Newbie getting ready for winter - Insulating? Closing down Windows?

[minaayindra]

I agree with everyone as we all have unique situations. I wish my rooster hadn’t had the bit of comb frostbite- it set off some severe panic for me!

 

[dables1]

Very nice job on the coop and run! It looks completely predator proof. I assume you installed a predator apron and I can't see it under the soil. Correct?

I would also leave the pop door open year round to promote better air circulation by allowing fresh dry air to enter through the pop door and push stale damp air out through the high vents.

The only issue I see with your plan is doing deep litter. For deep litter to work, it really does better on the ground. So you would actually be doing deep bedding. But by not removing the nightly poop load, moisture will build up in the coop and may very well condense on the roof and drip back down on the birds. You can leave things as is and see how your first winter goes but I'd be inclined to install a poop board under the roost. The problem is, it would partially block the nest boxes.

When you wrap the run, leave the top of the short wall open. The triangular section. That will allow more ventilation. I have a mono-pitched roof on my run and I leave the triangle open on the end. Some snow does get in, but it's not a big deal.

The window next to the roost would need to be closed for winter. I would just close the shutters and that's it.

There is a chance the metal roof will sweat.

You certainly do not need to install insulation. I'm in NY, we get sub-zero stretches overnight (we've gone as low as -23 since having chickens) and they all do fine.

The key is to keep the coop as dry as possible with no drafts directly on the roosted birds that is strong enough to open feathers. With your ventilation position, you shouldn't have a problem. You can always install baffles if you need to.

Definitely do not block off any of the ventilation. I calculated just over 6 square feet of permanently open ventilation. As long as you keep up on removing the poop load and keeping the coop dry, I think they'll do fine.

The birds will still come out during the winter. What have you added to the run since completing the coop? Do you have perches in there, things to fly up on, a good substrate for them to scratch around in and dust bathe in?

Do you have power out there? You will want to heat the drinking water. I keep all the water in the run because the pop door stays open in my setup permanently.

We live in Texas and only have three chickens in town. We have a small coop that has an outside roost as well as one inside enclosed near the nest boxes. Last winter we had an ice age for about a week. While the chicken water stayed frozen for a week we had to move to relatives and check daily on the birds to give them water and feed...we noticed they stayed outside on the roost. Never did they go inside. It only got down to 0-2 degrees but those birds stayed outside in the wind and cold to bask on the roost. They not only survived they seemed to prosper. So chickens are some tough characters.

 

[SubArcticFowl]

I have a question; for uncrowded well ventilated coops without heat, does insulation really do anything? I have four birds in a 6'x8'x8' coop with about 10 sqft of overhead ventilation with the pop door open 24/7. I have a thermometer inside and outside in the shade. The inside always measures just slightly colder than the outside. The only point I see in adding insulation is it cutting out the drafts, but unless I add heat or a ton of birds, i just don't see the coop retaining heat.

 

[chickencoop57]

Wow, I’m so glad to find someone who is as invested in their feathered family as I am! Absolutely beautiful coop- you took time for sure.

Bear with me because I know you have had a lot of answers but I want to chime in with my personal notes. We all have our opinions/set-ups so you can just take what you want from them. My set-up has worked beautifully for 3 1/2 years so I’m very pleased with it.

I have 5 coops, custom-built, to meet my chickens’ and guineas’ needs for our climate and area. I have most 10x12’ but we also have a 16x16’ bigger one. I have a total of 1 rooster and 17 hens, with 2 guinea hens and 4 guinea guys living in their own coop. We live on top of a mountain, about 2200 feet up, so it gets considerably colder and windier than in the valleys. I still think you are colder in the winter because we rarely drop below zero but we do get up over 90 at times in the summer, which seems to be more frequent every year. Most importantly, living in the middle of nowhere and in a heavily forested area, we have predators and lots of them! Bears, coyotes, bobcats, a lone weasel, possums, huge hawks, etc. These were and still are a huge concern, especially as I won’t hurt any of my visitors- they have a right to live too and it’s my job to make it so difficult to take a run at my gu that they move on.

The coops are all made with tongue and groove pine walls, metal roofs, and electrical outlets inside. The roofs are lined with thin foam for an extra insulation factor and the small gaps between the roof grooves and the outer walls are filled with expandable foam to prevent any small creature entry. Each has three windows with screens lining one wall, a long locked and screened pull-down hatch on the opposite side, a door on one end near the roof peak with a grilled vent and a fan running in front of it to increase the ventilation factor and a run entrance through wooden latched doors (used to be the automatic but I had significant problems with them so I went back to low-tech) on the other end. There are multiple perches inside and an entire row of nesting boxes under the windows, accessible from inside and outside via a locked pull-up door. I made curtains to cover the boxes so they would have privacy, which significantly decreases their stress level when nesting. I also have red lighting that comes on at night, which doesn’t even register with them. While I have lights on the ceilings, I don’t usually turn them on in the daytime, even in winter-dark. There are scattered radiant heating plates on interior walls, the flat ones you can easily get through Amazon, and I have elevated nipple-waterers and drum feeders on the floors. The flooring inside and in the outdoor runs is all construction sand. Outside the buildings we have runs made with 1/4” hardware cloth and swing out full-size doors for people entry. All of the chickens/rooster can see each other (but I only let each group put individually because of some serious “personality issues”). We did bury a large apron of tight wire completely around each coop to stop any predator digging and also put a gravel border on top of tarps around each coop to keep vegetation from growing too close to the coops themselves. Clean out long doors run along one side if I ever used bedding. There are weather-proof radios attached to each coop and there are “night-eyes” around the coops and spread randomly in immediate surrounding areas. In case you’re thinking we must be 18 and super-energetic, wrong! We are in our 60’s, I have health issues that preclude my doing the grunt work and my husband gets the joys of anything that goes wrong. I am the adoring chicken mom who reaps the love and fun factors.

When we first started out, I did lots of research on their living quarters and these are the fruits of my intellectual endeavors. Obviously, some would work for you and others might not.

While I see many people have an affinity for the pine bedding that you can continue to put new layers on, I found it very difficult to deal with as far as clean-out, we did get moisture in it from settling waste, it was not very good-smelling and it became expensive to keep refreshing. I worried a lot about disease that could start in it so it simply wasn’t viable for us. Sand is a one and done expense! I have no trouble with any moisture in it after the initial drying period when set up and it is SO simple to just pick up the daily feces with a kitty scooper, even in those floor and run dimensions. The outside run sand does occasionally get wet during storms but it dries out quickly and the birds seem to know to stay off of it until then. This decision, out of all others, has made me happiest!

The predator-proofing speaks for itself and is useful if you have those issues. I have never lost a single chicken or guinea to break-ins and only one guinea hen years ago who decided she should relocate her nest into the woods and was taken by coyotes overnight. I stay out with them when they have their daily free-range activities or stay nearby in the house to run out for pending hawk fly-overs. The guineas are wonderful at alarming for any danger so you know to run if they start squawking their predator noises. My rooster is a grand protector but doesn’t have the finely-tuned instincts to know when something is hiding nearby… he relies on the guineas as his early warning system-haha. I know this approach isn’t feasible if you aren’t home all the time so I keep them secured whenever we are away. I have learned that weasels and other similarly flexible and small predators can squeeze through the tiniest spaces, hence why we were so careful to seal everything. The grated and screened vents let in plenty of air but are not conducive to attack, particularly with the fan going.

There are always the varied opinions regarding providing heat in the winter and people swear by their methods one way or the other. I agree that chickens do well even in very cold temperatures: however, our wind factor can drop the temps so low due to wind-chill, and with their insulating feathers being blown around, I’m not comfortable at natural. In addition, their feet can get frostbite if they aren’t sitting on them most of the time. The rooster and hen combs can also frostbite and a small area of my roosters comb did just that the first year; hence all the heating plates. First, your water must, must, must stay heated to prevent freezing and deceased birds, we use a plate designed for that and it stays in the water dispenser all winter. The wall heating plates are simply radiant heat that never get hot enough to burn anybody, certainly not enough to set fires. I staggered them at multiple levels so there would always be areas with no heat and others they could crowd around. Foam insulating, even the very thin sheets, does help to cut the cold of the metal roofs; since guineas like to roost up high, it’s a little extra protection for these birds native to Africa. The coops never get warm, warm but it provides a little protection frthe very cold temps.

As far as eggs, my gals must be hyper-achievers. While their egg production, in all of their breeds, kicks into high gear for the warm months, as in daily, they never stop laying completely in the winter, no matter how cold and dark. They don’t get any additional light and some research has shown it is far healthier for the layers to have the down-time during the winter months. For commercial purposes this isn’t apparently feasible, but for “pets”, I’m shooting for the most natural and healthy ways to do things. I think your fairy lights are a brilliant idea if you are only putting them on a few hours in the daytime and fighting the dark and gloomy weather you sometimes get. It would probably make that beautiful coop even more so!

I did kind the walls with empty feed bags when we first started out; this led me to discover that some intrepid birds like to pull paper off the bags and there are the hidden thin strings that can be pulled loose. One day I found one of my girls had lassoed herself with the string and was thoroughly disgusted with the situation! I guess I thought about the potential hazard if it had tightened around her neck so they all came down (sorry Chicken Chick). I have had no problems with dirty walls and the feces are so visible on the sand that it eliminates any need for bags or boards to see their poop.

View attachment 2860219View attachment 2860203View attachment 2860212View attachment 2860219
This is Glenn, lover of girls. You can see the wall and the pull-down slot that runs the length of the building. As you see, we had just started lining with feed bags but discarded them later.


This string has been fascinating and lengthy so I’m sure I’ve lost track of any other subjects. As I said, reading everyone’s thoughts is always a good idea as we are all trying to get to the same place- healthier companions! Best of luck and I remain jealous of your beautiful paint job! View attachment 2860203
Just for fun, this is Bonnie when she laid her first egg- she decided to climb into the bag of pine shavings and set her nest there. They aren’t the smartest when they first start laying but I thought this was a clever idea!View attachment 2860212
Outer door and ramp for run. You might notice we had the door insulated on the back to form a very tight seal when closed.
View attachment 2860223
Interior before completion-View attachment 2860235
Gary and Georgia- you can see the best texture of sand I’ve found.View attachment 2860243
Windows in smallest coop, nesting boxes being constructed.

can’t seem to find my exterior building shots but you get the idea.

This string has been fascinating and lengthy so I’m sure I’ve lost track of any other subjects. As I said, reading everyone’s thoughts is always a good idea as we are all trying to get to the same place- healthier companions! Best of luck and I remain jealous of your beautiful paint job!

Wow, I’m so glad to find someone who is as invested in their feathered family as I am! Absolutely beautiful coop- you took time for sure.

Bear with me because I know you have had a lot of answers but I want to chime in with my personal notes. We all have our opinions/set-ups so you can just take what you want from them. My set-up has worked beautifully for 3 1/2 years so I’m very pleased with it.

I have 5 coops, custom-built, to meet my chickens’ and guineas’ needs for our climate and area. I have most 10x12’ but we also have a 16x16’ bigger one. I have a total of 1 rooster and 17 hens, with 2 guinea hens and 4 guinea guys living in their own coop. We live on top of a mountain, about 2200 feet up, so it gets considerably colder and windier than in the valleys. I still think you are colder in the winter because we rarely drop below zero but we do get up over 90 at times in the summer, which seems to be more frequent every year. Most importantly, living in the middle of nowhere and in a heavily forested area, we have predators and lots of them! Bears, coyotes, bobcats, a lone weasel, possums, huge hawks, etc. These were and still are a huge concern, especially as I won’t hurt any of my visitors- they have a right to live too and it’s my job to make it so difficult to take a run at my gu that they move on.

The coops are all made with tongue and groove pine walls, metal roofs, and electrical outlets inside. The roofs are lined with thin foam for an extra insulation factor and the small gaps between the roof grooves and the outer walls are filled with expandable foam to prevent any small creature entry. Each has three windows with screens lining one wall, a long locked and screened pull-down hatch on the opposite side, a door on one end near the roof peak with a grilled vent and a fan running in front of it to increase the ventilation factor and a run entrance through wooden latched doors (used to be the automatic but I had significant problems with them so I went back to low-tech) on the other end. There are multiple perches inside and an entire row of nesting boxes under the windows, accessible from inside and outside via a locked pull-up door. I made curtains to cover the boxes so they would have privacy, which significantly decreases their stress level when nesting. I also have red lighting that comes on at night, which doesn’t even register with them. While I have lights on the ceilings, I don’t usually turn them on in the daytime, even in winter-dark. There are scattered radiant heating plates on interior walls, the flat ones you can easily get through Amazon, and I have elevated nipple-waterers and drum feeders on the floors. The flooring inside and in the outdoor runs is all construction sand. Outside the buildings we have runs made with 1/4” hardware cloth and swing out full-size doors for people entry. All of the chickens/rooster can see each other (but I only let each group put individually because of some serious “personality issues”). We did bury a large apron of tight wire completely around each coop to stop any predator digging and also put a gravel border on top of tarps around each coop to keep vegetation from growing too close to the coops themselves. Clean out long doors run along one side if I ever used bedding. There are weather-proof radios attached to each coop and there are “night-eyes” around the coops and spread randomly in immediate surrounding areas. In case you’re thinking we must be 18 and super-energetic, wrong! We are in our 60’s, I have health issues that preclude my doing the grunt work and my husband gets the joys of anything that goes wrong. I am the adoring chicken mom who reaps the love and fun factors.

When we first started out, I did lots of research on their living quarters and these are the fruits of my intellectual endeavors. Obviously, some would work for you and others might not.

While I see many people have an affinity for the pine bedding that you can continue to put new layers on, I found it very difficult to deal with as far as clean-out, we did get moisture in it from settling waste, it was not very good-smelling and it became expensive to keep refreshing. I worried a lot about disease that could start in it so it simply wasn’t viable for us. Sand is a one and done expense! I have no trouble with any moisture in it after the initial drying period when set up and it is SO simple to just pick up the daily feces with a kitty scooper, even in those floor and run dimensions. The outside run sand does occasionally get wet during storms but it dries out quickly and the birds seem to know to stay off of it until then. This decision, out of all others, has made me happiest!

The predator-proofing speaks for itself and is useful if you have those issues. I have never lost a single chicken or guinea to break-ins and only one guinea hen years ago who decided she should relocate her nest into the woods and was taken by coyotes overnight. I stay out with them when they have their daily free-range activities or stay nearby in the house to run out for pending hawk fly-overs. The guineas are wonderful at alarming for any danger so you know to run if they start squawking their predator noises. My rooster is a grand protector but doesn’t have the finely-tuned instincts to know when something is hiding nearby… he relies on the guineas as his early warning system-haha. I know this approach isn’t feasible if you aren’t home all the time so I keep them secured whenever we are away. I have learned that weasels and other similarly flexible and small predators can squeeze through the tiniest spaces, hence why we were so careful to seal everything. The grated and screened vents let in plenty of air but are not conducive to attack, particularly with the fan going.

There are always the varied opinions regarding providing heat in the winter and people swear by their methods one way or the other. I agree that chickens do well even in very cold temperatures: however, our wind factor can drop the temps so low due to wind-chill, and with their insulating feathers being blown around, I’m not comfortable at natural. In addition, their feet can get frostbite if they aren’t sitting on them most of the time. The rooster and hen combs can also frostbite and a small area of my roosters comb did just that the first year; hence all the heating plates. First, your water must, must, must stay heated to prevent freezing and deceased birds, we use a plate designed for that and it stays in the water dispenser all winter. The wall heating plates are simply radiant heat that never get hot enough to burn anybody, certainly not enough to set fires. I staggered them at multiple levels so there would always be areas with no heat and others they could crowd around. Foam insulating, even the very thin sheets, does help to cut the cold of the metal roofs; since guineas like to roost up high, it’s a little extra protection for these birds native to Africa. The coops never get warm, warm but it provides a little protection frthe very cold temps.

As far as eggs, my gals must be hyper-achievers. While their egg production, in all of their breeds, kicks into high gear for the warm months, as in daily, they never stop laying completely in the winter, no matter how cold and dark. They don’t get any additional light and some research has shown it is far healthier for the layers to have the down-time during the winter months. For commercial purposes this isn’t apparently feasible, but for “pets”, I’m shooting for the most natural and healthy ways to do things. I think your fairy lights are a brilliant idea if you are only putting them on a few hours in the daytime and fighting the dark and gloomy weather you sometimes get. It would probably make that beautiful coop even more so!

I did kind the walls with empty feed bags when we first started out; this led me to discover that some intrepid birds like to pull paper off the bags and there are the hidden thin strings that can be pulled loose. One day I found one of my girls had lassoed herself with the string and was thoroughly disgusted with the situation! I guess I thought about the potential hazard if it had tightened around her neck so they all came down (sorry Chicken Chick). I have had no problems with dirty walls and the feces are so visible on the sand that it eliminates any need for bags or boards to see their poop.

View attachment 2860219View attachment 2860203View attachment 2860212View attachment 2860219
This is Glenn, lover of girls. You can see the wall and the pull-down slot that runs the length of the building. As you see, we had just started lining with feed bags but discarded them later.


This string has been fascinating and lengthy so I’m sure I’ve lost track of any other subjects. As I said, reading everyone’s thoughts is always a good idea as we are all trying to get to the same place- healthier companions! Best of luck and I remain jealous of your beautiful paint job! View attachment 2860203
Just for fun, this is Bonnie when she laid her first egg- she decided to climb into the bag of pine shavings and set her nest there. They aren’t the smartest when they first start laying but I thought this was a clever idea!View attachment 2860212
Outer door and ramp for run. You might notice we had the door insulated on the back to form a very tight seal when closed.
View attachment 2860223
Interior before completion-View attachment 2860235
Gary and Georgia- you can see the best texture of sand I’ve found.View attachment 2860243
Windows in smallest coop, nesting boxes being constructed.

can’t seem to find my exterior building shots but you get the idea.

This string has been fascinating and lengthy so I’m sure I’ve lost track of any other subjects. As I said, reading everyone’s thoughts is always a good idea as we are all trying to get to the same place- healthier companions! Best of luck and I remain jealous of your beautiful paint job!

Wow, I’m so glad to find someone who is as invested in their feathered family as I am! Absolutely beautiful coop- you took time for sure.

Bear with me because I know you have had a lot of answers but I want to chime in with my personal notes. We all have our opinions/set-ups so you can just take what you want from them. My set-up has worked beautifully for 3 1/2 years so I’m very pleased with it.

I have 5 coops, custom-built, to meet my chickens’ and guineas’ needs for our climate and area. I have most 10x12’ but we also have a 16x16’ bigger one. I have a total of 1 rooster and 17 hens, with 2 guinea hens and 4 guinea guys living in their own coop. We live on top of a mountain, about 2200 feet up, so it gets considerably colder and windier than in the valleys. I still think you are colder in the winter because we rarely drop below zero but we do get up over 90 at times in the summer, which seems to be more frequent every year. Most importantly, living in the middle of nowhere and in a heavily forested area, we have predators and lots of them! Bears, coyotes, bobcats, a lone weasel, possums, huge hawks, etc. These were and still are a huge concern, especially as I won’t hurt any of my visitors- they have a right to live too and it’s my job to make it so difficult to take a run at my gu that they move on.

The coops are all made with tongue and groove pine walls, metal roofs, and electrical outlets inside. The roofs are lined with thin foam for an extra insulation factor and the small gaps between the roof grooves and the outer walls are filled with expandable foam to prevent any small creature entry. Each has three windows with screens lining one wall, a long locked and screened pull-down hatch on the opposite side, a door on one end near the roof peak with a grilled vent and a fan running in front of it to increase the ventilation factor and a run entrance through wooden latched doors (used to be the automatic but I had significant problems with them so I went back to low-tech) on the other end. There are multiple perches inside and an entire row of nesting boxes under the windows, accessible from inside and outside via a locked pull-up door. I made curtains to cover the boxes so they would have privacy, which significantly decreases their stress level when nesting. I also have red lighting that comes on at night, which doesn’t even register with them. While I have lights on the ceilings, I don’t usually turn them on in the daytime, even in winter-dark. There are scattered radiant heating plates on interior walls, the flat ones you can easily get through Amazon, and I have elevated nipple-waterers and drum feeders on the floors. The flooring inside and in the outdoor runs is all construction sand. Outside the buildings we have runs made with 1/4” hardware cloth and swing out full-size doors for people entry. All of the chickens/rooster can see each other (but I only let each group put individually because of some serious “personality issues”). We did bury a large apron of tight wire completely around each coop to stop any predator digging and also put a gravel border on top of tarps around each coop to keep vegetation from growing too close to the coops themselves. Clean out long doors run along one side if I ever used bedding. There are weather-proof radios attached to each coop and there are “night-eyes” around the coops and spread randomly in immediate surrounding areas. In case you’re thinking we must be 18 and super-energetic, wrong! We are in our 60’s, I have health issues that preclude my doing the grunt work and my husband gets the joys of anything that goes wrong. I am the adoring chicken mom who reaps the love and fun factors.

When we first started out, I did lots of research on their living quarters and these are the fruits of my intellectual endeavors. Obviously, some would work for you and others might not.

While I see many people have an affinity for the pine bedding that you can continue to put new layers on, I found it very difficult to deal with as far as clean-out, we did get moisture in it from settling waste, it was not very good-smelling and it became expensive to keep refreshing. I worried a lot about disease that could start in it so it simply wasn’t viable for us. Sand is a one and done expense! I have no trouble with any moisture in it after the initial drying period when set up and it is SO simple to just pick up the daily feces with a kitty scooper, even in those floor and run dimensions. The outside run sand does occasionally get wet during storms but it dries out quickly and the birds seem to know to stay off of it until then. This decision, out of all others, has made me happiest!

The predator-proofing speaks for itself and is useful if you have those issues. I have never lost a single chicken or guinea to break-ins and only one guinea hen years ago who decided she should relocate her nest into the woods and was taken by coyotes overnight. I stay out with them when they have their daily free-range activities or stay nearby in the house to run out for pending hawk fly-overs. The guineas are wonderful at alarming for any danger so you know to run if they start squawking their predator noises. My rooster is a grand protector but doesn’t have the finely-tuned instincts to know when something is hiding nearby… he relies on the guineas as his early warning system-haha. I know this approach isn’t feasible if you aren’t home all the time so I keep them secured whenever we are away. I have learned that weasels and other similarly flexible and small predators can squeeze through the tiniest spaces, hence why we were so careful to seal everything. The grated and screened vents let in plenty of air but are not conducive to attack, particularly with the fan going.

There are always the varied opinions regarding providing heat in the winter and people swear by their methods one way or the other. I agree that chickens do well even in very cold temperatures: however, our wind factor can drop the temps so low due to wind-chill, and with their insulating feathers being blown around, I’m not comfortable at natural. In addition, their feet can get frostbite if they aren’t sitting on them most of the time. The rooster and hen combs can also frostbite and a small area of my roosters comb did just that the first year; hence all the heating plates. First, your water must, must, must stay heated to prevent freezing and deceased birds, we use a plate designed for that and it stays in the water dispenser all winter. The wall heating plates are simply radiant heat that never get hot enough to burn anybody, certainly not enough to set fires. I staggered them at multiple levels so there would always be areas with no heat and others they could crowd around. Foam insulating, even the very thin sheets, does help to cut the cold of the metal roofs; since guineas like to roost up high, it’s a little extra protection for these birds native to Africa. The coops never get warm, warm but it provides a little protection frthe very cold temps.

As far as eggs, my gals must be hyper-achievers. While their egg production, in all of their breeds, kicks into high gear for the warm months, as in daily, they never stop laying completely in the winter, no matter how cold and dark. They don’t get any additional light and some research has shown it is far healthier for the layers to have the down-time during the winter months. For commercial purposes this isn’t apparently feasible, but for “pets”, I’m shooting for the most natural and healthy ways to do things. I think your fairy lights are a brilliant idea if you are only putting them on a few hours in the daytime and fighting the dark and gloomy weather you sometimes get. It would probably make that beautiful coop even more so!

I did kind the walls with empty feed bags when we first started out; this led me to discover that some intrepid birds like to pull paper off the bags and there are the hidden thin strings that can be pulled loose. One day I found one of my girls had lassoed herself with the string and was thoroughly disgusted with the situation! I guess I thought about the potential hazard if it had tightened around her neck so they all came down (sorry Chicken Chick). I have had no problems with dirty walls and the feces are so visible on the sand that it eliminates any need for bags or boards to see their poop.

View attachment 2860219View attachment 2860203View attachment 2860212View attachment 2860219
This is Glenn, lover of girls. You can see the wall and the pull-down slot that runs the length of the building. As you see, we had just started lining with feed bags but discarded them later.


This string has been fascinating and lengthy so I’m sure I’ve lost track of any other subjects. As I said, reading everyone’s thoughts is always a good idea as we are all trying to get to the same place- healthier companions! Best of luck and I remain jealous of your beautiful paint job! View attachment 2860203
Just for fun, this is Bonnie when she laid her first egg- she decided to climb into the bag of pine shavings and set her nest there. They aren’t the smartest when they first start laying but I thought this was a clever idea!View attachment 2860212
Outer door and ramp for run. You might notice we had the door insulated on the back to form a very tight seal when closed.
View attachment 2860223
Interior before completion-View attachment 2860235
Gary and Georgia- you can see the best texture of sand I’ve found.View attachment 2860243
Windows in smallest coop, nesting boxes being constructed.

can’t seem to find my exterior building shots but you get the idea.

This string has been fascinating and lengthy so I’m sure I’ve lost track of any other subjects. As I said, reading everyone’s thoughts is always a good idea as we are all trying to get to the same place- healthier companions! Best of luck and I remain jealous of your beautiful paint job!

Wow, that was a mouthful minaayindra, but a lot of us can't afford the setup you have. I'm just poor folk and make due with what I got and can afford and that works for me. That being said, you do have a nice setup and I'm glad for you. FYI, the lil coop I built could probably withstand a bear attack, but we ain't got none in south Texas!

 

[3KillerBs]

for uncrowded well ventilated coops without heat, does insulation really do anything?

It provides an excellent winter home for rodents.

Seriously, if you have a metal roof it *may* develop a condensation problem depending on your precise climate and ventilation situation. If it does, insulating under the roof can prevent the condensation.

 

[avjudge]

. . . we have a ton of predators. So far a bear, fox, skunk and cat. Luckily the bear went for the bird feeder instead of the chickens - my coop and run are definitely not bear proof. But I guess that is why I always shut the pop door at night just as extra protection just in case something should get into the run. . .

I just read to the end of the thread and I didn't see anyone address this -

Bear-proofing is something you definitely should put on your to-do list. Our neighbors, who have had chickens for decades, have lost them to bears 4 times, the last 3 over about the last decade. You can see pictures from the last loss here.

The bear have gone through fairly flimsy metal siding on a tractor, through a fence while the electric wire (two strands mounted on stand-off insulators along the outside of their mesh run fence) was turned off, through the clapboard side of the summer (freestanding) coop, and through the 1" boards that formed the front of their winter coop in the barn (barn door was open).

Bears have not (to date) gone through a live electric fence in my experience.

 

[MaggieRose2001]

Impressed with your coup. Won't let my chicks see it ‘cause they’ll be complaining that theirs isn’t cute enough. Here’s just an idea I use: In winter I deep litter in the secure run, but in the coop I place a deep amount of pine shavings for insulation but always clean out their droppings each morning so there’s no build up of moisture. Never had a problem with smell or moisture. I don’t use lights but they laid all winter just the same. I think it depends on breed.

LOL. Thank you for compliment! I love the idea of cleaning the poop out. I’ve been thinking about how to go about it. I’ve seen where some people hang something under the roost, but I don’t think my coop lends itself to that. I think I’ll pick up a kitty litter scoop this week and see if that works. Thanks for the suggestion!!

 

[Uphillfarmswinthrop]

Very nice job on the coop and run! It looks completely predator proof. I assume you installed a predator apron and I can't see it under the soil. Correct?

I would also leave the pop door open year round to promote better air circulation by allowing fresh dry air to enter through the pop door and push stale damp air out through the high vents.

The only issue I see with your plan is doing deep litter. For deep litter to work, it really does better on the ground. So you would actually be doing deep bedding. But by not removing the nightly poop load, moisture will build up in the coop and may very well condense on the roof and drip back down on the birds. You can leave things as is and see how your first winter goes but I'd be inclined to install a poop board under the roost. The problem is, it would partially block the nest boxes.

When you wrap the run, leave the top of the short wall open. The triangular section. That will allow more ventilation. I have a mono-pitched roof on my run and I leave the triangle open on the end. Some snow does get in, but it's not a big deal.

The window next to the roost would need to be closed for winter. I would just close the shutters and that's it.

There is a chance the metal roof will sweat.

You certainly do not need to install insulation. I'm in NY, we get sub-zero stretches overnight (we've gone as low as -23 since having chickens) and they all do fine.

The key is to keep the coop as dry as possible with no drafts directly on the roosted birds that is strong enough to open feathers. With your ventilation position, you shouldn't have a problem. You can always install baffles if you need to.

Definitely do not block off any of the ventilation. I calculated just over 6 square feet of permanently open ventilation. As long as you keep up on removing the poop load and keeping the coop dry, I think they'll do fine.

The birds will still come out during the winter. What have you added to the run since completing the coop? Do you have perches in there, things to fly up on, a good substrate for them to scratch around in and dust bathe in?

Do you have power out there? You will want to heat the drinking water. I keep all the water in the run because the pop door stays open in my setup permanently.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

We live in Texas and only have three chickens in town. We have a small coop that has an outside roost as well as one inside enclosed near the nest boxes. Last winter we had an ice age for about a week. While the chicken water stayed frozen for a week we had to move to relatives and check daily on the birds to give them water and feed...we noticed they stayed outside on the roost. Never did they go inside. It only got down to 0-2 degrees but those birds stayed outside in the wind and cold to bask on the roost. They not only survived they seemed to prosper. So chickens are some tough characters.

High heat is FAR FAR more concerning (and, for most of us, more common) to chickens than extreme colds. I left TX about two years ago, traded it for FL, and am deliberately selecting birds for heat tolerance.

The #1 thing new chicken owners can do for their birds is to not think of them as humans. Once you stop putting yourself in their shoes, you are far more likely to find the solution they need, rather than assume what make you comfortable/benefits you is best for them.

OP has recieved a lot of great advice in this thread, and plenty of useful, if anecdotal, experience. I'm stepping off.

 

[MaggieRose2001]

I can understand your concerns, I’m in northwest NY, and the February days where it gets down in the negative teens always make me feel bad for them. What I do is put sand at the bottom of my deep litter to absorb moisture, put straw bails around the base of my coop and run for insulation, and put Vaseline on combs and wattles on the coldest days. The worst I’ve ever had happen was one rooster with a little frost bite spot on his extra large wattles, that healed quickly. But I’ve started buying northern chicken breeds like Chantecler, Breda, Icelandic, because I just feel like it’s unfair to the temperate climate breeds to make them shiver through our winter. Just my two cents.

I agree with you on buying the right breeds. I made sure all of mine are meant for cold weather - except for my two Polish. I’m starting to regret getting them. Cute - but totally brainless! I have a feeling they are going to be high maintenance this winter.

I like the idea of putting hay bales around the coop and run - do you find that encourages rodents?