Northern Minnesota Coop

[heyjo167]

Hi! My name is Joell & I'm new to this site & raising chickens. We purchased 8 chicks a few days ago (2 of each - Americana, production red, barred rock & gold star). I wondered if any of you could give me some tips for a northern MN coop. The winters get pretty cold here & we get a lot of snow. Are there any special measures I should take to keep my hens comfy in the dead of winter? I would also like to know about making my coop predator proof (is there such a thing?). We have a fox near our property that we have always enjoyed watching with her pups in the spring but now that we have chicks I'm nervous about it! We do have 2 large dogs so that might deter her but that brings up another issue - the dogs! We have only been in our new house for a little over a year & really don't have our landscaping done at all so we're thinking of doing a movable coop to start & then a permanent coop later. Any suggestions or ideas would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

 

[4 the Birds]

You have about 6 weeks to build your chicken tractor or coop before your chicks are ready to go outside. Checkout the COOPS link up at the top of this page for some ideas and good predator proof materials. A non drafty coop with well designed ventilation will keep chickens healthy and happy during those cold northern Min Winters.

 

[heyjo167]

Thank you for your input, it's greatly appreciated!! I checked out the coops on BYC last night & got some great ideas along with a lot of good information. Thanks again!!

 

[QuietPony]

This site is really the most amazing, helpful and idea propelling site on the whole internet. lol
Pretty soon you will be learning about making fodder and sprouts to get your birds through winter. lol

I'm in WI, so I know about the winters.
We were planning on insulating (and ventilating) the coop well, but not providing a heat source unless it's really needed.
I learned in my research here that it's not really the cold that can cause frostbite, but the coops inability to ventilate the moisture that the birds create. So, ventilate, ventilate, ventilate! But of course, keep the cold winter winds from blowing across the birds at night.
It's a delicate balance! Good luck!

 

[heyjo167]

Thank you! I agree this site IS amazing! I love it! You peeked my interest about making fodder & sprouts (I was clueless!) so I found a great thread on how to do it!
I agree with you about insulating & ventilating the coop well & also think that with a good light source we probably won't need to heat it in the winter. If it does happen that its below zero for too many days in a row (which happens here sometimes) my husband is very handy & I'm sure will come up with something. What I'm trying to figure out is the ventilate without drafts thing! How the heck do you keep those winter winds from blowing through the coop where you have the ventilation? If you come up with a solution to that fine line please let me know!
Thanks again for your help! I really appreciate it!

 

[heyjo167]

Well, it's finally almost done! I still have some "tweaking" to do & a lot of landscaping but I'm really happy with the way it's turning out! I've pulled so many great ideas from this website I wouldn't even no where to begin thanking all the different ones I've used! BYC is definitely the BEST source when you're building a coop! I could never have done this without BYC & of course my wonderful husband! The girls have been pretty happy in their new home (they've been in there a while I just haven't had time to post)! Let me know what you all think!

 

[sn0wwhite]

Looks great! Solid for MN. How big is it? Do you have any interior pictures? Do you have any plans to cover the run sides?

 

[heyjo167]

Thanks! It's 8x8 (husband wouldn't let me make it bigger! Lol). I will be putting up interior pics soon. We will be putting up heavy clear plastic on the north side of the run for the winter. Hopefully that'll be enough! I guess it'll depend on how bad our winter is this year.

 

[Trefoil]

It looks great. I see you found out that it is possible to predator proof a coop & run. Yes, putting plastic or a tarp on the prevailing wind side of the run should really help keep a lot of the snow out and when melt comes, keep your run dryer. If you are able to allow the birds free access to the run it will help with the ventilation and the birds will be happier.

 

[heyjo167]

Thank you! Yes we were able to predator proof it (so far nothing's got in!) but it was no easy task! I spent a good number of days with a pick ax & shovel trenching around the coop & run so we could bury the hardware cloth a couple foot down! We have soooo many rocks on our property, some very large & some small. It took some doing but in the end it was worth it for the peace of mind! The other nice thing was I used them to further predator proof things by laying landscape fabric, sand & the rocks I dug up around the whole thing. Well, I'm almost done! Kind of got burned out on lugging rocks for a while but I'll get it done before the snow starts flying! Lol