I am working on my run/coop design. If the chicken are fully feathered by winter do I need a 4 walled structure? Where I am thinking to set everything up has a wood building on oneside and an 8ft solid fence on the other. the 2 remaining sides would be chicken wire/hardware cloth combo. I could easily make it 3 sided by addind another wood fence pannel on the 3rd side. Then I was planing to add a metal roof to the whole area. Thoughts? Patti Belton, TX
Make it a lot warmer than you think you'll need. I raised chickens in Austin, and we ended up scrambling to keep them warm during the ice storms. And if you use any foil covered foam board insulation? Make sure they can't see the shiny side, they will peck it until nothing is left!
I'm in Amarillo and my coops are only solid on one side, with solid roofs, the rest is wire. In the winter I spend about $40 bucks on straw square bales and stack around the perimeter (depending on how big your coop is, you could stack them inside or outside). I get them for $2 per bale. It's too hot in the summer to have it enclosed, so I have little "hen houses" that are like dog houses in the open coops for shelter. The straw bales keep it nice and sheltered all winter long (and our winters can get nasty!).
