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Hi! I also live in Maine!

The big thing about the winter is to give them perches. If their feet don't touch the ground less thermal exchange. They can also just curl up on the perches and keep warm that way. Have fun raising chickens. Also, give them a lot of hay in the winter if you want to. :)
 
DobieLover said:
Hello and welcome to BYC! :frow Glad you joined.
Your younger pullets that are not laying yet will not be fully accepted into the flock until they start to lay.
You are going to want a coop large enough to house ALL the chickens when the PBRs are ready to be outside. You need 3.5 to 4 sq ft of space in the coop.
It's a shed to coop conversion so you will be able to walk in it at that is a very good thing! There are lots of shed to coop conversion articles you can look at in the Articles sections. Mine happens to be one of them. They will give you lots of ideas on how to lay out the shed to make it into a coop.
Good luck with the build and raising your chicks when they arrive. Which reminds me, use a brooder plate or a momma heat pad instead of a heat lamp for your heat source. It is far closer to the way a mother warms her chicks and the chicks tend to not get pasty butt.
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Wow, thank you for the information!! Yes, I learned quickly I wanted a coop with an adult size door. I can get in the door and almost stand once inside the current coop. Not fun cleaning hunched over. I will check out the coop conversion articles for sure!! As for the 2 not laying, I'm happy to hear they will be accepted once they are laying. I was just readying about intergrating chicks to the flock. I'm trying to plan the Shed layout and some good ways to intergrate all in one coop. Come winter I only want one coop with hens. I will look into a brooder plate or mamma heat pad. Thank you for the suggestion. I'm hoping all these start up costs will pay for themselfs some day. :lau Just kidding....this is my new hobbie that I have been planning on doing for years. We purchased a new home with several out buildings so I have space now. Thanks again DobieLover
 
DogAndCat36 said:
Hi! I also live in Maine!

The big thing about the winter is to give them perches. If their feet don't touch the ground less thermal exchange. They can also just curl up on the perches and keep warm that way. Have fun raising chickens. Also, give them a lot of hay in the winter if you want to. :)
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Thank you DogAndCat36!! Any advice I can get from a fellow Mainer, I will take.
 
SherryHV said:
Wow, thank you for the information!! Yes, I learned quickly I wanted a coop with an adult size door. I can get in the door and almost stand once inside the current coop. Not fun cleaning hunched over. I will check out the coop conversion articles for sure!! As for the 2 not laying, I'm happy to hear they will be accepted once they are laying. I was just readying about intergrating chicks to the flock. I'm trying to plan the Shed layout and some good ways to intergrate all in one coop. Come winter I only want one coop with hens. I will look into a brooder plate or mamma heat pad. Thank you for the suggestion. I'm hoping all these start up costs will pay for themselfs some day. :lau Just kidding....this is my new hobbie that I have been planning on doing for years. We purchased a new home with several out buildings so I have space now. Thanks again DobieLover
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Click on the My Coop link under my avatar and it will take you to the article I wrote on my shed to coop conversion. There is a lot of information in there and it may help you with your planning. I also included a built-in brooder with attached run in the design. I currently use that space as a maternity ward for broody hens.
All the money we invest in keeping chickens is a pittance compared to what others invest in their chosen hobbies. And IMO our chosen hobby is an endless reward.
 
SherryHV said:
Thank you DogAndCat36!! Any advice I can get from a fellow Mainer, I will take.
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Oh ya, I forgot to tell you a few more things, sorry. The biggest pain of winter. You will need to get a water heater and if you want eggs during the winter, use a light bulb, I think that it is a fluorescent or LED, the light would need to be covered with a protecting metal thing. If you plan to give your chickens extra heat during the winter, be really careful because the chance of a fire can become hight. Also, one more thing, I heard that corn is good of heat for chickens in the winter, I mix a bit in my chicken feed for my chickens during the winter. :)
 
DogAndCat36 said:
Oh ya, I forgot to tell you a few more things, sorry. The biggest pain of winter. You will need to get a water heater and if you want eggs during the winter, use a light bulb, I think that it is a fluorescent or LED, the light would need to be covered with a protecting metal thing. If you plan to give your chickens extra heat during the winter, be really careful because the chance of a fire can become hight. Also, one more thing, I heard that corn is good of heat for chickens in the winter, I mix a bit in my chicken feed for my chickens during the winter. :)
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You don't need to supplement light to get eggs in winter. Get new pullets in the spring and they will lay through the winter. Hens need a break from laying to molt and rest. Winter is when they do that.
You can use seedling heat mats under the nest box material to keep eggs from freezing. The mats can either be plugged in each morning or plugged into a thermocube that will power them on when the temp drops below 40F. Eggs freeze at 28F.
I would avoid supplemental heat as well. You want the coop DRY and very well ventilated, especially in winter. You just don't want drafts on the birds that can blow open their feathers. Leaky windows that allow air in through the gaps is fine as long as the gaps are less than 1/2" and the drafts don't open feathers.
FOOD prior to roost time is what they need. They should have nice full crops when they go to roost. The thermogenesis from digesting corn isn't significantly higher than digesting a complete chicken feed with the proper amount of protein. Speaking of which, I strongly advise feeding a complete feed that offers 18 -20% protein for life. That means no layer feed as I've yet to find one that offers that level of protein. So to get the calcium that layers need for shell formation, offer several containers of oyster shell for them to pick at.
 
DobieLover said:
You don't need to supplement light to get eggs in winter. Get new pullets in the spring and they will lay through the winter. Hens need a break from laying to molt and rest. Winter is when they do that.
You can use seedling heat mats under the nest box material to keep eggs from freezing. The mats can either be plugged in each morning or plugged into a thermocube that will power them on when the temp drops below 40F. Eggs freeze at 28F.
I would avoid supplemental heat as well. You want the coop DRY and very well ventilated, especially in winter. You just don't want drafts on the birds that can blow open their feathers. Leaky windows that allow air in through the gaps is fine as long as the gaps are less than 1/2" and the drafts don't open feathers.
FOOD prior to roost time is what they need. They should have nice full crops when they go to roost. The thermogenesis from digesting corn isn't significantly higher than digesting a complete chicken feed with the proper amount of protein. Speaking of which, I strongly advise feeding a complete feed that offers 18 -20% protein for life. That means no layer feed as I've yet to find one that offers that level of protein. So to get the calcium that layers need for shell formation, offer several containers of oyster shell for them to pick at.
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Ok, my bad. :)
 

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