Please help me! Cold climate.

[Koiandchicks]

You asked for pictures of a Woods coop in the winter. Scroll towards the end of this article there are several.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...-kd-knock-down-10-by-16-coop-pictorial.75421/

Thanks

 

[WI chickens]

I live in Northern NY. Farms keeping chickens year 'round here have their chicken coops built on to the farm house and share the indoor temps, like a mud room or an attached wood shed. If we get in a bitter cold spell, they can leave the door between the house and the chicken open to supplement heat.
You're right to be nervous. If you couldn't live in your chicken coop set through winter, you can expect your chickens can't either. Some colder climates still south of me get away with pilling the floor bedding extra thick to prevent frost bitten feet. But chickens live in the same temperature range as we do. If you want them comfortable, keep them about same temp as you have in your house, 65F to 70F. If you have long enough heating daylight and your winter days aren't mostly cloudy, you might be able to get away with chicken house that is heated with sun exposure. But if your nights are too long, like mine, it will get very cold at night.
A small window can let in sunlight for their circadian rhythms.
You could always install a small wood stove heater and fence it so they can't touch it for when your winters get worse than your hen house can protect them from. Be careful about heat sources. Chickens are very sensitive to toxic fumes and some can kill them quickly. Don't smoke a Teflon pan around them, for example.

This is not any kind of personal attack, but in my experience, nearly everything in this post is incorrect. My climate is far colder than that one and my birds have done just fine at -40F two nights in a row, with lots of nights between -20 and -30F. Using any type of heat or insulation in a coop is a very good way to produce those toxic fumes mentioned, namely, ammonia. A small wood stove will very easily catch the chicken dust and dander on fire.

I use a Woods open air coop here. Winter is still finishing up and I couldn't be happier with the coop. I will truly never use another style. I absolutely love it. No frost bite issues, the air stayed great all winter, and more importantly, is still great now with temperatures above freezing during the day. Generally, this time of year is most dangerous for air quality in our climate. I let the bedding build up all winter and if you don't have really great ventilation, the first really good thaw days, the frozen chicken droppings warm up and release a lot of moisture and ammonia. With this coop, no issues at all. It's a really fantastic design.

 

[MamaFox78]

I let the bedding build up all winter and if you don't have really great ventilation, the first really good thaw days, the frozen chicken droppings warm up and release a lot of moisture and ammonia. With this coop, no issues at all.

So I have a question about that... what kind of bedding do you use?

My coop is literally 100 years old, it's solid masonry with windows & a door on the south side (winds come from the northwest up here), dirt floor on one side, concrete on the other that I covered with construction sand. It's an awesome coop with plenty of room and ventilation, but it gets so dusty with all that dirt and sand!! I would love to hear about other methods that might keep the dust down.

 

[WI chickens]

So I have a question about that... what kind of bedding do you use?

My coop is literally 100 years old, it's solid masonry with windows & a door on the south side (winds come from the northwest up here), dirt floor on one side, concrete on the other that I covered with construction sand. It's an awesome coop with plenty of room and ventilation, but it gets so dusty with all that dirt and sand!! I would love to hear about other methods that might keep the dust down.

My absolute favorite bedding is my own compost but I never really have enough of that so I use it only in my brooder box. If I had enough, it's the only thing I would use in my coop as well. When I make compost I use biochar in it and the compost with biochar is awesome for absorbing any smells or moisture and the chickens love it. Since I don't have enough for my coop, I use pine shavings there and in my nest boxes. I've tried quite a few others but didn't like them. Ideally, at some point I'll have enough compost for the coop all winter and the chickens will create enough on their own in the summer for my gardens, but I'm not there yet.

 

[jthornton]

So I have a question about that... what kind of bedding do you use?

My coop is literally 100 years old, it's solid masonry with windows & a door on the south side (winds come from the northwest up here), dirt floor on one side, concrete on the other that I covered with construction sand. It's an awesome coop with plenty of room and ventilation, but it gets so dusty with all that dirt and sand!! I would love to hear about other methods that might keep the dust down.

Chickens are dusty for sure, I don't think it matters what kind of bedding you use. In my Coop Deux I have pine shavings on the floor and Sweet PDZ in the poop tray. The hens spend all day in the run but the coop get covered with dust on the inside.

Photos of the inside of the coop, and the walls are insulated to stop heat from leaving through the walls.




JT

 

[MamaFox78]

My absolute favorite bedding is my own compost but I never really have enough of that so I use it only in my brooder box. If I had enough, it's the only thing I would use in my coop as well. When I make compost I use biochar in it and the compost with biochar is awesome for absorbing any smells or moisture and the chickens love it. Since I don't have enough for my coop, I use pine shavings there and in my nest boxes. I've tried quite a few others but didn't like them. Ideally, at some point I'll have enough compost for the coop all winter and the chickens will create enough on their own in the summer for my gardens, but I'm not there yet.

Oh wow, awesome - I would have never thought of using compost! I tried to start my own compost last summer, but had a hard time keeping it going (I think I didn't turn it often enough)... at the moment it's buried in snow, so I'll try again in spring. Haha

How do pine shavings do as far as keeping parasites at bay? My chickens have had bouts of lice, which sucks... and my first rescue flock had severe scaly leg mites when I first got them... so I'm a little paranoid about preventing pests. It seems like leaving the bedding all winter would accumulate a lot of crud, but then I've never tried it.

 

[MamaFox78]

Chickens are dusty for sure, I don't think it matters what kind of bedding you use. In my Coop Deux I have pine shavings on the floor and Sweet PDZ in the poop tray. The hens spend all day in the run but the coop get covered with dust on the inside.

Photos of the inside of the coop, and the walls are insulated to stop heat from leaving through the walls.
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JT

Ooohh, your coop is so nice! Mine will never be so bright and airy... it's built solid, but with windows on only one side it's kinda dark except at midday.

My chickens spend most of their time outside unless it's really snowy/ windy, but the dust is still awful and it concerns me for their respiratory health on days when they can't go out. Not to mention ours when we clean the coop!

Do you find the pine shavings help? And what is Sweet PDZ?

 

[Krugerrand]

And what is Sweet PDZ?

https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/sweet-pdz-stall-refresher-25-lb

It functions like a kitty litter for chicken poop. It's compostable.

 

[jthornton]

Do you find the pine shavings help? And what is Sweet PDZ?

JT

 

[Ted Brown]

...
It seems like leaving the bedding all winter would accumulate a lot of crud, but then I've never tried it.

IMHO avoiding "crud" is a combination of factors:

• Year round access to a run, my flock spends 90%+ of their time here during the day. I use deep litter and have never (4 years) cleaned it; I do add fallen leaves each fall.
• Drop boards. I try to remove droppings daily to a compost box; a walk in coop that allows one to stand up greatly facilitates clean up.
• Deep bedding (mostly pine shavings, some straw) in the coop. Almost no droppings end up here, those that do dry quickly and turn to dust that mixes in.
• Coop+run space appropriate to the number of birds.

The key is drop boards. Unless one removes the "crud" frequently it will accumulate, will smell and I would guess will increase health issues.