This is a great thread. I live in northern Colorado, and this winter will be my third with chickens. I've done a lot of things to make winter bearable for both me and my charges. After my first winter I ran electric cable out to the coop, and this made a huge difference. I use it to power water heaters and nothing else. I keep about 20 - 30 free-ranging layers in a coop about 200 feet from my house; they are hardy and very much prefer to be let out of the on all but the most miserable of days; often they just go into the adjoining open sheep shed. Some deal with snow better than others
This is the system I ended up with, and it works great: I built a sturdy stand in the coop to support a 65 gallon rain barrel with a garden hose spigot at the bottom. I put one of the flat 250* "bucket heaters" into it, fill it with water, and plug it in to one of my new outlets. Right under the spigot, I put one of the "concrete block with a light bulb " heaters, and on top of that I put a bucket (with a hole in the lid for filling that is plugged, in this case, with a largish cork to keep debris and poop out) fitted with the horizontal nipples. I attached a short length of garden hose to the rain barrel spigot, and put a shut off valve on the end of it. A 75 watt light bulb keeps the water in the bucket thawed enough for the nipples to remain functional MOST of the time, but I do check them on the coldest of days. The small flat "bucket heater" is thermostatically controlled and the spigot on the rain barrel remains functional down into the low single digits. For my 20 birds I needed to fill the rain barrel only once every 3 months, and I found this very doable with a few garden hoses from my house outlets. It was a piece of cake to pull the cork from the bucket waterer and fill it with the hose length running from the rain barrel. The horizontal nipples - I got them from an
ebay seller - made this system both possible and economical. This year I am adding a Thermocube to control the light bulb heater for the bucket and I will be looking for a way to perhaps extend the life of the light bulb.
This summer I added some breeding pens to my backyard. I have modified and used both large resin deck boxes and trash can hideaways for sleeping quarters, and to provide shelter in the pens and quarters for keeping food and water, I made some very simple (and cheap) hoop shelters from PVC tubing and heavy tarp. All but the largest are open on both ends, and I've scattered Hay a few inches deep over the bare ground. I may bank the sides with hay bales. Again, I will be using the rain barrel with heated bucket system to keep water available for my breeding birds. So I am very busy making the stands, running extension cords and connections, and setting up the necessary lengths of hose and valves to get water to everyone. I am using one rain barrel, with a longer hose off the spigot, to provide water for 3 - 4 pens.
The other thing I am working on is making feeders that will hold a lot. I just finished a prototype of a bag collar I recently read about, and, with a few more modifications (the wind can be ferocious along these foothills), I think they can work fine in the hoop shelters. I am also working on a large trash can feeder for the big coop.
I am getting Vaseline for the combs.
I am getting a lot of straw to refresh the hoop and coop floors as needed.
I am refurbishing my roosts with with 2x4's so my birds can keep their toes warm.
And I'm getting more mouse traps.
I think automated doors would be nice. Anybody setting them up for winter?
I love all your inspirations. They are the shoulders upon which I stand. Hope all your charges stay healthy, well watered and fed this winter. Blessings
