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

[LynneP]

Here's the result of our snow board experiment. How are the rest of you managing? This is our 3rd major storm, and we usually get 5 a season, so what the heck...?

Plus...I think I may have an answer to the 'how cold is too cold...' question, for my hens. They're laying though, I had 12 eggs from 12 hens after the storm, this morning.

It appear to be a chill factor of -23 Celsius. During yesterday's blizzard the exterior temperature was -11C, chill factor -23C and the interior of the insulated coop dropped to -1C. Winds peaked at 80 Km/h. They peeked out, snuck treats from the blue plastic bowl on the outdoor platform, and want back inside. We had our first water crystals on the waterer in the coop, so now they have their winter water container.

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

 

[mksenoj]

My pond as of 12/14/2008

 

[Mrs MIA]

What a pretty picture.

 

[chicksalot]

Mike....what a great pic! I'm not a big fan of the weather we have been getting, but THAT pic would be nice to stare at , while drinking a cold beer, ON THE 4th of JULY!!!!!

 

[morelcabin]

Well, I live in Northern Ontario...and one thing I've learned this winter is the importance of a well ventelated coop above all else. My birds are doing better in an uninsulated, well ventelated coop than most around here.
These pictures were taken Jan 6/09

My coop is a 10x10 uninsulated shed. I've opened the gable end in the front fully and it stays that way full time.nnThe back has two smaller vents. The coop faces east to west so takes advantage of prevailing winds. There are windows on the south side

And here are my birds...healthy, well feathered and hapy. There is absolutely no smell to my coop. All I do is keep adding shavings when it gets too dirty in there

 

[Mrs MIA]

What kind of temps are you seeing right now, Morelcabin?

 

[LynneP]

I couldn't have open vents like that, my coop would be filled with snow and my birds would be buried in it!

Speaking of which, Storm #13 of the season has begun and #14 expected on Sunday. This one is a special treat -Ice Storm and wind warning...Lovely.

 

[luvmygirlsinAK]

Quote:
While I am begining to realize how important ventilation is now that we have 24 chickens which came to us literally overnight after having the original 8 for a couple of months, where we had absolutely no ventilation problems, (our ventilation system is frosted shut right now from the extreme temps. here) I agree with Lynne, there is no way that my chickies could even exist with a wonderful ventilation system like that! It's fantastic that you can, and have such an open ventilation system!!

We are in the process of buying a dehumidifier from someone at the moment, hoping that will help out. It's quite obvious to us that we can not have any open ventilation from the outside in the winter here, as it just frosts up within minutes after scraping it clean.

 

[morelcabin]

We get huge snow, blowing sow...we had 3-4 ft of it before Christmas and then we got a rainstorm. None of it gets in the coop. Right now we are -23 with chill factor here, earlier this month we had -36. If it's frosting up on you wouldn't that mean you don't have enough ventelation? The coop humidity is too high. We live on a lake so our humididty here would be higher than normal...I don't have to add water to my incubators, put it that way.
I seriously thought I would have major problems with this vent system, but amazingly enough it is the best thing I have ever done.

 

[LynneP]

I should add we're on the top of a hill in the part of Nova Scotia with the second-highest average elevation on the mainland. We had snow in our barn loft for the first time in 22 years recently and had to shovel it out before last night's thaw. We've made baffles to prevent it from happening again. There are so many variables in an individual coop. Our birds are healthy and active too, so I guess that's the best test.I'd have to be able to close those vents before snow or heavy rain- as they say in Nova Scotia- 'It's raining sideways, again."