moving chicks out to the coop in winter

[starkist72]

Hi! Where in MA are you? We're near Worcester, and it's cold and wet, inside my coop is 38* today, we've had a few nights of frozen water. I have 2 big chickens that are 7 months, and 5 chicks about 6-7 weeks. The chicks have been out in the coop for a couple of weeks now, and they seem to be doing just fine.

We have a smallish coop, built for 6. When the chicks hatched I put a small wire cage on the floor so that the big chickens would get used to not using that space. When they were about 3-4 weeks I started bringing them out there for the days and in at night, after a few days I started leaving them there all the time (with a heat lamp, I didn't want to but I couldn't figure out a better alternative) after a few days of that I opened the little door so they could get out but still get away from the big chickens. After a few days of that I took the wire cage and the heat lamp away. The bigger chickens weren't excited about the chicks, but by the time I took the cage away the were indifferent. The only time they get upset is when the little chicks go into the favorite nest box, but they get chased out and have learned fast.

I'm still worried about warmth though. Although most of the chicks have started going out to the run, one's a bantam and stays inside most of the time. I've lined one of the vacant nest boxes with towels and all 5 of them pile in there to sleep, with the bantam on the bottom During the day the pop door is a big draft right at floor level. Some of the chicks can fly up to the second floor, but I haven;t seen the bantam up there yet. I am thinking about putting curtains on the pop door, but I would hate for the chicks to get stuck outside. I've also been trying to figure out a heated waterer. I don't know if a cookie tin heater or heated dog bowl would put off enough heat, but I like the idea of there being a slightly warmer spot the chicks could cuddle at to get warm. I have to figure something out soon!

 

[eje99]

I'm in the Sturbridge area. May not be too far from you, depending on which side of Worcester you're on.
It sounds like our flocks are about the same ages, but I've yet to see a single egg!

My coop is 6x8 with an attached covered run. It seems to have taken forever to get it built, and we keep modifying it already. Today I've been out wrapping the run with plastic in order to winterize it. I did move the babies (10 weeks old) old into the coop last night. I kept them in a dog crate and they seem to have done fine. Today they're in the run while all the others free-range.

I too am trying to find the "perfect" solution to keeping the water thawed. So far, I've only had it skim over a couple of mornings. I have two waterers and one was inside, so I just swapped them out.

I would love to compare more notes with you, but don't want to hijack this thread too much.

 

[starkist72]

I'm in the Sturbridge area. May not be too far from you, depending on which side of Worcester you're on.
It sounds like our flocks are about the same ages, but I've yet to see a single egg!

My coop is 6x8 with an attached covered run. It seems to have taken forever to get it built, and we keep modifying it already. Today I've been out wrapping the run with plastic in order to winterize it. I did move the babies (10 weeks old) old into the coop last night. I kept them in a dog crate and they seem to have done fine. Today they're in the run while all the others free-range.

I too am trying to find the "perfect" solution to keeping the water thawed. So far, I've only had it skim over a couple of mornings. I have two waterers and one was inside, so I just swapped them out.

I would love to compare more notes with you, but don't want to hijack this thread too much.

We're in Leicester so not far!! I started this thread so I give you permission to go ahead and hijack!

I noticed today that all the chicks were walking around on the loft enjoying looking out the window, so I feel a little better that they can get out of the breeze if needed. I'm getting tired of thawing the water bowl, not in love with any of the heated options and my husband was just going to buy something and not tell me how much it cost, but Leicester TSC is out of everything

My coop's smaller than yours, just over 4x6, and so far I've only covered a portion of my run (I have more panels here if I decide, but I want the rain to get in there and rinse everything down too) I have access to hay bales to insulate the area under the coop, but it hasn't happened yet. This weekend looks like it's going to be a coop-clean/prep weekend regardless of the weather!!!

 

[starkist72]

here are a few pictures, I'm planning on lining the mesh under the coop with hay to make a sheltered outdoor area hopefully insulating the "basement" will keep the floor a little warmer. The loft is a drop-down floor level with the window. The windows are insulated (much nicer than the ones in the people house The nest boxes are external, and I've lined the one the chicks sleep in with a towel (they get chased out of the one the big chicken uses for laying) The pop door goes into the run and is wide open, I'm thinking I might do pop-door curtains, but don't want the chicks to get stuck outside and am just hesitating on everything.

 

[eje99]

I Love your coop! And I love that your son seems to like it as well. It's so hard to settle on a design and figure out what you'll need, especially if you've never done this before!

Our coop is based on a design found on this site - the Midlife Crisis Coop. I showed the pictures of it to my husband, and this is his interpretation of it. The coop is 6x8 with interior nest boxes that are raised, so there is still available floor space under them. There are 4 roosts, each 4 ' long. The egg door is on the front and opens downward. The right side has two large doors that swing wide open and make clean out a breeze - I just scrape the dirty stuff into a tote, then toss it into the compost! On the back side are two more large doors that open to an attached, yet separate storage area. In here I keep food and miscellaneous supplies.

The attached run is is 8' x 10 or 12' (I forget). It's covered in hardware cloth that is buried in the ground. The door swings in so it will still operate if there is heavy snow outside. I like that it's covered as the birds have a dry and snow-free place to hang out. I figure I'll rake it/clean it out when necessary and claim the "mess" for the compost pile.

Clearly, it's not yet finished. In order to block cold wins and keep snow out of the run, I've put plastic sheeting up around the run.

As for the water - I purchased a heated dog bowl and that's all the local TSC had in stock. It worked, as far as keeping water thawed, but boy did it get dirty quickly. If I wanted to changed out the water 2 or three times a day, I wouldn't worry about heating it. I then ordered a heated base from Amazon. I LOVE IT! I use it with the regular gravity waterer and it works great. I'm keeping it in the run, not the coop, and the base raises the waterer off the ground enough that it stays cleaner.
So far, so good!


The little coop in the picture is one I borrowed from a neighbor (I knocked on their door and introduced myself, then asked to borrow their coop - my husband thought I was crazy!) I used it while integrating three different ages of chicks into one flock.