Planning with winter in mind

[Dreammaker]

I am in central Ontario.

I'm glad to know that too big isn't a thing! But I do have to be mindful of space. I have less than a quarter acre (including my house) and I don't want to use the entire backyard.

If property size is a concern, you may want to consider having the coop and run attached and under one roof and raising the actual hen house itself off the ground 18-24" so that they have extra run space under there. It will add a good amount of space without adding more to the overall footprint.

Another concern with the cold is freeze-thaw cycles. I've battled this the past few months and because part of my run is on a downward slope, I get several areas of water that builds up (happens to a lesser extent with bad rain). So, take your terrain into account when planning and try to avoid placing it at the bottom of a slope, if possible.

 

[Dreammaker]

Forgot to add, corrugated metal roofs are awesome for snow removal!

 

[3KillerBs]

Forgot to add, corrugated metal roofs are awesome for snow removal!

And metal is remarkably easy to work with if you have the right tools.

 

[Acre4Me]

Don’t forget, make a cover/roof/overhang for the door to go in and out- the human door and also any pop door. Our coop has the pop door within the people door, but in case you have them separate, you want them covered and protected from water that will freeze. Our first winter, we only managed a 3ft roof section over the door , the length of the coop, and the coop backs up to the barn, so no weather from that direction. I think I commented every cold/wet/blowy/snowy/frozen/stormy day that winter, how glad I was that we had at least a roof of sone kind over the door.

 

[aart]

This might help you figure it out:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/cold-weather-poultry-housing-and-care.72010/

 

[MACCanadianCoop]

I plotted out the space I'm going to build the coop/run, and it takes up so much less space than I thought! Which means I can actually make the coop 8x8 and dedicate some of that space for storage and also make the run 8x8. Lots of room for happy ladies.

 

[3KillerBs]

I plotted out the space I'm going to build the coop/run, and it takes up so much less space than I thought! Which means I can actually make the coop 8x8 and dedicate some of that space for storage and also make the run 8x8. Lots of room for happy ladies.

I don't think that anyone has ever regretted making their coop and run larger instead of smaller.