Preparing Your Flock & Coop for WINTER

[lazy gardener]

Unseasonably warm indeed! Here it is, it's December 1st and I haven't got to winterized our run. Between work travels, kids schools and holidays the multiple clear shower curtains (@$2.00/piece) I bought are not up yet to protect all sides of the our run. Found out much cheaper to use these than the 8 mil roles I've purchased couple of years ago that tears easy.

I'm still winterizing. Lots of rain, and when it's not raining, or even if it is, work schedule interrupts the important stuff.... like winterizing yard and run. It'll be spring before I can finish all I want to do in the yard.

 

[bigmrg74]

I live in Southwestern Lower Michigan and it gets very cold here. I have a metal heated base and a metal water can that I used several years ago with my flock. I didn't keep chickens for a few years and now I have a new flock of young birds. I have been using a hen hydrator bucket with the nipples in the bottom of the bucket, and I love it. No more bedding scratched up in the water. I really don't want to go back to using the metal water can. I'm having a hard time trying to figure out how to keep the water from freezing in the plastic bucket. I've looked at a Farm Innovators Chicken Waterer De-Icer to put in the bucket. It claims to be safe in plastic buckets. What I can't figure out is it supposed to hang in the bucket or lay on the bottom of the bucket? Has anyone used one of these de-icers? Any other suggestions for keeping the water liquid?

My suggestion to you is to either get or build a table to place your metal heater water up on. You'll get the waterer up out of the bedding, and you can open up a little more floor space for your birds. I made one out of a pallet this year and its big enough for the waterer, my feeder, and the pan for the flock block as well. Plus with the supports on it, it does give the lower pecking order girls a chance to get away from somebody if they need too. Plus, it gives them somewhere else to hang out at in the coop.



I painted the feet of the table to protect them from rotting out, And I did add a 2x2 that sticks out to the side of the table to act as a step for the girls as well.

 

[Sue Gremlin]

I live in Southwestern Lower Michigan and it gets very cold here. I have a metal heated base and a metal water can that I used several years ago with my flock. I didn't keep chickens for a few years and now I have a new flock of young birds. I have been using a hen hydrator bucket with the nipples in the bottom of the bucket, and I love it. No more bedding scratched up in the water. I really don't want to go back to using the metal water can. I'm having a hard time trying to figure out how to keep the water from freezing in the plastic bucket. I've looked at a Farm Innovators Chicken Waterer De-Icer to put in the bucket. It claims to be safe in plastic buckets. What I can't figure out is it supposed to hang in the bucket or lay on the bottom of the bucket? Has anyone used one of these de-icers? Any other suggestions for keeping the water liquid?

I also live in SW Michigan. I have a metal heated base and a metal waterer as well. I put the metal base up on an upside down metal feed pan, and place it inside the coop. I hang a heat lamp over the water only. I have them plugged into a thermostat, so they only turn on below 40 degrees. All of these things are available at Tractor Supply. I'll post a photo of my setup in a bit.
I tried a submersible aquarium heater at first instead of the heat lamp, which broke after a short time. I don't know that they are designed for such cold conditions.
This setup has worked fine for me for the past several winters, I have to break the ice only when it gets extremely cold, twice or so a year.

This year, I also got a plastic waterer with a heated base, we'll see how that works out when the winter really gets going.
This is the metal pan I put the base heater on, upside down.



The base heater

The heated waterer

 

[Spartan22]

I used to have that metal heater base didn't last me long (a month) and it quit on me. I just bought this one in photo few days ago, hopefully a better product since it cost a lot.

 

[3riverschick]

That's a great idea, I hadn't thought of using those panels for that. Good idea.

I agree! I am so telling my woodworker hubby about this! BTW, that's a killer woodshop your hubby has!
Best,
Karen

 

[TheBrumstead]

I have a dog kennel as my run. Any advice on attaching plastic to this? Wind chills of -15 right about now

 

[Beekissed]

I have a dog kennel as my run. Any advice on attaching plastic to this? Wind chills of -15 right about now

If you try to cover the top with plastic, the snow may weigh it down and cause it to collapse. Unless you have a strong arch of some kind, topping it with plastic may not work. Wrapping the sides with plastic would be easier and will help block the wind. You can get clear tarps, which would be easier to attach and last longer or just some heavy mil plastic, which you can attach with zip ties but high winds may tear the plastic where you make holes for the zip ties and attachment.

Wrapping the sides with plastic would be the quickest and easiest solution. Plan for a bigger coop and better winter situations by next year...study up on hoop coop construction if looking for a cheap and easy to build coop and run construction.

 

[TheBrumstead]

If you try to cover the top with plastic, the snow may weigh it down and cause it to collapse. Unless you have a strong arch of some kind, topping it with plastic may not work. Wrapping the sides with plastic would be easier and will help block the wind. You can get clear tarps, which would be easier to attach and last longer or just some heavy mil plastic, which you can attach with zip ties but high winds may tear the plastic where you make holes for the zip ties and attachment.

Wrapping the sides with plastic would be the quickest and easiest solution. Plan for a bigger coop and better winter situations by next year...study up on hoop coop construction if looking for a cheap and easy to build coop and run construction.

I did mean for the sides, sorry. I'm more concerned about winds going across. We have a 20 acre farm field to the side and with the trees, it's kind of a "bowl" where wind just swirls.

 

[TalkALittle]

I wrap my run in clear tarps and attach them with bungee tarp ties. If you get real strong winds and the tarps need more to keep them from flapping, you could screw thin strips of wood together (one on the inside of the chainlink and one on the outside) to sandwich the tarp between them and keep it from flapping.

 

[3LilChicks707]

Hi, First of all, your coop and run are awesome! I'm a little envious.
Thanks for starting this thread. I live in the Pacific NW so our winters are pretty mild. That said, we do get some snow (a day or two) and it does get down to freezing overnight. My watering system is a 3-gallon bucket with nipples on the bottom. I wonder how I should prevent it from freezing. I was thinking of wrapping it with some sort of insulation but obviously it has to be safe since they may peck at it.
I've also been wondering about light. My coop is wired and has two small bulbs. When should I start lighting it and what are the hours, 7am to 7pm?
I'd love any suggestions!
Thanks,
Katy

Yes, thank you! All of this is a wealth of information for us who are newer at keeping chickens & just starting out! We live about an hour north of San Francisco. No snow, but we do get frost on a few really cold nights, which for us is like 25 degrees! LOL! Nevertheless, I always worry about our girls when it gets even slightly cold & I've been bugging my hubby to help me figure out a way to keep them warmer at night, but now reading some of these posts where chickens do just fine in temps of -25 degrees, it makes me feel a little silly, but much better! Chickens seem to be much more hardy, adaptive birds than I gave them credit for! Currently in our coop, we use shavings inside & outside their enclosed area even though they are allowed to roam the backyard & even at times sneaking into the front yard! A couple times they must have been curious about how the "other side" lives & even went inside the house! At night they're all closed up inside their "laying" area where their nest boxes are. We don't leave any doors or windows open, but now that I've also been reading about humidity it makes me wonder about our set-up. Although, their food & water is never closed in with them overnight I wouldn't want it to get humid in there! Someone suggested putting Christmas lights in where they sleep. Anyone ever heard about this practice? Now it sounds kind of unsafe & we would never want to do anything to risk their safety! Our chickens are like members of our family & if anything were to happen to them everyone, but especially our children would be beyond devastated!
Also, while I'm here I might as well ask! Any ideas on how to get more egg production in these darker, colder months? We have 3 Wellsummers & 2 Silver-Laced Wyandottes. Right now we're lucky to get an egg or two a week! They did lay their first egg right as Fall was coming in, so they're still young. Could that have anything to do with it? We're adding to our flock as Springtime gets closer, but for now we want to make sure we do right by the 5 girls we have

! Any tips, thoughts, advice, all greatly appreciated!