Preparing Your Flock & Coop for WINTER

[mainechicklet]

Yes, it is we are slightly crazy, but I am very active in dog rescue so we keep the ones that have either behavioral or health problems to insure that they get the best care possible. My vet says my house is where things go to not die. And where crazy dogs go to become sane.

Can I say, I LOVE YOU?!! LOL You can see by my signature, we're on the same page.

 

[mainechicklet]

Oh yeah. You don't want him to get home until after dark. Then serve up that delicious supper you've got cooking, (soup?) and tuck him into bed for the night. Tomorrow is a new and fresh day. My tarps have been shipped (I think from Yuma Tarps) so should be here by the weekend.

After dark is now 445...430...415...400...345..... Chickens were in bed for the night at 400...... It's not...um...chicken....soup..is it?

My tarps didn't hold up very well a couple years ago. Even the polycarb panels were blown out of place last winter. Live and learn......

Where are you beekissed? I hear you're the FF queen.

 

[ShrekDawg]

Yup. Coop is totally wind free if you keep the windows shut. My full coop and run are on my blog below.

If real temps go below -20, i do put them in the barn. That's real temp not windchill.

Adding in. They get extra protein and corn scratch 1.5 hours before the night roost time.

Also, with all the windows, on a sunny day the coop can be 15-20 degrees warmer than outside.

Today, no sun. 30mph winds pouring rain. 41' outside 55 inside

No lights that give off heat or heat lamps.

Wow that's amazing! I'll have to try all that and extra food before bed and all that.

Can I say, I LOVE YOU?!!    LOL     You can see by my signature, we're on the same page.

Agreed! I wish we could foster or rescue. One day!

 

[lazy gardener]

After dark is now 445...430...415...400...345..... Chickens were in bed for the night at 400...... It's not...um...chicken....soup..is it?

My tarps didn't hold up very well a couple years ago. Even the polycarb panels were blown out of place last winter. Live and learn......

Where are you beekissed? I hear you're the FF queen.

You got your wires crossed. You quoted me (Lazy gardener) who was talking to Blooie about her man (Ken) coming home across the mountains to either eat soup and go to bed, or go out in the cold and install a green house tarp over her cattle panel hoop house.

Bee is the FF queen. She's in West Virginia. Blooie is in super frigid Wyoming, and I'm in central Maine. Yeah, tarps get blown around if they're not held down well. One thing I do is get the tarp in place then run some nylon carpenters string in a zig zag pattern over the top of it, back and forth with roofing nails at the bottom for it to loop around before making the next zig or zag. Otherwise, it billows and works loose with every breeze. Blooie holds hers down with plastic lattice. Or, at least that's what I think she's done in the past. This season, I think I'm gonna put long fiberglass fence posts through the horizontal grommets, to give extra stability (on the tractor) then bungee cord it down. (this is for tractor being used in garden as a winter cold frame. It'll have plastic stapled on to sides, be accessible through tarp at top.) The other tarp will be over the green house (cattle panel hoop) and use the roofing nail/carpenter string zig zag and zip ties.

 

[mainechicklet]

You got your wires crossed. You quoted me (Lazy gardener) who was talking to Blooie about her man (Ken) coming home across the mountains to either eat soup and go to bed, or go out in the cold and install a green house tarp over her cattle panel hoop house.

Bee is the FF queen. She's in West Virginia. Blooie is in super frigid Wyoming, and I'm in central Maine. Yeah, tarps get blown around if they're not held down well. One thing I do is get the tarp in place then run some nylon carpenters string in a zig zag pattern over the top of it, back and forth with roofing nails at the bottom for it to loop around before making the next zig or zag. Otherwise, it billows and works loose with every breeze. Blooie holds hers down with plastic lattice. Or, at least that's what I think she's done in the past. This season, I think I'm gonna put long fiberglass fence posts through the horizontal grommets, to give extra stability (on the tractor) then bungee cord it down. (this is for tractor being used in garden as a winter cold frame. It'll have plastic stapled on to sides, be accessible through tarp at top.) The other tarp will be over the green house (cattle panel hoop) and use the roofing nail/carpenter string zig zag and zip ties.

No wires crossed. I diverted from Blooie's man coming home and eating soup to the time of day it gets dark now so they wouldn't have time to tarp. Sorry for the confusion! Just read tikktocs article regarding FF. She mentions Bee.

 

[Blooie]

I don't think she's got wires crossed, LG - she has been waiting for Bee to pop in about FF....at least I hope that's what I understood. If not, then yeah, what you said!

I have my clear plastic over top of the lattice. The lattice acts like a spacer and keeps the tarp from coming into any contact with little bits of wire pokey-outy things from where we attached the chickenwire to the cattle panels. Last year we used metal strips that had predrilled holes in them. We got them at Lowe's. We wound the plastic around them at the bottom sort of like a window shade, except flat. Then we reinforced where the holes lined up with Gorilla tape, poked holes in the tape, into the plastic, through the holes in the metal, then out through the plastic and Gorilla Tape on the inner side. Now there's a leap o' faith - poking holes in plastic in preparation for a Wyoming winter. We used zip ties and large washers, ran the ties through all of the aforementioned holes, and cinched it down to the cattle panel wire.

Worked great - this spring when we removed it we had no rips or tears anywhere, despite some brutal winds and weather. When we took the tarp off, we were able to unhook it, lift it, and take it off in one piece. We marked which side went where, then folded it and put it away to use again this year, but in the meantime we'd expanded the run so it won't fit now. Hence the reason for the new one this year. But the old one will be attached to a cattle panel arch we have in the garden and he'll store his ATV and riding mower in there this winter.

 

[mainechicklet]

I don't think she's got wires crossed, LG - she has been waiting for Bee to pop in about FF....at least I hope that's what I understood. If not, then yeah, what you said!

You're right!

I responded to 3 posts but didn't differentiate the posters. Sorry!

 

[Blooie]

MC, if that's the worst thing that happens to me in my lifetime I'll be so grateful!

 

[mainechicklet]

You girls are awesome!

 

[Blooie]

Yes, yes we are.