Multiple feet of snow.

[Silkielove1944]

This is the new one:

Winterized enough?

 

[Mybackyardpeepers]

I have a flock of silkies. Their run is completely covered and 75% walled off with plastic. It does not get that damp inside, and has leaves and straw. Inside my coop I have pine flake bedding with straw ontop. Like mentioned keep them dry and out of direct drafts.

 

[Silkielove1944]

Plastic? I've never heard of it, what kind?
Yeah...I was worried about the damping...Thanks for all your input!

 

[aart]

This is the new one:

Winterized enough?

Coop looks pretty closed up, ventilation is way more important than 'warmth' or insulation.

Is that in place at your house?
Do you have a run?

 

[Silkielove1944]

Is that bad? I can get a different one. I just have to pay the rest to get it.
No, not yet, anyway.

Is that the same thing as allowing them free roam?

 

[trumpeting_angel]

A run is the fenced “outside”’area. There is a run in your first set of photos.

In the second set, the gray coops, the roosts seem to be at the same level as the windows. The windows should be well over their heads, so the wind doesn’t blow right on them. But they need plenty of ventilation - about 1 sq ft per bird. And a roofed run, perhaps surrounded by hay bales, allows them to get outdoors.

 

[wamtazlady]

What part of Montana? I live in Kalispell. I know the weather on the east side of the Rockies is windier than what we get here, and some areas get way more snow.

My coop is 6 by 8 feet, built for 12 birds. It has 10 square feet of ventilation that is never closed. The vents are up high under the eaves. The roosts are down low, only about 20 inches high. A dry chicken is a warm chicken. Chickens make a lot of moisture when they breathe and poop. A chicken can get frostbite at just below freezing in a moist coop without sufficient ventilation. A chicken can do just fine at -20 in a well ventilated coop.

The run is covered on 3 sides this time of year and my run is also roofed. Water and feed is kept outside. Do not want the water adding any moisture inside the coop. Have never lost a bird in the winter and it gets down to -20+ F here during the winter.