Preparing Your Flock & Coop for WINTER

[iwiw60]

For those using sand in the coop...

Where and how do you carry enough sand to cover the coop floor? I've seen post where you say 4 inches of sand? That's like a truck load! I can't imagine buying 40 bags of sand, that must weight a ton!

You have a truckload delivered to the closest point to the coop/run area.....and then you start wheelbarrowing it in!

(It's not a pretty picture, either!!)

 

[RedRidge]

Ooooiw. I wouldn't recommend sand. Harbors pests and is very heavy.
Is regimens pine pellet horse bedding. It starts as pellet but breaks down to a consistency similar to sand bit is lighter weight and doesn't harbor fleas, mites etc.
It's very easy to sift and clean and a $5 bag goes a LONG way. It looks like it won't go far but swells up as it breaks down. One bag will do two 4x6 pens and only needs refreshening once a year of the pens don't get a lot of moisture.
I use these pellets on any outside pathways each fall prior to snow and mud season and they last all year and no mud on the worn paths in front of pens.

 

[iwiw60]

Ooooiw. I wouldn't recommend sand. Harbors pests and is very heavy.
Is regimens pine pellet horse bedding. It starts as pellet but breaks down to a consistency similar to sand bit is lighter weight and doesn't harbor fleas, mites etc.
It's very easy to sift and clean and a $5 bag goes a LONG way. It looks like it won't go far but swells up as it breaks down. One bag will do two 4x6 pens and only needs refreshening once a year of the pens don't get a lot of moisture.
I use these pellets on any outside pathways each fall prior to snow and mud season and they last all year and no mud on the worn paths in front of pens.

Whoa!!! I don't recoommend the use of sand at ALL! I was just replying to that poster's question of how to get it to the coop/run! I hate the stuff also, won't use it.

 

[Fletch83]

After all that running around and rushing to winterize the coop in preparation for the polar vortex...the cold weather has moved through and it is a balmy 61 degrees here right now.

Of course one of my hens decided to start molting last week while it was still freezing, so I won't complain about the warmer temps.

 

[mymilliefleur]

I agree that sand is expensive and stressful. I use wood shavings for the few chickens I have penned up for the winter. They are not ideal ether, but I can scoop them up out of our shop, and they don't cost me any thing. I have used wood chips from shredded trees as well. they rot down very readily and put off a lot of heat. my girls love scratching in them too.

 

[iwiw60]

I agree that sand is expensive and stressful. I use wood shavings for the few chickens I have penned up for the winter. They are not ideal ether, but I can scoop them up out of our shop, and they don't cost me any thing. I have used wood chips from shredded trees as well. they rot down very readily and put off a lot of heat. my girls love scratching in them too.

Boy, don't they though!! Twice a year I do a thorough, total cleanout of the coop. After I've 'snow-shoveled' out as much as I can I take a shop-vac and get the balance. It also has a brush attachment thingie and I vacuum all the walls, ceiling...everywhere I can. Then I take a 5-gallon bucket with warm water and a bottle of white vinegar dumped in and wipe all the surfaces down. Whew! Then I take a new bale of pine wood shavings, cut it open, and the 'girls' help me spread it around...that's about the only fun part of it!

 

[Hooperdooper]

I love it!  I had 4 mallards and a muskovy duck that were pets. I left the door open and they would come in. I had my feet up on the couch, reading one day and I felt something on the end of the couch. One of the ducks had jumped up and snuggled next to my feet!  I think they'll be alright, just be careful of quick temp changes. If you had a way to gradually change the temp in the basement before going outside, that would work.

I figure a 20 degree drop won't be so bad but once it gets to be highs in the 20's we will keep them in the indoor pen.

 

[ReillyJ]

SOOOO, in the PNW it's snowing now (HATE SNOW) and will have 20 ish degree over night temps, i imagine the snow will stick for awhile, wondering if i should keep my flock in their coop and run for the day tomorrow?

They are very used to free ranging and have done so since July. Their problem is since i've encased the run in clear (but not see-through) plastic, and covered the cold bare concrete floor of the run with nice fluffy pine shavings, they act like it's the DEVIL and this has been at least 3 weeks ago!!

I go out at 7 a.m. and roust them off their roost and make them go into their run to eat/drink and they'll wander around carefully and eat/drink a bit and i'll go back to bed and then at around 10 a.m. go down to let them out to free range and those darn hens will be back in the coop sitting on their roost. They never did this until i weather proofed the run and i'm not going to take it off and allow the cold and rain in!! Good grief! Maybe that's why at least one of them has stopped laying. Two of them are molting and one of them is still laying pretty darn regularly (have 4 hens), anyway.. just don't want them to get wet from the snow and then be cold overnight.

 

[RedRidge]

It is 22 here this morning at 8am.
Not sure what the temp was when I went out for the 6am milking but all chickens are out in the heavy frost and having fun except the three in the conditioning pens who are being shown next weekend. They LOVE cold weather.
I open coop doors and figure if they want to stay in that's fine - no matter the weather they never stay in.

 

[tatertot]

What can I feed a couple of lower end hens to fatten them A bit 4 winter