Hello this is a thread for sharing ideas about managing our winter flock problems. Please feel free to add your own problems about your winter coop and us byc'ers as I would think would help take care of that problem for you.
Ok my problem for my winter coop is on many levels my first being that my winter coop is in an old barn grainery, which means the coop is on a second floor of an UNinsulated 102 year old barn.( don't get me wrong the barn has no structural issues at all ) And since its on a second floor you can't insulate the floor. So my question was if a thick layer of (STRAW) bedding (NOT HAY) on the floor would be helpful for the warmth of the coop and be helpful for the chickens ?.
My second problem is that I have two different sizes of birds, LF and bantam so since the grainery has removable sections like little rooms on each side when you walk in. Should I separate little groups from the flock? And put them in each section or just take the dividers out and let them do there own thing? I do want to keep the flock as intact as possible but I don't want any uncontrolled breeding so my thought was just to take the roosters out and put them into 1 pen possibly 2 pens. But if there in the same pens they will fight. And I'm not will to start selling my roosters. WHAT SHOULD I DO!!
Ok my problem for my winter coop is on many levels my first being that my winter coop is in an old barn grainery, which means the coop is on a second floor of an UNinsulated 102 year old barn.( don't get me wrong the barn has no structural issues at all ) And since its on a second floor you can't insulate the floor. So my question was if a thick layer of (STRAW) bedding (NOT HAY) on the floor would be helpful for the warmth of the coop and be helpful for the chickens ?.
My second problem is that I have two different sizes of birds, LF and bantam so since the grainery has removable sections like little rooms on each side when you walk in. Should I separate little groups from the flock? And put them in each section or just take the dividers out and let them do there own thing? I do want to keep the flock as intact as possible but I don't want any uncontrolled breeding so my thought was just to take the roosters out and put them into 1 pen possibly 2 pens. But if there in the same pens they will fight. And I'm not will to start selling my roosters. WHAT SHOULD I DO!!