Looking for Winter Advice- What do you wish you had known

[ChickensAreSweet]

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Uh good point. Ooops.

 

[greenSearcher]

Didn't see anyone using plywood to deal with mud/slush around the coops. I live in N TX, maybe 10miles south of the Red River, and we do get some freezing in Jan and Feb, but mostly mud, boot sucking red clay mud. After having my boots captured and flung full length, face first in the mud after coming in from putting the girls down for the night. We place 2X8' strips of light weight plywood/osb forming a path from the house to the coops and along the side where I open the runs for food and water. I was amazed, the wood lasted all winter, spring (nearly 3 weeks of standing water) and as shade wings when attached to the run in the hear of summer. It should last the winter before I throw the remains out. I celebrated the few days that the mud froze in the winter. I keep remembering that I swore I would never live in TX.

 

[Mrs MIA]

Nope, no worries about mud here in the winter!

It's fun to take some live crickets out on the ice for the chickens... looks like roller-derby! LOL!

 

[vachicks]

So much info here! I have a quick question about my coop and drafts. I have an A frame coop, wire on the bottom with 1 opening on each end, they go up in the top to roost and lay, I am wondering if I should 1) put plastic on the sides and 2) close the ladder at night so that they don't get a draft going up it. Our winters very seldom get below freezing, last year we got a lot of snow which was unusual.

I can't move the coop there is no room, but it is next to a wooden privacy fence on one side and the whole yard is fenced, I have noticed the yard doesn't get as much wind inside the fence. I am thinking of using sand for the coop, right now it is just dirt.

Oh, I have 4 RIR's, and they free range in the yard, I don't plan on closing them up for the winter they would probably yell all day..


Thanks

 

[Northwood Silkies]

I also was wondering about how to keep water from freezing. I was looking on ebay and found this. I wonder if this would work well. It's water proof too.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Safe-Heated-Bed...0534083793?pt=US_Pet_Beds&hash=item35ace6f4d1

 

[sunflowerenvy]

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it would not hurt to try it. btw i am wondering also would it be good to keep a sick animal on it closed to it

 

[Northwood Silkies]

Yeah, Actually it's for animals anyway so I definitely would use it for a sick animal to keep them warm.

 

[CJW]

You all have been so helpful!

I am now second guessing insulating my coop. I am in the process of converting a metal shed into a coop. I have all of the interior walls cut and ready to go up and I cannot find the insulation that I had laying around. A whole roll of it! (To the point that I think someone took it!)

I am hoping to get some pullets by the weekend. I am so excited. I had all my days planned out so I could get my coop ready and now this bump in the road.
Anyhow, I came on here, looking for insulation ideas (I read quite a few pages on this thread, but, if I don't ask now, I will be up late, reading till the wee hours of the night!). I just don't want to go out and buy new insulation if I don't have to.

I have some photos of the coop on my page, but I live in North Western Montana. It gets cold and windy here. I know the tin will hold cold and (heat in the summer). My original intention was to insulate all the walls and then put wafer board on the inside, as well as a ceiling and then cut vents from the ceiling into the "attic" and have the attic vented to the outside. Now I guess I am wondering if I should just put up the wafer board without insulating it, and making sure any cracks are sealed.

I plan on using a red heat lamp for the water dish, and having a light in there for when I go in and it might be dark. There is a window on the south wall, so they should get all the winter light just fine.

So...any alternative insulation ideas? Will it be necessary?

Also, I have a large piece of linoleum that I was thinking of putting down over the wood floor (the shed is elevated off the ground on a wooden platform) that I can roll up after getting the straw/sawdust out and hose it off? Opinions on that?

And--am I a freak? Am I worried about all of this for no reason? I know birds live in the wild, but I guess I want to provide my girls the best home and lots of love. I think I even found an old tree branch I might bury in the run so they have something to roost on (since I read some like to sit in the trees).

Thanks for your help in advance!

 

[ParadiseFoundFarm]

I looked at your page and I think it's too big for the amount of chickens you have to keep warm and time is a-flying for us northerners - more for you in Montana. You don't have much time, proper insulation to instal and less help. I suggest:
Make a raised area within the coop just for this winter with 2x6 on thier sides.
fill that with shavings. Keep them dry. It's the humidity that will get to your birds more than the cold.
You don't have any ventilation - not good. Cut two holes on the side near the top, save the tin, screen from the inside, hang the saved tin over the opening from the outside on a screw so you can at least open and close them while you are cleaning. The humidity will freeze their combs _ you didn't mention what kind of birds you are getting - those with peacombs are more cold hardy for our purposes.
So after you have the raised bed, insulated from the cold floor,put a cover over it. Make this contraption large enough for all the birds to fit into comfortably * 1 sq ft/bird roosting space on a flat 2x4 so they can cover thier feet with their feathers and they don't lose toes to frostbite.
This wil be your coop within a coop. You can adjust before NEXT winter. The birds should be able to keep eachother warm and move outside this when they want to cool. Everything must be dry.
Watch out for fire hazards when supplementing heat. Using a thermo static controled heat source is best but not foolproof. I am in northern Illinois. I have 20+ bird in a lightly insualated coop 4'x5' x4'tall. plenty of perching spots. I will not be supplementing heat. They will make thier own but they can't heat a house - just a small area.
Love the coop though 0 wish I had as nice a home to put my girls in.
Good luck
Tell us how you are faring

 

[Mrs MIA]

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