Newbie chick from Spokane

[GailJ]

I live in Spokane. Latah Valley area. We will be searching for hens here in about two weeks. Where can I purchase them? Can you also tell me what you found that is better to have for them in the home. Is it hay or wood chips? The other question I have is does the home have to be completely enclosed ? Do you have a heat lamp as some winters here can be nasty. We just moved back from Costa Rica so my mind keeps wanting to do the same thing. The weather down there is pretty much the same 365 other then the rain we got from May to Nov. My Dad 81 Chicken farmer back in his days thinks we need to enclose it. With what I have read you don't need to do that. Just keep the water from freezing and that the hens will keep each other warm. We are going cheep. We built our coop up on cinder blocks with pallet walls. We plan on placing chicken wire all around it and a placing a plastic type roof on. Any advice would be great. Thanks Gail

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

They need to be out of the wind otherwise they can freeze to death if you have cold winters. So block the wind and have the ventilation up high over their heads (like a window or vent).

You can do this with plywood- here is my coop:

So you can put some pieces of plywood on there to keep them out of the wind. Chicken wire will not keep out weasels and rats which kill chickens. I have seen weasels right in my chicken run. I am in WA state too.

1/2 inch hardware cloth is the only fencing that will keep out weasels and rats (from getting in your coop at night and killing them) but is very expensive. So you can limit it to just the vents to save money.

I use sand in the coop and scoop with kitty litter scoop daily (I wear an N95 mask as it is dangerous to breathe) as it is much cheaper than pine shavings. Pine shavings are nicer than hay but some do use hay.

Some have the "open air coops" with a big window in front but it is imperative for those coops to be very deep so the wind doesn't whip around them when they are sleeping if they are in cold weather. So it is impossible to accomplish with a tiny coop. It would need to be more like shed-sized to keep the wind off them, with a deep area in the back of the shed where they can get away from the wind.

 

[Rhodebar Lover]

They need to be out of the wind otherwise they can freeze to death if you have cold winters. So block the wind and have the ventilation up high over their heads (like a window or vent). You can do this with plywood- here is my coop: So you can put some pieces of plywood on there to keep them out of the wind. Chicken wire will not keep out weasels and rats which kill chickens. I have seen weasels right in my chicken run. I am in WA state too. 1/2 inch hardware cloth is the only fencing that will keep out weasels and rats (from getting in your coop at night and killing them) but is very expensive. So you can limit it to just the vents to save money. I use sand in the coop and scoop with kitty litter scoop daily (I wear an N95 mask as it is dangerous to breathe) as it is much cheaper than pine shavings. Pine shavings are nicer than hay but some do use hay. Some have the "open air coops" with a big window in front but it is imperative for those coops to be very deep so the wind doesn't whip around them when they are sleeping if they are in cold weather. So it is impossible to accomplish with a tiny coop. It would need to be more like shed-sized to keep the wind off them, with a deep area in the back of the shed where they can get away from the wind.

I agree with the post above and I prefer wood shavings or straw because hay retains moisture, will may and be hard to clean, and can cause crop binding