It's 13 degrees outside...And I am worried

[bruceha2000]

Huff,,,,weellll,,,you see...as an American it is considered acceptable to assume the rest of all y'all know, y'know?

EDIT:

Ah, the Ugly Entitled American attitude

The REST OF THE WORLD (pretty much) shifted to Metric measurement and Celsius temperatures long ago. Only us stupid USA Americans can't seem to figure those out and cling tightly to the old.

I will say I don’t let them free range when it is bitterly cold.

I let mine if they want to, the barn door is opened every morning. Sometimes just enough for chickens to be able to get out and keep most of the wind from blowing in. Of course they can choose NOT to go out and when there is a lot of snow or wind they make that decision. They do, however, love to eat snow off my boots.

 

[analyticalblonde]

Were the canvases, top and sides, an add on?

The canvas top came with the setup...DH & I made the side panels using UV clothe and punched in the grommets for the wrap to secure to the metal panels of the coop/run.

 

[analyticalblonde]

Thanks...I really need a chicken run. They will have a coop but they need someplace for when I need to run errands and I really like yours.

It really is a nice setup for us so far but again, there were adjustments we needed to make to it...the first being a rubber strip we installed across the top of the nesting boxes...we picked up shower liner from Home Depot and attached it along the top and let the liner lie out along to nesting box top. Since it's rubber, it easily bends when lifting the lid to the boxes and folds back down when the lid is closed. We needed to do this due to rain dripping on top of the nesting boxes and flowing into the inside of the boxes. Before we assembled the coop, I spent about a week painting/sealing all of the exterior wood pieces; it does come with a thin coat of paint but I didn't feel it was sufficient for the weather extremes we have here. Another alteration was the installation of an automatic coop door. We installed it to the side of the coop and have it set up with a small solar panel which keeps the battery fully charged. The battery we have inside of the coop on a little shelf we installed and is secured with a bungee cord (we do not have electricity to our coop and the solar panel/battery setup has worked perfectly). By having it installed on the side of the coop, I can look out every day & night to ensure the girls get in/out daily. The coop door that is made to the original coop faces west and doesn't give me a line of sight to the girls. Finally, my husband ordered "J" hook rebar that we pounded the base framed down to the ground with...this was very important to us because we get gale-force winds here (like we did last night!) and we were concerned the dome canopy would behave like a sail and blow the whole coop/run over or damage it beyond repair. We used the "J" hook rebar to also pound down the hardwire we laid under the coop/run set up as our predator barrier which extends inside of the run about 4 inches and on the outside about 26 inches out all the way around the bottom perimeter.

 

[analyticalblonde]

I think your setup is advertised to the right side on the above linke?

Thank you @Manhen ...I couldn't find it!

 

[Manhen]

Thank you @Manhen ...I couldn't find it!

Smart use of what was available and thus cool in itself. Now what do you need now??!! (hint: chick cam )

 

[Manhen]

Ah, the
The REST OF THE WORLD (pretty much) shifted to Metric measurement and Celsius temperatures long ago. Only us stupid USA Americans can't seem to figure those out and cling tightly to the old.

I know that. I have two sizes of mechanics tool sets. Don't blame us, WHO came up with 12 inches in a foot, 3 feet in a yard, and 5xxx feet in a mile??? Or volumes and weights.

I even keep an old car cuz I only need imperial tools to work on it. I hid the metrics in their own box.

 

[Manhen]

Merry Christmas and a Cluck-Cluck-Clucky New Year!

 

[analyticalblonde]

Merry Christmas and a Cluck-Cluck-Clucky New Year!

Thank you @Manhen...

 

[Wee Farmer Sarah]

Getting back to your coop and run - I'm having trouble seeing where the ventilation openings are. Also, chickens get bored easily and I think they would benefit from being able to see outside their confines. The heavy tarps are blocking precipitation and sunlight so it must be a bit dark inside. Artificial light is okay, but may interfere with regular circadian rhythm. Just MHO.

 

[analyticalblonde]

Getting back to your coop and run - I'm having trouble seeing where the ventilation openings are. Also, chickens get bored easily and I think they would benefit from being able to see outside their confines. The heavy tarps are blocking precipitation and sunlight so it must be a bit dark inside. Artificial light is okay, but may interfere with regular circadian rhythm. Just MHO.

Hi @Wee Farmer Sarah !

Yes...I did not get a picture of the coop that sits inside of the run. There are three walls (facing south, west, and north). Both walls facing south and north have kindof ship portholes about 6 feet up that have "dryer" vent covers to allow for cross airflow. The wall that faces west has a long rectangular opening covered in hardwire that is about 4 ft long and 8 inches high.

Because we used material that is usually used to protect gardens from intruders (i.e. deer) the sunlight does "glow" through and is pretty bright inside...it is also UV protected. Ventilation of the run is good since we did not totally encapsulate the entire perimeter of the run panels...between each tarp panel is about a 1 1/2-2" gap so airflow is allowed.

Even today, I gathered 4 eggs from the ten girls I have and they have been laying naturally without forced light. Yes, the others have stopped but my husband and I don't want to force production...for us, it is not necessary.