Live in a Very Cold Winter area? Post link to your personal page here!

[LynneP]

Today we're cutting and installing 'snow boards' (no, not the recreational kind) to prevent drifting into the run. We'll baffle the bottom panels of the run, only, so that we don't reduce the ight reaching the hens significantly. We've had two major storms and even though the run is roofed, we got over two feet of snow in there. So the surface is still tacky, and I've grown used to having the sandy loam remain dry and nearly-odor free. Same with the birds, I like them to come in with reasonably clean feet.

We're going to use 1/4" plywood floor sheathing because we want the sheets to be light for installation/storage. We'll screw to the frames using 1" deck screws. I'll post pics when they're in. It may be too cold to paint them, I'd like to use linseed-oil barn paint on the outside away from the birds. Maybe that will get done in the spring before we take the boards down for the summer.

Here's why we need them-

https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=7693-seasonal-concerns

 

[freerange freaks]

I was in Whitehorse for 2 years and the set up we had there was much better. The coop was large and uninsulated. We blocked off an area and had a propane heater. Just be sure to keep dusting the heater. The hens were fine as it is extremely dry there. The biggest problem I have down here is the moisture and humidity. At least in Whitehorse the air sucked up the moisture. It was so dry there that even at -30C you could go to the out house in your stocking feet and not get your feet wet or cold. Serioulsy, I could hang clothes on the line in feezing temps and they would dry.

I battle every day with keeping things dry here. I cannot keep my coop closed it has to be opened everyday. It is -10C today and still your feet get wet going outside and you have to change your mittens a couple of times a day because they are soaked. I am thinking of stopping the deep litter method and just cleaning the coop completely every week. I need to keep my bedding dry somehow.

I also spread old bedding out into the run to encourage them to get outside for some fresh air. I sprinkle it with crushed alfalfa pellets and they eat that up.

 

[freerange freaks]

Oh ya, I wanted to know if anybody keeps a dusting area in their coops over the winter. And how do you keep in from freezing? What substrate do you use? What kind of container? I've experimented over the years but have never found any real success. The girls still seem to prefer to dust in the bedding. Although, I've heard that ash from the wood stove works well.

 

[LynneP]

I refreshed their indoor sand box today, as it happens! It's a pine box 2.5 feet long x 1.5 ft wide and 8" high. I dumped in a bag of play sand and 4 cups of food-grade DE. They spent the next two hours playing in it. Oh, do this after they've laid their eggs! I had a good egg day 12 from 12, so I knew I wasn't throwing the girls off-schedule. I've had them dusting in sub-zero days, I think the DE helps to keep it loose and if you clean it out with a kitty litter scoop it helps. Also, those girls are such pernicious diggers I think it would take a lot to get it to freeze. Plus it's away from the waterer in a corner under a platform where the kicking and scratching doesn't matter much.

 

[kimpaw]

This is also my first winter with our flock of 23 in Maine. So far their favorite dusting box is the new 16'x40' pole barn that i built to cover 4 vehicles. They love it so much that i am afraid the Vanagons will be out side again. I have a question about how much ventilation is necessary in our insulated coop. I am noticing what i think is too much moisture and I will increased the amount I leave the windows open. I have two double hungs on the south wall and one on the north. I have been leaving the top sash of one window on the south open about an inch. It seems a tricky balance, open too much and the coop is colder. closed to much and things get damp. I am thinking about putting a 4" turbine ventilator through the side wall at the ceiling above their roost where the moisture is the greatest. I would love to hear others thoughts on winter ventilation also at what inside temp. do the girls get stressed. Thanks, kimpaw

 

[luvmygirlsinAK]

I use a small rubber farm feeder with sand, ashes and DE mixed in. I absolutely love to watch the girls in their "sand box" It is hilarious to watch them in it!!! I would hate to deprive them of their enjoyment by not having it available to them, and I just refill it when needed. Not too much of a dust problem with it constantly in there, and I'm not sure why you would think it would freeze? They don't poop in it, there is just the small amount of sawdust that they drag in with their feet when they climb in to it. I think I enjoy it as much as they do!!! )

 

[freerange freaks]

luvmygirlsinAK, it's not the poop in the sand it is the extreme humidity here. I've used play sand before and most mornings it is a big block of cement. I think I'll take LynneP's advice and add the DE. Maybe that will keep it drier.

Kimpaw, I really like my fan for moving moisture out. Even still, I have days where I have problems. I've just read that peat moss in the bedding can help. Although, I have never tried it. PatandChikens ventelation page has some great info..

 

[luvmygirlsinAK]

It's amazing the difference in climates, isn't it?! Maybe I should be thankful that North Pole is classified as a dessert, and as the temperatures drop, the drier the inside of our noses get-(yelp!) Never thought all that static electricity we get in winter, the colder it gets, would have a benefit! lol!!! At least the dust bath remains that, and not a clump of concrete!!! I'm sure that I wouldn't need the DE and ashes in the dust bath to help keep humidity down, as we don't have any humidity problems in the coop. It's _31 below zero F. today. Ouch! it hurts the inside of the nose when I went out to check on the girls this morning-we can bundle all up and be warm, and yet have to breath in that dry air, and it is painful!!! Good thing the coop is only 10 feet away from the back door!!

 

[Mrs MIA]

Hey North Pole!

We go back and forth on the Peninsula... deep dry cold to just around freezing with high humidity. I go from frozen shavings to wet shavings, to solid "OBS" in the pens.

But the watering systems I have down. One coop uses a heated water base... insulated 8x8' coop with no added heat. The other coop (the breeder coop) has a copper watering cup system with heat-tape run along the length of it.

I have the black rubber bowls for the chukars, and I just bang out the ice a couple of times a day and fill with a jug of luke-warm water. Same with the bunnies. The only birds that have heat are my Button quail (they do NOT do well in temps below 40°F) and my chicks. There are some in a brooder in the garage. I just make sure the girls have lots of shavings/hay to burrow into, and they do just fine.

 

[LynneP]

It's clear we're all working hard for the birds, Tori!


We installed the snow boards, so here's hoping it will make things easier. We also stapled a 12ml sheet of vinyl sheeting over the exit from the run to allow light but to baffle the Norwester winds. Another storm on the way, and we still have patches of snow and ice from the first two...