Montana

[cicknmama]

This is when my babies were just babies. Those are my Australorps there in front.

 

[cicknmama]

Hey all you Montana's. Taking a poll. Had a friend come by yesterday and asked if my coop was insulated. I said no, cuz its not. She said that if the combs of my hens froze they would no longer lay eggs. Have any of you heard of that? She has been raising chickens her whole life so I trust she knows what she's talking about, but would love to hear opinions. So I'm thinking....do I need to insulate my coop? We get to -40 with wind chill on occasion but most of our winter nights are in the negative down to -10 or so. It would be a HUGE project to start right now because our coop is already fitted with poop boards and such. Opinions please....

 

[BuffyBugSlayer]

Hey all you Montana's. Taking a poll. Had a friend come by yesterday and asked if my coop was insulated. I said no, cuz its not. She said that if the combs of my hens froze they would no longer lay eggs. Have any of you heard of that? She has been raising chickens her whole life so I trust she knows what she's talking about, but would love to hear opinions. So I'm thinking....do I need to insulate my coop? We get to -40 with wind chill on occasion but most of our winter nights are in the negative down to -10 or so. It would be a HUGE project to start right now because our coop is already fitted with poop boards and such. Opinions please....

Combs and toes can get frostbitten but I don't think insulating your coop will make a difference. Moisture plus cold is usually what causes most frostbite problems so make sure you have good ventilation in your coop. Chickens generate heat and you can get condensation if your coop is too airtight. Howver, when it gets really cold for extended periods frostbite is always a risk regardless of how well your coop is ventilated.
I have never heard of frosbite causing a hen to stop laying. Hens naturally slow down egg production in the winter. Some lay a little and some hardly at all. Frostbite is painful and I imagine if it were severe it might impact a hen's health short term. But long term it shouldn't be a problem.

 

[cicknmama]

Combs and toes can get frostbitten but I don't think insulating your coop will make a difference. Moisture plus cold is usually what causes most frostbite problems so make sure you have good ventilation in your coop. Chickens generate heat and you can get condensation if your coop is too airtight. Howver, when it gets really cold for extended periods frostbite is always a risk regardless of how well your coop is ventilated.
I have never heard of frosbite causing a hen to stop laying. Hens naturally slow down egg production in the winter. Some lay a little and some hardly at all. Frostbite is painful and I imagine if it were severe it might impact a hen's health short term. But long term it shouldn't be a problem.

Thank you for your comment. We built our coop with plenty of ventilation so I'm thinking we should be OK. I was thinking of maybe just doing the ceiling so the cold from the snow doesn't radiate so much and that will also help with summer heat....do you think that might help a little?

 

[BuffyBugSlayer]

Thank you for your comment. We built our coop with plenty of ventilation so I'm thinking we should be OK. I was thinking of maybe just doing the ceiling so the cold from the snow doesn't radiate so much and that will also help with summer heat....do you think that might help a little?

If it is easy for you to do then I would go ahead and do it. If it isn't I would just go through this first winter and then evaluate what adjustments you might need to make.

 

[3BirdGirlz]

Lol! Frost bitten combs make hens not lay?! Not true...and I've raised chickens my whole life A comb doesn't decide if a hen lays or not....haven't had many hens get frostbitten combs though. Agree with good ventilation is key!

 

[cricketmt]

Combs and toes can get frostbitten but I don't think insulating your coop will make a difference. Moisture plus cold is usually what causes most frostbite problems so make sure you have good ventilation in your coop. Chickens generate heat and you can get condensation if your coop is too airtight. Howver, when it gets really cold for extended periods frostbite is always a risk regardless of how well your coop is ventilated.
I have never heard of frosbite causing a hen to stop laying. Hens naturally slow down egg production in the winter. Some lay a little and some hardly at all. Frostbite is painful and I imagine if it were severe it might impact a hen's health short term. But long term it shouldn't be a problem.

Ditto to this from what I've read everywhere.

We are going to close off at least some of the west side ventilation, but my husband is going to put in a vent on the east side, down low for cold air drainage. We've also thought about cutting a vent through the garage wall since it's usually 20 degrees warmer in there than outside, even when it's -35 outside.

Our coop IS insulated making ventilation that much more important from what I understand.

I've also read that removing droppings from the dropping board under the roost daily will aid in minimizing humidity inside the coop...we have yet to get one of those in. I have a traditional waterer inside the coop that I'm leaving in place so they have water in the winter, hopefully it won't freeze. I'll have alternating buckets with nipple waterers outside the coop--the frozen one will come in every day, and the thawed one will go out.

We put a lightbulb adapter in our coop for a ceramic reptile heater...it will come on when the coop gets down to 35 degrees. We also have an LED light in there for extra light during our dark times.

 

[cicknmama]

Ditto to this from what I've read everywhere.

We are going to close off at least some of the west side ventilation, but my husband is going to put in a vent on the east side, down low for cold air drainage.  We've also thought about cutting a vent through the garage wall since it's usually 20 degrees warmer in there than outside, even when it's -35 outside.  

Our coop IS insulated making ventilation that much more important from what I understand.

I've also read that removing droppings from the dropping board under the roost daily will aid in minimizing humidity inside the coop...we have yet to get one of those in.  I have a traditional waterer inside the coop that I'm leaving in place so they have water in the winter, hopefully it won't freeze.  I'll have alternating buckets with nipple waterers outside the coop--the frozen one will come in every day, and the thawed one will go out.

We put a lightbulb adapter in our coop for a ceramic reptile heater...it will come on when the coop gets down to 35 degrees.  We also have an LED light in there for extra light during our dark times.

I have two 12x14 louvered crank out windows on the east wall above the roost bar, same two size windows on the west wall and two louvered vents on the north side at the bottom of the coop. Also have a turbine roof vent. I'm thinking this is plenty of ventilation. But would like opinions on this. We have poop boards under both perches and clean daily. I plan on the deep litter method on the coop floor. My concern is the cold radiating through the walls. I do have electricity to the coop and used a ceramic reptile heater last year with a thermocube. It only came on at -10. But my coop is much larger now and not sure that will even make a difference. Would love your opinion and others on ventilation.

 

[MuttFlock]

Hello From your southern neighbors. Any one interested in Breeder / Show quality Blue, Splash, Lavender and Black split to Lavender, or Red Laced Blue Large Fowl Wyandottes and Ameraucauna Cockerals. Acquired this past spring as Straight run orders... to many males for my needs. Big handsome boys will improve your flocks,Please reply via BYC PM. Can send pics and breeder info. Located in Buffalo, Wy. Can work with transport. Thanks, Shannon

 

[wamtazlady]

A heads up for those living in NW Montana. Yesterday a black bear broke into a house near Kalispell and mauled an elderly lady.
She is in serious condition in the hospital. I guess with it being so dry the bears are not finding food in the woods. They are hungry. Please be careful and aware as you are out and about.