Oh experts out there! I need a little bit of advice

[janet2802]

We haven't built the coop yet, but have tons of ideas. The "kids" right now are in a 3 foot trough in our barn all happy and content. Here's the problem, it is windy at our house. And gets real windy in the winter time. My question is, how to my beloved "kids" handle wind? We have left over tin from our barn that we were thinking of using, but not sure if they are ok with the wind or not. Also, living in Colorado on the plains, we get the snow storms too. Should we build a shelter for them to use in the winter time? Insulated and such? We don't have a whole lot to spend on a coop, but any ideas would be great. And yes, I have seen the pictures of the coops on this site. WOW! I just want something functional and safe for them. Thanks again!

 

[wynedot55]

id use the tin to build them a henhouse out of.esp since you have some leftover from building a barn.

 

[livestock101]

I'm by no means an expert but I know a bit after having built 2 coops. How many chickens do you have? Are you wanting to keep them in a coop with a run year round or will they be just farm type chickens, running around? You mentioned just building something for winter, that's why I ask.

Based on your location, you will certainly need a shelter of some sort. It need not be the fancy stuff you see on here. Chickens will not do well in the snow and will need some sort of draft free area to go into when the weather gets bad. With that said, we have 1 coop that's insulated and heated that houses 70 chickens. Another, not currently being used can house 35. We also have barn chickens. The barn chickens are mutt type banties that were given to us (at a year old) and were born and raised in a barn. They do well all winter in the barn. We stack hay in such a way that they have little alley's to go into to stay warm. I keep a feeder out there and make sure they have access to water...usually they drink out of the llama or horse stall. Our area see's winter lows of -20 to -30 for weeks at a time. These barn chickens have done very well for 2 winters now. Our standard large breeds are in the heated coop.

Building a coop.....the tin you have will work out fine. To save money, see if there are any homes being built in your area. You could stop by and ask the construction workers about getting any of their scrap wood. Another idea is putting an add in the paper asking for scrap wood, saying you will pick it up, etc etc.

Any type of shelter will work as long as it's draft free. Putting bedding on the floor of the shelter will also help them stay warm.