Preparing Your Flock & Coop for WINTER

[Naliez]

Where is the moisture getting in?  Is the ground wet in that area?  If you're going to be moving it, will it be moved to a dryer place, or is the building it'self leaking?  I strongly suggest that you DON'T use any salt.  It will mix with the water, and then you'll have problems with salt leaching out into the surrounding ground.  Chickens can not process much salt.  It would be toxic to them.  Are those windows covered with hardware cloth?  I assume that you'll leave them open at least part way except for those very cold nights?  I don't even think about closing my windows until the temp gets below 20 degrees.  Then, I open them up during the day unless it's extremely cold.  

Thanks for the reply!
The shed itself is on an extension of the concrete porch. The concrete has a slight dip where the water collects when it rains. It's coming in through the door of the shed. To move the shed, we'd need to break the actual concrete porch and we just can't afford that kind of project right now. As far as the salt goes, we were thinking of having it up off of the ground & water. There's not a LOT of water that collects and it's only when it rains pretty hard, so I think I'll try sandbags around the whole shed, a layer of sand inside, then pallets and last, a thick layer of pine straw. The actual pine straw would be a good 6+ inches above where the water could get, so it'd stay completely dry. It really doesn't get too cold around here. Like I said, there's only a couple days out of the year that it gets into the teens and these ladies are LF SS and Australorps. The windows are covered in hardware cloth and I've kept them open so far. There's also a ventilation chimney.

 

[Naliez]

I think the pallet idea is a good one. At least to keep their feet up off the concrete. Can you also sand bag around the shed to help keep water out? Also wondering if a layer of thick plastic on the concrete floor might help with humidity? Not sure, might cause more? I would for sure add more ventilation.

I definitely think sand bags will help a lot, if not keep the water out completely. Thank you.

 

[bigmrg74]

Thanks for the reply!
The shed itself is on an extension of the concrete porch. The concrete has a slight dip where the water collects when it rains. It's coming in through the door of the shed. To move the shed, we'd need to break the actual concrete porch and we just can't afford that kind of project right now. As far as the salt goes, we were thinking of having it up off of the ground & water. There's not a LOT of water that collects and it's only when it rains pretty hard, so I think I'll try sandbags around the whole shed, a layer of sand inside, then pallets and last, a thick layer of pine straw. The actual pine straw would be a good 6+ inches above where the water could get, so it'd stay completely dry. It really doesn't get too cold around here. Like I said, there's only a couple days out of the year that it gets into the teens and these ladies are LF SS and Australorps. The windows are covered in hardware cloth and I've kept them open so far. There's also a ventilation chimney.

yeah, if you're not getting much more than an inch of water in there, some pallets and sand should keep most of that down. I think I would add in a layer of linoleum or some heavy plastic on top of the layer of pallets on the floor just to help with your spring cleanup. And if you plan on moving the coop, plan on pulling out the pallets and junking them at the end of the year.

 

[Beekissed]

I have a question for you guys! This is the shed we are going to use as a coop for our 3 big girls this winter. We live in NC, so there's a lot of humidity, but usually only a handful of days that get into the teens during the colder months. The problem I'm having right now, is that when it rains a lot, some water pools up in the shed. We need to move it, but there's no floor and the entire thing is bolted into the concrete. I don't know if I can get it moved in time. So, in the mean time, my thought was to put a layer or two of pallets inside and then plywood to create a floor, which I can then put a pretty thick layer of bedding down without it getting wet. I'm worried about the moisture though. The shed itself has two windows, but we are going to drill a couple more ventilation holes near the top and cover those with hardware cloth. THEN I thought, for the moisture that does leak in under the pallets, what about adding salt? Would that make a difference? They wouldn't be able to get to it because it would be under the makeshift floor. Does this sound like something that will work temporarily over the winter? Any advice would be greatly appreciated! TIA!

I don't know how much ventilation you have there, but you'll need more if you live where it's humid and you have that much water coming in....but this situation sounds perfect for some DL. If you manage it well, the pooling water could be of benefit for a working DL. You'd just have to have it pretty deep and with a variety of materials and particle sizes, but it would work GREAT for composting on that cement floor.

I'd look into some good DL materials and grow where you are planted, but I certainly wouldn't use sand....wet sand, add poop, stink and flies ensue, no drainage under the sand for dispersal of the poop fluids. With my DL, I intentionally provide ways for the water to come into the coop(rain, melting snow, etc.) to keep my DL working and composting along, so with your existing water supply in the floor in the form of this pooling, you have perfect conditions for composting. You just need some really great ventilation down at floor level, mid-level and up along the roof to accomplish it.

Here's a vid on DL and there's a good thread on it here on BYC as well:

 

[coop410silkies]

...

Bee, I've ordered 2 tarps like the one you showed.  Can't wait for them to arrive.  One will go over the green house, will use 4 mil to close in the ends, then draw the 14 mil. tarp around the ends like a Connastoga wagon.  The other will go over the top of my 6 x 7 tractor that's got greens planted under it in the garden.  I'll wrap the sides with 4 mil, so I can access it through the top any time during the winter.  Looking forward to some salads in March!  
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I , too, use tarps to make hoop coops for winter. My largest coop to date, made with a 16'x20' white poly tarp, is light, airy, floorless, and enclosed on both ends. The south end has mesh windows open year round, and like its smaller cousin, gets lots of solar gain and stays much warmer than outside temps. I've made a number of tarped hoop enclosures using various thicknesses and types of tarp, including vinyl "billboard tarps." ALL of the heavy duty poly tarps, at least 6 mil thick, have over wintered without a scratch or tear; the 9 mil vinyl tarp abraded where it rubbed on the frame. One standard tarp, from a local hardware store, completely fell apart in our northern Colorado sun and wind; aside from this last - and the vinyl tarp - all were fairly inexpensive online purchases. I like the white tarps because they let so much sun in, and I've been looking forward to buying the clear reinforced tarps y'all have been talking about. (But doya think they can get too warm in summer?)

Here are some of the things I've learned to help make tarps last longer: don't let any part of them flap around in the wind; if you can incorporate electrical PVC conduit pipe in your hoop frame somehow, you can use tarp clamps to attach your tarp to the conduit and save yourself a lot of time and trouble attaching tarps to your frame; use UV protected zip ties for exterior use; outdoor rated screws with fender washers are great;remember that when you provide air entrance to your hoop coop, you must provide an air exit (ask me how I know this).

The reason tarps are smaller than their advertized size is because their advertised size is their CUT size, and the size you get is the hemmed FINISHED size.

I love hoop coops.

 

[Beekissed]

In the summer I lift the sides of the clear tarp and fasten it up, while overlaying the whole coop with a shade tarp that is also held up on the sides with the use of push in stakes. This makes for a very cool, breezy summer coop. Come winter, I just cut some zip ties, slide that big shade tarp off, lower the sides of the clear tarp, zip tie and we are back in winter mode. Very easy transition.

 

[21hens-incharge]

We have a storm forecast for this week. Today I went ahead and put some more metal roofing leftovers in the run to give them more dry area to hang out.
It leans against the 2x4 roof support and the chain link. We will see how this works this winter and may make it permanent for summer shade as well.

Thinking I need to add a tarp to the north side tomorrow when I get in. The giant lilac shrubs are nearly bare now so the tarp looks more needed.

 

[Blooie]

Our new tarp is on. We got home from Sheridan this afternoon, unpacked, changed clothes,and got right to it. It's a wonderful tarp to work with, and the run is actually brighter inside than it was with the 6ml plastic sheeting from Lowes. I am most happily impressed!

 

[Beekissed]

I figured you'd like it, Miss Blooie. Unlike other tarps, isn't it? Tougher. And I agree...not like sheeting at all. More light comes in by far....and you'll feel more warmth on cold days from that quality of light too. Makes for a sunnier, warmer coop.

 

[daxigait]

Bump