I don't have to remember where I put them down

Elevation to clean sounds like a great plan for a small coop. If you can reach all the places you generally need to without going inside, you don't even need to wear your coop shoes!


Oh, one more thing for the OP (if I forgot to mention it). I put self closing hinges on the people door so we can't accidentally leave it open. After the hardware cloth, they were the most expensive single item in my "horse stall to chicken coop" conversion. Of course, that means if I WANT it open, I have to hook the carabiner to the wall to hold it open. Another good reason to have the carabiner on a string. A determined predator like a raccoon could pull the door open but at least they can't just walk in. We TRY to remember to latch it with the bolt and carabiner every night but you know how that goes.


Bruce